Getting close to seeing some results

Just a quick book update, we're still in the process of adding some things, but I should be getting the layouts from the Tennessee book (our model for the rest of them) very soon. I can't begin to tell you how everything I've seen so far looks great.

I've also finished the adds for Ohio State (at least i think I have, they'll probably have more for me to do), and I'll get through Texas this week before tackling the pro version (the New York Giants), again.

I have a feeling things are about to speed up, especially considering they want to get those four done asap. The bad news is that I've decided I really need a vacation that I won't get for a couple of months.

Seriously?

This was my blog for the Tuscaloosa News today:

I've gotten to the point that watching the economic reports and checking to see which newspaper colleagues have lost their jobs have become part of my daily ritual.
I won't repeat any of them here, because you've probably been getting pounded with all the negative reports as well.
Wednesday afternoon, though, an item that interests me came across the wires, that the Senate Judiciary's subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights will examine antitrust issues involving college football's Bowl Championship Series.
The current system "leaves nearly half of all the teams in college football at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to qualifying for the millions of dollars paid out every year," the subcommittee said in a statement.
Pushing for the hearings is the subcommittee's top Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who will introduce legislation "to rectify this situation," but offered no details as of yet.
Of course, people in Utah are upset that the BCS title game paired No. 1 Florida (12-1) against No. 2 Oklahoma (12-1), but the outcry really didn't begin until after the Utes upset Alabama without its best player in the Sugar Bowl.
Some of you may know I wrote a book about how football national champions are determined, "Who's No. 1? 100-Plus Years of Controversial National Champions in College Football" which came out two years ago. I even sent a copy to President Barack Obama after he openly said he believes there needs to be a playoff system to determine country's major-college football champion.
"If I'm Utah, or if I'm USC or if I'm Texas, I might still have some quibbles," the President-elect said at the time, after Florida won the title. "That's why we need a playoff."
But even though this is an issue that affects me many ways, personally and professionally, I can't help but feel the timing may not be right for this debate.
Here's what was on the docket for the Senate Judiciary committee for March hearings:
3/25/2009 Full Committee "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation "
3/24/2009 Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts "Abusive Credit Card Practices and Bankruptcy "
3/18/2009 Full Committee "The Need to Strengthen Forensic Science in the United States: The National Academy of Science's Report on a Path Forward "
3/17/2009 Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs "Law Enforcement Responses to Mexican Drug Cartels "
3/11/2009 Subcommittee on the Constitution "S.J. Res. 7 and H.J. Res. 21: A Constitutional Amendment Concerning Senate Vacancies "
3/10/2009 Full Committee "Executive Nominations "
3/10/2009 Full Committee "Patent Reform in the 111th Congress: Legislation and Recent Court Decisions "
3/4/2009 Full Committee "Getting to the Truth Through a Nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry "
Hatch said in a statement that the BCS system "has proven itself to be inadequate, not only for those of us who are fans of college football, but for anyone who believes that competition and fair play should have a role in collegiate sports."
Meanwhile, in the House, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, has sponsored legislation that would prevent the NCAA from calling a football game a "national championship" unless the game culminates from a playoff system.
It's a worthwhile discussion to be held, at least at some level, but for now my attention will remain focussed on the economy.

There's a small change in your program

Well, I can't say that I'm surprised, but it looks like we're going to hold the Georgia edition until 2010. I think part of it was that we're under contract for nine editions this year, and the rush to get everything done asap has turned this into a major project with little time to work with.

Now, while on face value that may not be so great, it pretty guarantees that we're doing more editions next year (which is better than great). When we get through all this, and then start talking contract and all, I'll start work on the other school that will certainly be in the mix, Southern California.

I finished all the adds for Tennessee, which was our first run-through, and now I'm working on Ohio State. Those two, along with Texas and the New York Giants will be finished first.

