APSE

Just in case they ever find themselves overseeing construction of a hockey rink, Northeast region sports editors learned some valuable lessons about that business at their regional meeting this week at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn.

Jack McDonald, the school’s athletic director, revealed the secret of the Zamboni door, as well as the NCAA loophole that allows a penalty box to be positioned to favor the home team, during a tour of the school’s gleaming TD Bank Sports Center.

The secret of the Zamboni door is to locate it behind the goal the home team will shoot at twice during a game, because the seam of the door is going to cause some pucks to bounce in front of the goal, and that’s worth a goal a year.

And by putting the penalty box adjacent to the home team bench in a college rink – on the opposite side of the visitor’s bench – you’ll make it easy for the home team to substitute when a penalty expires, while the visitor must skate across the ice to change. That’s key when the guy in the box isn’t the best suited to be on the ice when the penalty ends.

McDonald learned those pearls of wisdom from colleague Jack Parker, the hockey coach at Boston University, during Quinnipiac’s construction of the arena, which features a hockey rink and basketball court within one facility and is the centerpiece of a campus expansion. McDonald was one of several Quinnipiac officials who joined sports editors for the day and provided insight on Quinnipiac’s athletic and journalism programs.

Michele Moore, interim dean of the school of communications, and Rich Hanley, director of the graduate journalism program, said there are more than 1,000 students majoring in communications at Quinnipiac, with approximately 300 focusing on journalism.

Sports editors also learned a lot from their colleagues in sessions about better blogging and Internetting, covering youth sports, and chasing rumors. They also shared success stories in a best ideas session, and met with Quinnipiac journalism school students over lunch.

Matt Humphrey, assistant sports editor at the Orlando Sentinel, shared his tips for effective blogging that ranged from identifying content sources to maximizing its exposure online through tactics such as always using first and last names in headlines, adding photos with captions to blog posts, and writing the headline last using strong key words or likely search phrases.

View his PowerPoint presentation here: http://apsportseditors.org/wp-content/uploads/wp_apsportseditors_org_/file/apsebloggingslides.pptx.zip

Hank Domin and Jennifer Gish of the Albany Times Union in New York led a best ideas session with an explanation of how they created High School Football Insider, a glossy magazine the Times Union sold on newsstands and at high school football games. They learned valuable lessons along the way, especially pertaining to distribution and containing their costs, but also emerged pleased with the product and a resolve to do it better next season. Domin and Gish, who were co-editors on the project, also opened new avenues for content because several coaches were pleased with the interest in their programs and gave the Times Union new and unique access.

Most importantly, they not only turned a profit, they also gave the paper’s ad sales department, which did not support the first edition of the magazine, a new product to sell next summer.

At lunch, the buddy system was used to pair Quinnipiac students with professionals to discuss the business and network. Students from the journalism program also attended sessions throughout the day.

Dan Doyle, whose book “The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting,” was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, presented a seminar on covering youth sports. Doyle began by explaining some of the key concepts of his book because he believes the advice and stories he offers to parents can also apply to sports journalists to consider when they are making coverage decisions.

Among Doyle’s beliefs are that sports parents should avoid interfering with youth sports coaches on matters of strategy or playing time, but they not only have a right, but an obligation to intervene when issues arise over ethics, bullying or dangerous situations. Doyle urged sports editors to use “a degree of kindness when dealing with youth sports and high schools,” and to consider clearly stating to readers their approach to covering youth sports at least once a year.

He also encouraged, at the suggestion of a colleague, Sandy Padwe of Columbia University, media to have a youth sports beat reporter. Doyle used the story of his own high school coach in Shrewsbury, Mass., Joe Lane, to illustrate the positive effect media coverage can have on youth sports. Lane was furious over a story by Peter Gammons that criticized his bombastic sideline manner, but it also caused him to reflect on his ways and change his style.

The day ended with a session called “Chasing Rumors,” that featured NBA reporter Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe and Associated Press Deputy Sports Editor Mary Byrne discussing how they navigate today’s world of stories blowing up fast and furious.

Washburn, who is known to emerge from the minefield of Twitter-age reporting with the most accurate story, explained how he nailed stories on a fight between Celtics Delonte West and Von Wafer, Paul Pierce’s contract negotiations and reports of Doc Rivers considering retirement.