Managing Your Time 101

I'm here to answer the question we all have been thinking about...What do Willie Randolph and I have in common?

Well, I'm glad I brought it up, because there is one trait we share.

Neither of us can manage.

While he has trouble managing the underachieving Mets on his way out the door in New York, I am currently having trouble managing my time.

A big no-no in the sports writing world.

I have become the Pittsburgh Pirate feature writer for the monthly paper I work at. It's a great job, because they are my favorite team in my favorite sport. And yes, Pittsburgh still has a professional baseball team in case any people outside western Pennsylvania are reading this.

Usually my assignments are a Q&A with someone involved with the organization, and a feature story on any topic I see fit (as long as it gets approved by my editor). I settled on a standard topic this month, how players on the trade block deal with rumors circling around them before the July 31st trade deadline.

I had a list of three or four questions I was going to ask a few players in the clubhouse before a game last week. I left my day job around 4:30 and headed down to PNC Park (I'll let you imagine what my day job is, but I'll give you a hint: it involves a speedo, lotion and a camera with 500x zoom).

When I got to the stadium it was around 5:40 and the clubhouse was closing in 20 minutes. I walked in and didn't immediately see anyone I needed. So I left and ate dinner before going to the press box to watch the Bucs blow a lead in the 9th. I didn't think anything of it, as I was also going to the game the next day and figured I would have plenty of time if I got down there early enough.

I arrived at the park around 5:00 the next night, with plenty of time to do my interviews. But the only problem is right when I was about to step out of my car, my phone rang. It was the Pirates broadcaster with whom I was doing my Q&A with. I had forgot I had set up the interview with him at this time.

By the time I finished the Q&A, it was too late to go to the clubhouse yet again. So through two trips to the park and several gallons of gas, I had nothing to show for it.

So here I am, less than a week away from my due date with not one quote. Luckily my editor gave me an extension to finish my story, which means I HAVE to get my interviews done this Saturday, and write the story on the Lords' day. There really is no excuse on my part, as I had ample opportunity in my other two trips. I just failed to manage my time well.

I have no one to blame but myself. It's something a sports writer, or any writer for that matter, cannot afford to do.

Hopefully I will get what I need on Saturday. Hopefully I will have the story completed by Sunday night. If not, my next press pass might be at a YMCA checkers tournament.