Just a horrible Monday

This all happened on the same day:

- Ann Arbor News announced it will close.
-Gannett announced a second week of furloughs company wide. One week for most, but two weeks for people making more than 90k
_ The Charlotte Observer cut its staff by 14.6 percent and reduce the pay of most remaining employees. In addition to the 82 company-wide layoffs – 60 full-time and 22 part-time employees – the Observer will reduce the hours of some employees.
_ The Plain Dealer in Cleveland announced all non-union employees to take pay cuts and 10-day furloughs. Full-time and part-time non-union employees will see their first $50,000 of pay cut by 8 percent and any additional pay cut by 10 percent as of June 1.
-Newhouse announced 10-day furloughs and pension freezes at all papers outside Michigan (including Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville).
-Booth announced pay and benefit cuts in Kalamazoo, Jackson, Muskegon and Grand Rapids.
-Bay City, Flint and Saginaw scaled back to 3-days of print editions.
-Lexington Herald-Leader laid off 53, and announced wage cuts.
-Forum Communications suspended 401k match.

Still under construction

I hate to admit this, but even though I hit my writing deadline for the Huddle Up series, the work continues.

For one, we're thinking about adding quite a bit of information, some immediately and the rest probably down the road. I won't go into the details, but my publisher sent me tentative dummies of the Tennessee book, which we're using as a sort of test run for the whole series, and the thing is getting pretty big.

The good news is that most of what we're adding I'll have done in a few days. Then there will be some tweaking and editing over the next couple of months.

Here's the important info:
1) My jaw hit the ground when I saw the dummies. The book looked absolutely amazing. I'm really excited.
2) There are a lot more visual elements than I envisioned, both graphics and photos.
3) Apparently Barnes and Noble wants all 10 as part of a big preseason promotion that will begin in July. That means everything's getting pushed up to get it done, with more people involved.
4) I've been asked not to post the Tennessee cover yet, but will do so asap. As you would expect, it's real orange.

A possible repreive?

From APSE: Award-winning sports section, paper will continue publishing during sale negotiations
By MICHAEL ANASTASIChair,
West RegionManaging Editor
Salt Lake Tribune
Story posted on March 18, 2009
The closure of the Tucson Citizen, Arizona's oldest newspaper, was put on hold Tuesday when parent company Gannett announced it was in negotiations with two potential buyers.
The 138-year-old newspaper, which produces one of the country's premier sports sections under 40,000 circulation, was scheduled to publish its final edition on Saturday if a buyer hadn't come forth. Now, Gannett said, the Citizen is being published on a day-to-day basis while negotiations proceed.
Under Sports Editor Mike Chesnick's leadership, the Citizen has won Top 10 daily section honors in seven of the past nine years as well as five Top 10 special section awards and 10 Top 10 writing awards over the past decade.
"It's been such a great experience the last 10 years," said Chesnick, who was reeling from Tuesday's news after spending the entire day working on what was to be a 24-page commemorative edition for Saturday. "Now I have no idea what my centerpieces are going to be next week."
Gannett announced in January the paper was up for sale. The Citizen, an afternoon newspaper, has seen its market share steadily decrease in competition with the Arizona Daily Star, a morning paper. According to a story in Editor & Publisher, the Citizen's circulation has declined to around 17,000 from a peak of about 60,000 in the 1960s. The Arizona Daily Star has a circulation of about 117,000.
Still, that imbalance hasn't prevented the Citizen from engaging in compelling sports journalism. Corky Simpson retired a few years ago after 30 years at the Citizen but helped establish a national reputation for the paper by consistently placing among the Top 10 in column writing. That tradition continued under Chesnick, who has worked at the Citizen for 24 years in a variety of roles.
"Mike and his staff give a big-league effort and get big-league results every day," said Michael Limon, the paper's former managing editor who is now business editor at The Salt Lake Tribune. "Without the resources of bigger papers, they've always given Tucson readers the best in sports."
Sports was to represent a healthy chunk of the final edition. Among the content planned was a reprint of the first football story published in the paper, in 1899, and the first basketball story, five paragraphs published in 1904.
"We've always considered ourselves the underdog and it was a great source of pride whenever we scooped the competition," Chesnick said. "We have such a solid staff and not much turnover. We're like a family."
The staff includes:
■ Steve Rivera, a 22-year Citizen veteran who covers Arizona basketball and has won three Top 10 writing awards.
■ Anthony Gimino, who's won four Top 10's including one for the best game's story in 2005.
■ John Moredich, the Arizona football beat writer and multiple state-award winner.
■ Michael Schmelzle, the assistant sports editor.
■ Geoff Grammer, the former sports editor in Las Cruces who has guided the Citizen's prep coverage.
■ Reporters Bryan Lee, Ken Brazzle and Raymond Suarez.
Not surprisingly, the Citizen sports staff is working hard and with professionalism right up to what it thought was the end, preparing readers for Friday's NCAA opener between the University of Arizona and Utah. Rivera was dispatched to Miami and, with the commemorative edition planned to contain no live news, was scheduled to write a final game story for the Web. Chesnick had planned to edit the story in his final act as sports editor before heading to a farewell party.
"Boy, I'm sure glad I sent him," Chesnick said.
Looks like the Citizen has its Saturday centerpiece

