TEMPLE: Series tests readers, Rocky, Rox

Saturday, October 27, 2007

What I've learned from this World Series, so far.

? First, Rockies players were a lesson in class after the beating they took in the first game. One thing that's been enjoyable about their incredible run is that they seem like such likable people, from manager Clint Hurdle down to rookie Troy Tulowitzki. So on a night when their dream went bad, it was refreshing to see them take responsibility and hold their heads high.

The day of the game was huge for us at the Rocky, too. We had wrapped the paper with 60 pages of World Series coverage, featuring a front-page drawing by our extraordinary sports cartoonist, Drew Litton. The paper was so big with so much color advertising that we had to print it in a way we'd never tried with our new presses. To print that many pages with color is far more complicated than usual. We have to run the presses slower. That's not an excuse. Just the reality. We knew we could do it and get the papers off on time. But that night we failed.

The next two nights we had to print the same way, and we improved each night. But not enough. I apologize. I hope you understand that our commitment is to get you your paper before you head off to work, before 5:30 a.m. on weekdays, to be exact. Our problems didn't reflect a lack of commitment to serving you. But once we fall behind on a given night, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to catch up. We'll keep working at it.

? Second, the desire by an organization for control and money can be overwhelming. Rockies ownership didn't come out looking as good, in the ticket fiasco or in its lawyers' attempt to trademark Rocktober, a term that aptly describes what has been an all-purple month. Our columnist Bernie Lincicome invented the word back in 2005. Can't some things just be free? Sometimes it's best just to let go. Imagine if Broncos coach Mike Shanahan had tried to trademark our columnist Mike Littwin's moniker for him, Mastermind.

? Third, if you wonder whether newspapers still have a vital place in the lives of our community, times like this provide a clear answer. Yes. Definitely. Of course our papers are much bigger because we're providing an enormous amount of coverage. Readers can't seem to get enough. But they're also much bigger because so many advertisers recognize that newspapers are a great way to reach a huge audience.

As you might imagine, that's encouraging for those of us who believe in the importance of journalism.

Events like this remind us that when people are interested in something, they want to know more. And when they want to know more, they have to turn to a trusted source. Our responsibility at the Rocky is to continue to produce content on a daily basis that you're hungry to read. Just as hungry as you might be now to follow the Rockies in our pages.

? Fourth, when you get the paper in the morning, our goal is to make it look as if it was easy to put together, that what we've given you flows as naturally as the water in Cherry Creek.

In fact, it's not easy. But the folks putting out our sports sections make it look that way, even when we bosses make it difficult for them.

Because we have to run the presses slower to give you such large papers, we need to have earlier deadlines, which gives our writers and photographers even less time to finish their work. That can be brutal. Yet I haven't heard one complaint. Now that may be because they know it wouldn't do any good. But I prefer to think it's because of their professionalism, which I'm privileged to witness every day.

Take Wednesday night, when the game ended at 10:05. They had 45 minutes to complete 40 pages of coverage. We send some pages early, such as those telling the stories of fans. But when the pressure is at its highest, these people keep their cool. They get in their own zone, just like athletes. All the work they've done over the years makes it possible for them to perform when the edition is on the line.

They say what makes a good manager is good players. What makes a good paper is good journalists. And I'm proud we have so many here at the Rocky.

? Finally, the World Series has been a lesson for us in the power of new approaches to journalism. Take how business reporter Chris Walsh blogged through the ticket debacle. His blog was the place to follow events in real time. Or how reporter Sara Burnett took a picture of Ubaldo Jimenez's father in the stands at Fenway. In the old days, she would have had to call a photographer, who never would have been able to make it to her.

Just as the city sees promise in the young Rockies, I'm excited by what these developments say about our own future.

John Temple can be reached at editor@RockyMountainNews.com or by mail at 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 500, Denver, CO 80202.