I walked into Cowboy Stadium on Tuesday unimpeded.
Lance Guidry met me with a handshake at the top of the staircase leading to the field. For reasons few can fathom, he wore a long-sleeved shirt in 97-degree heat on artificial turf where you can smell the tiny rubber pellets burning beneath your feet.
The team began practice. I wandered aimlessly, not sure what to do with this freedom I once thought unattainable. I took some mediocre, 8-second videos while flipping through my notebook, trying to match the numbers and names on the 100-person Cowboys roster I’d handwritten hours earlier.
Then, a Bonnette appeared. In my five-year reporting career spent mostly at LSU, this almost always signals the end of any viewing or availability.
But here came Matthew, pointing out players, coaches and quickly answering any other petty, obvious questions I asked as the team ran a fiery 2-minute drill.
Man, I ain’t in Baton Rouge anymore.
You can now put a face (one with eyes that can’t seem to stay open when a picture’s taken) to this new name you’re hopefully seeing every morning in the American Press and each time you visit americanpress.com.
I am the newspaper’s new McNeese State beat reporter. Or, as I’ve been introduced just about everywhere around town this week, I’m “the new Alex Hickey.”
Hickey and I, essentially, switched lives (and Bonnettes). I was born, raised and began my reporting career in Baton Rouge, where Hickey now resides, ready to chronicle every misplaced modifier mumbled at a Les Miles news conference.
His shoes are large to fill, both literally and figuratively, but I hope to do so adequately. One of the toughest things about this industry is starting a new beat. There’s an uneasiness for athletes and coaches, unsure how to approach the new guy with swooped hair, a compulsion to chew on his pen and an iPhone to record every word you say.
This goes both ways. My first few stories this week were written at an agonizingly slow pace as I clicked between as many open tabs as my Google Chrome browser allowed, making sure I got each and every detail correct about a team that, until about nine days ago, I knew nothing about.
And still there were missteps. I woke up Thursday morning with two (very polite) emails correcting me about minute details in a story.
It was the happiest moment of my week.
Why? It shows you care. It shows that I’m writing to a fan base who genuinely and devoutly love the team they follow. And that motivates me to provide you the best coverage you can get, whether you get the print newspaper, read online or simply follow me on Twitter.
So if there’s something you’re not sure about, something you think I’ve missed or overlooked or a story you think needs to be told, let me know. (A quick disclaimer, though. I do not coach the team and firing/hiring is way above my pay grade).
Before that 2-minute drill began Tuesday, I introduced myself to a gentleman on the sidelines.
“Are you an upbeat writer?” he asked.
I hope he, and all of you, never know. If I do my job correctly, none of you should be able to perceive my opinion in the newspaper. I am a beat reporter and I hold objectivity in the highest regard.
I’m here to tell the story as it happens on the field or court, give you an inside look at the players you cheer for and nothing more. And I’m fired up to do it.
So, in the words of Cosmo Kramer, let’s giddy up, Cowboys.
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Chandler Rome covers McNeese State athletics. Email him at
crome@americanpress.com
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