By Kyle Partain, NHSRA Media Coordinator
I found myself in a tough spot this morning. Oklahoma ribbon ropers Steven Richmond and Christian Chaney took the lead in their event as just the third team out. Their 8.335-second run wasn’t blazing by any means, but it was good enough to take the lead.
I happened to be out in the arena when they made the run and jumped at the chance to interview two contestants who had just moved to the top of the leaderboard. I grabbed Steven, who was horseback, but Christian headed up the stairs into the grandstand before I could catch her. So, I interviewed Steven and then he helped me track down his partner in the stands.
At some point while I was interviewing the two, Indiana’s Anna Dietrich and Tucker O’Neill took the lead with an 8.241-second run. Only, I didn’t see that because I was talking to the two kids who I thought were still leading the event. It wasn’t until I returned to the office and had my press release mostly written that the official results came through and I saw that the Okies had dropped to second in the performance and the round.
As a one-man media department trying to juggle the demands of traditional media with the website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, I only have limited time each performance to get out, see some of the action and try to find a contestant to talk with for the short press release I send out. I also have to try to balance the events I write about from one performance to the next. Since barrel racing and chute dogging are the first events in their respective arenas, it would be easy for me to just write about those two events every day. But the best stories don’t always happen early in the performance.
Often times, I have to roll the dice on a contestant who just took the lead and hope that run holds up through the performance. If I don’t jump on the chance to talk with the kid right then, he or she can often be difficult to track down on deadline a few minutes later. Cell phones have made it easier than it was eight or 10 years ago, and even most of the kids at the NJHFR are walking around with them. But they’re not always good at answering them, especially when it’s a number they don’t recognize.
It’s quite the balancing act. Monday morning, I gambled and lost, and yet I still had a deadline to meet.
So, I put out the press release with the quotes I got from the Oklahoma team, adding in a quick paragraph about how Dietrich and O’Neill had taken the top spot a few minutes later. The run helped Dietrich jump to No. 1 in the all-around cowgirl standings and O’Neill moved to first in the rookie all-around cowboy results. Had I waited a few more minutes, I’d have been talking with the Indiana team for the press release that went out today.
For those wondering why I wrote several paragraphs about a team in second place, there you have it. When tonight’s performance rolls around, I’ll be back out there at some point looking for another story. I might have to gamble again, and just hope that it doesn’t backfire twice in one day.
At the end of the day, I try to remember that a story on any contestant in Gallup is worth reading. We have so many great competitors here, and I wish I could find time to highlight them all.
NHSRA 