Surviving year one

We are just a couple of days from me completing my first year at the Greene County Daily World. Getting to this point was not easy and from what I can tell, a good number in this industry fail to pull that off. Both writers who were hired shortly before me exited the industry just nine months in for me. When I introduced myself to a few coaches and athletic directors in the community I could tell from their faces they were wondering “We’ll see how long this guy sticks around.”

The few who had “over a year” won the betting pool. I was never in danger of leaving but I was in danger of the burnout writers face. My first month I did not have a solid place to stay in Greene County. The residence I rented for a month ended up having a broken toilet and a malfunctioning fridge. All of which I did not know prior to paying. Welcome to Greene County Nathan.

The first month of August last year was tough. For the first time in my marriage, I was spending nights away from my wife. It’s something I hope I never have to do again as it took a toll on us.

When Linton played a football game that month on Friday night, I would get videos and photos up from the game on our website and social media by midnight. Then I began the drive back to Indy for my wife’s birthday the next day. Living in two places at once for six weeks is never a good idea.

Eventually, I got settled into Linton but my plan to build a team of photographers and correspondents was unraveling. Some of our staff went other directions and were no longer able to help us. In desperation, I drove to an Eastern Greene football game three weeks into the season but not to cover the game. Instead, I went to see if someone with a camera would be willing to take photos of the Thunderbirds for us for a few bucks. It was a mission that I doubt no other sports editor from this paper has tried. By the grace of God, I found someone and she became my Eastern Greene correspondent.

As COVID-19 cases climbed, so did the impact on our sports coverage. My two main photographers came down with it at the same time at the start of basketball season. The goal became finding a way to survive. Thankfully, three photographers reached out to me giving our sports section a shot. The other break came in the fact that several teams had basketball games canceled due to contact tracing. Had it been a full schedule several games would have been uncovered.

At the end of basketball season, I was toast. I pulled over at Goosepond on my way back from Linton’s defeat in boys regionals to look at the sunset. I thought to myself “How did I get through this season? How do I cover the spring teams on empty?”

When I visited Linton’s softball and baseball practice, a parent told me what a great job I was doing, and the Linton baseball players were excited to see me. Throughout baseball season, Linton players would wave at me from the outfield as they told me they get excited when they see me with my camera.

The best moment came when Linton girls track won the SWIAC meet. One of the girls yelled out “Where is Nathan Pace?” She wanted the moment for her team of getting interviewed after a big win. That told me all the videos and photos I’ve posted online were working.

Not everything went the way I planned it for sure. A few people voiced their frustration with me at different times during the season. I couldn’t always get someone to cover a team I wanted covered. My strategy of having a photographer at the game when we can’t get a writer there does not sit well with some in the county. Others really like the multimedia method I went with.

It is funny who you ask but some will say I had less coverage of their school and another fan nearby will tell me the coverage of their team improved. That’s the life of a sports editor. You can’t make everyone happy but I do know most athletic directors thought we were holding our own.

Still, I am amazed at the transformation. Prior to the pandemic, the Daily World had two sports writers and two photographers. All four were male. Now we have one sports editor, one sports correspondent and five photographers. Between the seven of us, five are women, probably a first for a sports staff in the area.

For year two I still have a card to play. In July I livestreamed the parade in Linton and it showed me I can livestream my own show on Facebook. Next week will be the premiere of “Nathan’s Low Budget Sports Show.” It will feature the type of video content I did in year one with a few changes. It will probably take a few months to get things figured out but I came to Greene County to take chances. I think it could take off and become something athletes, coaches and parents are excited about in this county. At the very least it should make our sports coverage more accessible and more relevant to the community.

So here it is to season two as Nathan Pace as the sports editor in Greene County. Buckle up folks.