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10/27/2004: Gem o'the Day, World Series edition:
You may have noticed that we have a number of people covering the World Series. There are people from the news side involved, people from the Metro section, the Travel section, the 2nd floor commissary.
There are so many P-D photographers at the ballpark, they have started their own paparazzi chapter.
The press area at the stadium resembles the dodge-em track at an amusement park, with P-D staffers bumping into each other left and right. Naturally, innocently, the situation creates a bit of byline congestion. Finding a story is like finding a cab coming out of the ballpark in Boston. You think you recognize one coming, you think you flagged one down, then somebody else jumps in the backseat and rides off with your angle.
At the same time, editors are anxious about filling the exorbitant amount of space committed to each day, zealously pursuing any potential topic. The rain on Tuesday evening made for a tense situation. Points of interest were like nuggets of gold. As Brian Sutter might say, "Points are precious."
As weather threatened to delay or postpone the game, the shirts and ties became even more anxious. They turned into the fretting, frantic Walter Brennan in Rio Bravo. At any moment, I was expecting one of them to call and ask for 800 words on "the first thing that pops into your head."
So, as you page through this section, if you find a feature on the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, don't blame me. I couldn't help it; it just popped in there. I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something I loved from my childhood. Something that could never, ever possibly destroy us. Mr. Stay-Puft ... We used to roast Stay-Puft marshmallows, by the fire at Camp Waconda. You know how it goes.
--Dan O'Neill, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Len on 10.27.04 @ 08:16 AM CST
