I’ll admit this right now: I knew nothing about Plant City when I first took this job — save for the fact that there was some kind of fruity festival held here every year.
So, my first task I got hired was tour Plant City with former Associate Editor Matt Mauney. We covered all the bases over the span of a day or two, hitting all the high schools and parks and speaking with many of the coaches. While we were driving from spot to spot, I grilled him with as many questions about the area as I could.
As I’ve mentioned before, I had been used to the hustle and bustle of a metro daily publication, papers running in much bigger markets with so much to cover and so little time to slow down. I was worried that, going from an area with 31 high schools and an NCAA Division I university to a city with three high schools and a community college, I’d be short on coverage.
“Absolutely not,” Matt told me. “You’ll be surprised, once you really get started, at how much goes on out here.”
As far as I’m concerned, you can put one point in Matt’s section of the scoreboard — he was right. In fact, I still can’t believe how many awesome things I’ve gotten to go watch and write about every week.
I’ve witnessed a number of great high school sporting events, backed by crowds that could be just as loud as those at the other, larger schools I had covered previously. I’ve seen some youth football games with finishes wilder than what some of the older kids are doing at the high school level. I’ve done research on the history of baseball in Plant City and found a direct connection to my hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., and favorite minor league baseball team, the Bisons. I’ve spoken with some of the best young athletes in the Tampa Bay area and found a number of stories that rivaled anything I’ve covered anywhere else. I’ve even gotten to cover professional wrestling, which was my favorite thing in the world for a big chunk of my life, and still is something that I enjoy.
And all of this in just three-and-one-half months. Matt got to see many more things than I did, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous that he got to be here for baseball season — it’ll be nice to transition from being the nerd who fills out his own scorecard for fun at every game to being the sports writer who fills one out to back up his game notes. I’ve never been hard to spot in the crowd.
My only regret is that I can’t be everywhere at once — I’ve missed out on a few great games because of other commitments, and there have been a few mornings where I’ve gone online to look at the results and groaned. Thankfully, I’ve gotten great recaps of some of those games from my sources, whom I’d like to thank here for making my job easier.
I encourage any of you readers to drop me a line if you have something that may make a good feature. Many times, the best stories out there are the ones people have their doubts about: something that, to them, seems perfectly normal and mundane. I get a decent amount of emails from parents, almost all of which begin with, “Not brag about my kid, but …” Please, parents of Plant City, don’t hesitate to brag about your kids if they’ve done something great on the playing field. It could be an Athlete of the Week consideration or even a full feature.
I’m looking forward to a great year for the Plant City sports scene. We truly do live and work in a great sports town, even if it isn’t immediately obvious to those on the outside.