Upon Further Review

The phone call I got was good. Nothing wrong with it at all.

Just a Waynesboro boys soccer fan calling (and not leaving his name, but it’s fine because his call was the right way to do it) letting me know that I made the wrong choice Tuesday by deciding to head out to the Wilson boys soccer game instead of Waynesboro boys’ win over Western Albemarle.

Fair enough. He wasn’t rude. He didn’t insult Wilson. Didn’t blame this sports department for costing anybody a scholarship. And he didn’t give me that tiresome “you disappointed” us routine that way too many parents enjoy pulling these days. (Disappointment? I know a few people who have been laid off their jobs the past few weeks, now that’s disappointment.) He just knew that, as a fan of local sports, I wished I could have been there.

Of course, then you get the e-mailers, one of whom decided to not take high route, but one where they blame a newspaper’s lack of coverage on a sporting event for all the world’s ills. Seriously, if I didn’t know better I’d assume that not covering a JV baseball game in Waynesboro would somehow cost a child in some third-world country their one hot meal a day. I’m not kidding.

Here’s the e-mail:

Once again our hometown newspaper has let the townspeople down by ignoring our hometown WHS Little Giants Soccer Team.  We would like to see better coverage of our Little Giants especially since the varsity boys team is undefeated in district play.  We are not happy at all with your coverage or lack thereof.  These boys play their hearts out to bring recognition to our hometown and yet our newspaper ignores their efforts.  Is it too much to ask for you to cover your hometown area, especially when the school is just across the street from your office.

Let’s break it down:

Once again our hometown newspaper has let the townspeople down by ignoring our hometown WHS Little Giants Soccer Team.

Ah yes, we’re ignoring the Waynesboro boys soccer team. Golly gee-whiz. You got us there. Let’s see, so far this spring season The News Virginian has staffed 22 high school soccer games. Eight were Waynesboro boys game—that’s all but two home games counting last night. They are more than double the second-place soccer team we’ve covered this season which is ... wait for it ... wait for it .. wait for it ... the Waynesboro girls soccer team with four staffed stories and one hard news story on the coaching switch. After that, the next highest soccer team we’ve covered is the undefeated overall (not just in district) Wilson Memorial boys team with three staffed games. After that, it trickles down throughout the rest of the schools in our coverage area. Well, all expect for Fort Defiance girls and boys soccer because we haven’t heard from them all season and, to be honest, have no clue if they still have a team. (We can assume yes since they are on Waynesboro’s schedule for Thursday night.)

We would like to see better coverage of our Little Giants especially since the varsity boys team is undefeated in district play.

So, if they weren’t undefeated, you wouldn’t want to see more coverage of them? Did you tell the players this? How do they feel about this? “Hey boys, since you’re good, we want the paper to cover you. When you’re not good, well, not so much.“ Did it go like that? Just asking.

These boys play their hearts out to bring recognition to our hometown and yet our newspaper ignores their efforts.

Um, so covering six of eight home matches is ignoring a team’s effort? I don’t get this. Somebody explain this to me, please. I’m asking.

So, yeah. This newspaper didn’t staff Tuesday night’s thrilling 4-3 Waynesboro win over Western Albemarle. Coach Bill Meicke, thankfully not taking a cue from Fort Defiance’s two soccer programs, always calls his scores in. Always has and, I can only assume always will. (I can’t speak for Fort Defiance on that one, however since well, like I said, for some reason or another they deem this sports department not worthy enough to call. But I digress. And they should have a chat with softball coach Max Hill and the two tennis coaches who, to my recollection have never missed a call-in either.)

It was an honest decision. Western is a non-district game for Waynesboro. Page County is a district game for Wilson. If I had a crystal ball, trust me, I would have been sitting on the grass bleachers across the street from our office. (Not that I minded watching the Wilson game and chatting with Sam Bowman, but that’s beside the point.)

Then there’s the issue of rainouts and confusion rescheduling seems to be causing some schools. Last week’s Fort Defiance at Stuarts Draft softball game had start time of 6 p.m. listed on the Fort Defiance Web site and 5 p.m. on the Stuarts Draft Web site. Um, OK. So which one was it fellas. (I split the difference and showed up early knowing full well if I had to wait an hour or so, I could run over to Liberty and snag myself a couple of Nathan’s Hot Dogs for two bucks. Win, win, folks.)

And, regarding Thursday night’s Waynesboro vs. Maybe Still A Soccer Team at Fort Defiance But We’re Not Sure Since They Deem Us Not Important Enough to Call and All That Really Hurts is the Athletes: The Fort Defiance Web site has the game taking place ... wait for it .. wait for it .. Wednesday night? The Waynesboro Web site has it listed at Thursday.

What the Fred Flintstone? Seriously.

Let’s say, for bloguments sake, that this slack-jawed columnist was asked to do the schedules. First off, they’d be right. Secondly, they’d be consistent. And, finally, I’d make all Waynesboro soccer games on Sundays. This way, there would be no conflict and instead of covering a measly six of eight home games (yes, that’s sarcasm) we could cover them all.

They pay these ADs how much again? (You can actually find out here.) And they can’t be consistent on their schedules.

And to the guy who left me that voice mail, I’m sorry I missed the game too. And, believe it or not, I’m not kidding.

Follow Jim Sacco, Augusta County’s only award-winning sports columnist, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PoochPunt