Sports Coverage Roadblocks

It is with mixed emotions and a heavy heart that I write this post. With school back in session this fall it was my intention to cover as many games as I could find the time for. I thought the players and their relatives and friends as well as the community at large would enjoy reading about the various events and seeing pictures and video of the games posted on this blog usually the next day.

 
However, as the following exchange of emails shows, I have been unable to obtain any cooperation from the school district. I have called the high school twice and in the first instance been rudely ignored, and in the second instance I was misled by Ms. Phillips into thinking no schedule was available. I even went to the school’s web site but to my utter amazement no schedule or mention of any games was posted there. When I contacted Mr. Vince Mitchell, the unit 10 superintendent, about this matter, I was given only a weird and defensive story about all the great things the school district is doing with my (AND YOUR!) tax money. These things might be a big whoopdeedo to Mr. Mitchell but the things he mentioned, especially the notification system, should be absolute givens. With all the shocking things happening on high school campuses in our area and around this country, this system should have been installed a long time ago. Better late than never, I guess, is Mr. Mitchell’s philosophy.

 
Now, to add insult to injury, Mr. Mitchell invited me in his email to come to the unit office and get a copy of the district calendar. I did just that but the calendar is useless: it lists various events but no times for them. Does the softball or baseball game or cross-country meet start at 4 p.m.? Or maybe 6 p.m.? Does the football game start at 6 o’clock or maybe 7? Or maybe 10 o’clock in the morning? I’ve posted the September schedule so you can see for yourself. When I saw what Mr. Mitchell had given me I knew he was just yanking my chain.

 
Readers of this blog: After you have read this post in full and put yourself in my shoes I would like to know if you think I have overreacted. Should I give Mr. Mitchell the benefit of the doubt or should I hold him further accountable? In any event I still intend to cover some events if I’m able to. I just hope Mr. Mitchell’s lazy and insincere attitude and asinine response is not just the tip of the iceberg indicating much more serious problems with his leadership and administration. 

 

Re: news media concerns about hamco schools
From: Vince Mitchell (vmitchell@roe25.com)
Sent:
Fri 8/29/08 10:40 AM
To:
michael mezo (mmezo@michaelmezo.com)

Cc:
Lisa Auten (rauten1@hotmail.com)
Mr. Mezo,
Please come to the district office at 109 N. Washington and I will have a copy of our district’s calendar of events for you. As you are aware, websites can serve many different purposes and you are correct that our website is student generated through a high school class that has to start up anew each fall. The class is used as a practical application in website development and all of the pitfalls and challenges of such maintenance, including trying to keep it updated. We have very few complaints about the dated-ness of our website from parents. What we receive praise for is the district calendar that each family receives upon registration and the on-line grade progress monitoring access parents and students have at the Jr.- Sr. High. In addition, the district has just initiated an electronic phone notification system to provide mass calling capabilities in a matter of minutes to announce school closings, important announcements and reminders and other appropriate information. These initiatives cost several thousand dollars (approx. $6,000), but all are well received by the parents we serve. I respect your advice and your email will be shared with the teacher that conducts the class, but based on enrollment, creativeness, and talent level of the students each year presents different challenges to accomplish what you request.

Vince Mitchell
Superintendent

michael mezo wrote:

Dear Mr. Mitchell:

Recently I sent an email to you at hamcounit10@hotmail.com. However I have been advised by the regional superintendent’s office in Mt Vernon that this is not a valid email address for you. On the off chance that my email has went astray I am resending it at this time and I’d like to add to it that I see where Charlie Pendell of the Times-Leader has been able to get the schedules and probably had them sometime before I spoke to Ms. Phillips. I know Charlie and I think he does a great job as a sports reporter. This certainly has nothing whatsoever to do with him. However I feel if he has access to the sports schedules then any member of the news media and any parent or anyone else interested should have access to them too.

Here is the text of my previous email in full:

Dear Mr. Mitchell:
My name is Michael Mezo and I have a website www.MichaelMezo.com and a blog McLeansboro.wordpress.com on which I post pictures, video and commentary about local and regional events. It was my intention to cover several school sporting events this fall but I have been unable to obtain a schedule. I called A.D. Clint Winemiller last week, identifying myself and my purpose, but Mr. Winemiller failed to return my call. Friday I called the high school office and spoke with Ms. Phillips who advised me no schedule was available.
Mr. Mitchell, as a member of the news media via my blog and website and as a resident of Hamilton County and a proud class of 1980 alum I find this eventuality very dissatisfying. I even checked the Unit 10 website thinking perhaps there might be at least a mention of some upcoming games but boy was I fooled even there. Certainly there are many positive things about the website. The graphics are nice and a few useful links are included. But in most areas the website information is at least a year (and in many cases several years!) old. Websites are informational and marketing tools. Your website is the face people from this town, region, and all around the world see when they want to know what Hamilton County schools are all about. It would be nice if your domain could end in .edu and not .com. Schools are institutes of learning and not commercial enterprises chasing a dollar. It would also be helpful if each staff member could have an e-mail address assigned so that they could send and receive such communications in a streamlined and professional manner. Perhaps most importantly your website should be updated on an ongoing basis and not as part of a class project as I suspect your website is. There is a wealth of information that could be posted such as sports schedules and scores (which would be very helpful to me, by the way), a comprehensive history of Hamilton County schools, current budgets and financial reports, club activities, etc., etc., etc. Pride and professionalism require a school district to have a crisp, well thought-out and executed website and not a mishmash of outdated information or, as it turns out here, no information at all.
I hope this e-mail will serve as a wake-up call, Mr. Mitchell. Having a poorly-updated, hodge-podge of a website does a disservice to staff, students and residents alike and perpetuates certain stereotypes about this region I’d rather not get in to. I’m proud of this town and the people in it. In my blog and on my website I try to say nothing but positive things about this area. Thank you for taking the time to read this, Mr. Mitchell, and I look forward to your addressing the concerns raised in this e-mail very soon.
Sincerely,

Michael Mezo