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Lakewood Sports--Reader Feedback Requested
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:18 am
by Mike Deneen
Please post your answers here to one simple question:
What would you like to see in the Observer's sports page?
The more feedback the better!
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:28 pm
by Stan Austin
Mike--- How about a few articles on the coaches of the youngest kids' teams? In every sense of the word this is where the athletes are made both physically and mentally and what happens in these really formative years will last a lifetime.
The coaches and athletes that get the attention of course are the high school teams.
Dial the calendar back ten years and see what makes kids' coaches volunteer their time and offer such a valuable contribution.
Stan Austin
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 3:46 pm
by dl meckes
I'd like to hear from the kids about what's good & bad about the sports programs.
Do kids just love their sports? Do many dream of scholarships?
Do they feel that their parents or other spectators are problematic?
How do they feel about participating in less popular sports?
How do they feel they have benefitted - what have they learned through their participation?
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 4:33 pm
by Tom Bullock
I'd like to see something on adult sports and recreation. Perhaps I'm thinking "selfishly" since I neither have kids in school nor kids at all.
But as a Lakewood newcomer, I *would* like to know recreational opportunities in the Metroparks, esp. at/near the Rocky River and on the Lake. I'd be curious to see what others are doing, too--if there's a master fisherman or a rock climber or something.
I'd also be curious if there are adult soccer or basketball leagues: how do I join, and who's winning/losing? It might be fun if there was a story about the adult league games akin to high school sports coverage--tongue in cheek, I imagine: "The Weekend Warriors wheezed up and down the court but fed a few more good passes and sank a few more good layups than their opponents. Then it was off to Pug Mahones for a round..."
Final thought: "extreme sport" coverage can be interesting. Does the skate park hold competitions or events? If so, it'd be interesting to see some photos and coverage of the event. Maybe somebody could film video and clips could be posted on the website.
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 8:35 pm
by Tracy Jones
How about an article about the LHS Girl's Rugby team. Weren't they state champs or something like that? Also, the LHS Girl's volleyball team were the LEL Champs last year, can't wait to go to some of their meets this season.
Kickball
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 12:05 pm
by Ruth Sholtis-Furyes
Don't forget Lakewood Rec kickball!!
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 2:53 pm
by Lynn Farris
I agree with all of the comments. I like to read about different sports. Ones that you don't read about all the time (e.g., Boys Football and Basketball)
What about Gymnastics? Tennis? Rugby? Swimming, Diving, Lacross? Golf? Volleyball? Ice Skating - Winterhurt has one of the best figure skating coaches in the country - how about a story on it? Ice Hockey? Speed Skating?
The head of the Cleveland Woman's Rugby team is a graduate of LHS and lives right here in Scenic Park. A story on her would be great. (I'd even love to write it.)
I bet we have some horseback riders in the group. I love horses and would love to read about some riders from Lakewood.
I know Hunter would be willing to write on sailing, which is a great sport when you live on a lake.
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:02 pm
by Tracy Jones
Was glad to see coverage of the football and girl's soccer teams in the latest edition of the Observer. Looking forward to coverage for the cross country team, girl's volleyball, boy's soccer, boy's golf, and girl's tennis.
ClevelandPlays.com
Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2005 12:34 pm
by Lorri Stewart
I play football in a co-ed rec league for the greater Cleveland area, organized by Cleveland Plays.com, and it would be interesting to have a story about that organization once in awhile. Although it is not specific to Lakewood, many of the players are from Lakewood, and it's a great way to meet people and stay active. It is targeted towards young professionals, but anyone can play, and they offer a variety of sports and games, such as football, volleyball, softball, bowling (played at the Winking Lizard in Lakewood!), darts, and euchre!
Disappointed
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:45 am
by Tracy Jones
Sigh, yet more coverage of the LHS football team. Was hoping other teams could be showcased. Girl's tennis, boy's golf, boy's soccer, the cross country team.

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 1:53 pm
by dl meckes
Tracy-
Since this is an all volunteer project and writers cover the stories they want to cover, we need to find people, whether it is a fan, a parent, a coach, advisor or a player, who wants to write about the teams you mention.
The Observer is always trying to recruit new contributors.
This is sort of off-topic, but we are very lucky to have Ivor Karabatkovic, a photographer from LHS contributing to the Observer sports coverage. He's a very talented young photographer.
It would be wonderful if we knew we had some volunteer writers for the sports that traditionally get less coverage because Ivor might be able to provide us with some images.
Know anyone who'd like to contribute?
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:35 pm
by Jim O'Bryan
Tracy
As Mike Deneen is the sports editor I wanted to let him address these issues. However I will let you know we are working on a cross country story and I have photos in the office already.
I realize your frustration with "football" stories all the time but one of the things we talked about at a recent meeting with Mike is that we would try to run stories in season. As football was nearing the end of the season we would finish up with that then move on to volleyball, track, soccer, and swimming.
I would also like to point out that DL is correct if you would like to report on any of these sports I can give you a photographer that would be happy to shot the event with you, and it could go from scores to indepth articles about the team.
.
What Jim said
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 4:15 pm
by Mike Deneen
We only have a couple of sports writers right now, and there are a lot of teams out there. We have already covered many of the fall programs, and will do our best to cover tournament games for all the fall sports.
If anyone out there would like to volunteer to cover an event or team, feel free to call me at 226-5536. You can write as much or as little as you want.
As for football, there is no such thing as too much coverage!
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 4:25 pm
by Mark Schroeder
Mike--
Delivering the LO I encountered a man who said he'd like to see more coverage of the "other" high school in Lakewood, i.e. St. Ed's.
I, being the true LHS graduate, said, "They still have a football program?"
Running swiftly to the next house, I promised to forward his request and have!
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 4:45 pm
by Mike Deneen
As a St. Ed's alum myself, I would love to do some Ed's stories. As the paper grows, we may add coverage of some of the lesser-known Ed's programs.
However, the Ed's football team already gets plenty of coverage from the PD, Sun Post and electronic media, so I don't think we can really add much to the mix. I sure would love to have a press pass to the Ignatius game, though!
Given our limited staff, we expect to focus our scholastic coverage on LHS at least through this academic year.
FYI, other sports-related items you will be seeing in the coming months include features on former local athletes, some opinion columns and articles about activities such as skateboarding. And yes, there will stuff on the girls's rugby team, too.
We will probably do some human interest stuff on youth sports (see Stan's idea), but we will DEFINITELY not be covering them in a competitive context.