Saying goodbye

Saturday is going to be a very sad day for me because one of the newspapers I used to work at is closing shop.

I like the lead of the Associated Press article:

TUCSON _ Marshal Wyatt Earp's fabled 1881 shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone was reported this way:"A day when blood flowed as water, and human life was held as a shuttlecock, a day always to be remembered as witnessing the bloodiest and the deadliest street fight that has ever occurred in this place, or probably in the territory."For nearly 140 years, the Tucson Citizen has told the stories of Southern Arizona, but on Saturday, March 21, the state's oldest newspaper will tell its last -- its own.

Strange but true, my publisher was Don Hatfield, a direct descendant of the Hatfield-McCoy feud (huge Arizona Wildcats basketball fan).

I wish this was an isolated situation, but it's not. On SportsJournalists.com, here's what was listed on the front page of the forums today:

"Bye-Bye (Seattle) PI"
"...On Death of newspapers"
"Bloody Monday at KC"
"Seattle PI announcement to come..."
"Tucson Citizen closing up shop"
"Staff layoffs, pay cuts in Raleigh"
"Today is layoff day at my shop"
"More cuts at McClatchy"
"Herald to cut 175"
"Fate of Rocky (was) announced"
"Time to root for failure"
"Fuloughs beginning at CNHI"
"Media General goes to furloughs"
"D-Day has arrived at my shop. Wish me luck."
"Thinking the unthinkable _ What's next?"

I'm at the top, bottom and everywhere in between

A quick little note as I attempt to make the transition from working non-stop on something for months, to "back to reality." My book publisher sent me the sales figures of "100 Things" from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2008, and overall I'm pretty pleased.

I'm not going to list the actual number sold, but it may already be my best-selling book yet (I won't get the figures on the other books for a couple of months, but I believe "Where Football is King" will hold on to the lead).

So. the estimated Walsh best-selling list is:
1. Where Football is King, 2006
2. 100 Things, 2008
3. Who's No. 1? 2007
4. Crimson Storm Surge, 2005
5. No Time Outs, 2006
6. Return to Glory (contributing writer), 2009

Now, the real reason why I'm posting this is because a year from now I'll be keeping a very close eye on the 10 editions of Huddle Up, which will determine the future and direction of the series. I'm also curious to see how they stack up against my other titles as well.

Bonus book, DONE!

It's roughly 3 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. Last night, I, ironically, covered Alabama vs. Auburn in baseball at Montgomery, then drove to Tuscaloosa and put the final touches on the bonus handbook, which as I stated before was not part of our original contract.

Such is life. I'm thrilled to be done, because all 10 versions of the Huddle Up series (Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and the New York Giants the others) are in the hands of my publisher and being worked on.

As soon as I send my publisher a note with some ideas of what I would like to do for 2010, I'm going to celebrate by passing out. I might come out of it in time for St. Patrick's Day.

FYI, here's the final total: 417,065 words.