Reflections on my career as an Upvalley sports reporter

Some things put you in a reflective mood for no apparent reason.

As I have stated many times in this space, two years ago, I left behind the only career I had known post college -- sports reporter -- for 18 years. Though I have settled into my new career of route sales representative for Alhambra Water, writing remains my passion.

In May 2003, my career as a sports reporter was at a crossroads. I had worked for a startup online news service (GetLocalNews.com) for two years. The online newspaper covered Benicia and Vallejo, CA. The working relationship I enjoyed with Brian Cornelius and Chris Navalta was tremendous along with the ones that were formed in the communities.

One day we were called into a staff meeting, in which case management planted a seed that there would be a staff-wide layoff. Two months later, said layoff took place. The timing could not have been worse, I recently became engaged to my current wife (Jackie) and we were in the process of purchasing a home.

The next seven months, I picked up a lot of freelance work for both the Napa Valley Register and Silver & Black Illustrated. For the latter, I was a contributing writer for five years. Though I was able to gather enough freelance work to stay afloat, at some point that way of making a living would have diminishing returns.

Though I was open to changing careers, I did not want my career to end on someone else’s terms. Lo and behold in January 2004, my career fortunes changed. Seven months earlier, the Register purchased the St. Helena Star and Weekly Calistogan (two weekly publications in Northern Napa Valley). NVR sports editor Randy Johnson alerted me that Dave Williams was no longer the Upvalley beat reporter for the Star and Calistogan. After seeping through a few resumes, including mine, I became Johnson’s hand-picked choice.

I felt like a player that was cut by his previous team and was going to capitalize once signing with a new team. I was determined to kick ass and take names. Though Williams was a talented writer having previously covered the Oakland Raiders for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, I didn’t think his philosophy was lockstep with what a community newspaper sports section should be. For openers, he repeatedly wrote national columns. Honestly, people are not picking up the St. Helena Star and Weekly Calistogan to read about Kobe Bryant. You also can’t cover the St. Helena Saints like the New Orleans Saints. You also can’t cover the Calistoga Wildcats like the Kentucky Wildcats.

There was a public relations mess to clean up when I arrived. For openers, the Upvalley people were not happy about their community weeklies joining forces with the Register, which was corporately owned. Small town people are a provincial lot but even though I am a Napa native, my family have Upvalley ties, so I doubled down on that angle.

The PR damage control was much stronger on the Calistoga side than St. Helena. Though Williams was not well-received in St. Helena, he never did anything catastrophic there. Plus, the sports section had a great ambassador in Garrett Whitt (aka the GMan), who has been a long-time contributing writer for the Star. I’ll share extensive thoughts on my working relationship that became a friendship with the GMan in my next blog entry.

On the Calistoga side, however, the uphill climb would be much steeper. For openers, during coverage of the Gene Duffy Holiday Classic, a young man named Brannan Campbell was referred to in a caption as Billy Buttwipe. To add further damage, Campbell was a great-grandson of Duffy, a long-time business owner and supporter of Calistoga High athletics. There was yet another additional layer I had to combat. In 2003, the Calistoga Tribune was formed, which was a small independently owned news organization.

I would not be the Star and Calistogan sports editor by title but would be given similar autonomy.

The approach to game stories would be about celebrating the team’s success without unprofessionally gushing but report their shortcomings with sensitivity. However, there would be two very important elements that were going to be prominent and give both newspapers an identity.

There would be an “On This Date” snippet, taking various events that happened on the date of the publication. I admired that idea from afar with the Fairfield Daily Republic, compiled by long-time sports reporter and current sports editor Paul Farmer.

There would also be a one-on-one interview that later became known as a Time Out interview. I brought that idea with me from Silver & Black Illustrated, which is an Oakland Raiders fan magazine that served as a contributing writer from 1999-2005. During the school year, the feature focused on high school seniors but in the summer it focused on adults involved in local athletics.

To this day, I remain very proud of the CNPA (California Newspaper Publisher Association) in Circulation Category D in 2005 (sports story, Weekly Calistogan), 2006 (sports coverage, St. Helena Star), 2010 (sports coverage, St. Helena Star) and 2013 (sports story, St. Helena Star). The crowning achievement came in 2008 when the Weekly Calistogan took first place for sports coverage and the St. Helena Star taking second place.

Awards might not be the No. 1 reason why we do what we do as professionals, but positive recognition such as this is great for the news organization as a whole. When I took over that beat, I felt both sports sections needed changes to make this a championship product. I also felt that we had to restore our community connection. I might be the quarterback so to speak but this honor is also reflective of the weekly efforts of Randy, Garrett and Bill Ryan that make us a diverse section.

Let’s just say, I considered this our State Championship. St. Helena and Calistoga are great communities that have been supportive from Day One.

By no means am I suggesting I was liked by everyone, I can safely say I was respected. In one respect, relationships in a small town can get claustrophobic, but I found that if you demonstrate a vested interest in the community, gratitude will come in much greater volume than you imagined.

Community journalism is not just about writing stories. It is about thinking of fresh ways to tell them. It takes a certain relational ability that combines a willingness to celebrate success and report shortcomings with the idea that you are writing about kid.