Woody Wommack's Journalism Blog

All-Star Game minus Softball player = shark bite?

2008-07-23T14:33:00.004-04:00

On Sunday I was scheduled to head down to Disney's Wide World of Sports to cover a high school softball player from Naples competing in the Under Armour All-America Softball Game. But when I was emailed the rosters on early Sunday morning, the girl I was supposed to cover was nowhere to be found. After making a few phone calls, I realized that she wouldn't be there thanks to a FHSAA rule that permits underclassmen from playing in all-star games. Either way, the paper needed a story, so I sniffed around to find out if she was disappointed about not going, etc. When I finally got her on the phone, it turns out that she suffered a shark bite a few days prior and wouldn't have been able to play in the game no matter what. I ended up with a nice story out of it. You can check it out here.

Football University Camp

2008-07-23T14:25:00.003-04:00

On Monday I went out to gather information on some of the nation's top recruits for the Sentinel's fall football coverage. I went to a Football University All-Star Camp, that was invite only and had some of the nation's top high school players. I wrote a short brief for the newspaper, and I'd expect that most of the stuff I gathered will be used at a later date, either way, here's the brief.

Also at the camp I wrote a short article about a player for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. You can read the complete article here.

Bowling for Burgers

2008-07-23T14:23:00.003-04:00

The World Youth Bowling Championships are in Orlando this year, and of course your blogger/unusual sport extraordinaire writer Woody Wommack was on the scene. Here's the preview article I wrote for Saturday's Orlando Sentinel.

Local triathlete prepares to head to New York City

2008-07-17T11:13:00.004-04:00

I'm back on the Great Adventures! beat over at the Sentinel, which means more outdoor reporting. This week I wrote a story about a local woman who is heading to to New York for the NYC triathlon. She was really nice to talk to and had a pretty cool story.

You can read the complete article here.

Orlando Magic Basketball Camp

2008-07-16T23:23:00.003-04:00

For today's Seminole Chronicle I wrote an article about the Orlando Magic youth basketball camp in Winter Springs. The Magic, and pretty much every NBA and college basketball team hold events like this every summer. There are plenty of camps else where in Central Florida over the next month in case you're interested.

You can read my complete article here.

Orlando Pro Summer League Coverage

2008-07-15T14:50:00.002-04:00

Last week (July 7-11) was the Orlando Pro Summer League at the RDV Sportsplex in Maitland, Fla. The event is always fun to cover because the atmosphere is pretty laid back and it's not open to the public, so it's all about the games. Over the week I worked for three papers, the San Jose Mercury News, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Birmingham News. I also was emailing back and fourth with one of the bloggers for the Los Angeles Times, who published my analysis on his UCLA sports blog. Below are the links to all the articles.

L.A. Times:
My analysis of Russell Westbrook's performance at the Summer League.

San Jose Mercury News:
My story on Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson and their first NBA action with the New Jersey Nets.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
My story on what losing basketball means to the city of Seattle.

Birmingham News:
My story on twin brothers trying to make in the NBA.

Right now I'm working on a few oddball summer stories. Thursday I have a triathlon story coming out, Saturday a bowling story, Monday an all-star softball game story and the Thursday after that a fishing story.

Orlando Sentinel High School Sports Reporting Institute

2008-07-15T14:38:00.002-04:00

For the next month or so I'm working with the Orlando Sentinel High School Sports Reporting Institute. I'm helping the students with their reporting out at the events, as well as mentoring Lake Brantley High School student Nicole Saavedra. For the July 6 issue of the Sentinel I wrote a story explaining exactly what the Institute is, and what readers of the Sentinel can expect to see from the high school reporters. You can read the complete article here.

There are 19 kids in the institute, and only the three best articles get picked for publication every week. Thanks to some good research and some solid reporting, Nicole's article on female referees trying to break into the league was published in the paper on Sunday July 13.

Here is a complete list of the students participating in the Institute.

Rodeo coverage, but no links

2008-07-15T14:28:00.002-04:00

I waited a little too long to post links to the three stories I wrote about the rodeo for the Orlando Sentinel and now they've vanished off the paper's Web site. The rodeo I was covering was the Silver Spurs Rodeo in Kissimmee, Fla. It was actually pretty fun to cover, especially because the hospitality room featured home made desserts. Sorry for the lack of links, but I wrote three stories, and they all featured one of the back story of one of the competitors.

Lots-o-Links from the Seminole Chronicle

2008-07-15T13:43:00.002-04:00

Once again it's been a long time since I've updated my progress. I've been doing a decent amount of work lately while I continue to search for a job. I continue to write for the Seminole Chronicle on a weekly basis, which gives me an opportunity to come up with my own story ideas and also focus on community journalism. Below are the links to some of my work for the Chronicle over the last month or so.

June 4:
Story No. 1: There is new lacrosse league here in Central Florida.
Story No. 2: Former Lake Howell and St. Joseph's basketball player Pat Calathes showed his stuff in front of NBA scouts and general managers at the Orlando Pre-Draft Camp at Disney's Wide World of Sports.

June 11:
Story No. 1: Former Oviedo football player Garrett Wilkins prepares for college football at Richmond University.
Story No. 2: Lake Howell golfer Carlie Yadloczky has committed to play golf for Auburn after her senior year on high school.

June 18:
A Central Florida woman kayaks the entire St. John's River from start to finish.

June 25:
Story No. 1: Lake Howell coach Reggie Kohn leaves the school to become the head coach at Orlando Christian Prep.
Story No. 2: Former Oviedo High School track star Jenny Barringer gets ready to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games.

July 2:
Local wrestler excels, Calathes fails to get drafted, Babe Ruth baseball news.

July 9:
Story No. 1: Barringer qualifies for the Olympics, former Oviedo swimmer Kyle Young doesn't.
Story No. 2: Local 13-year-old golfer starting to impress.

Load of links from my NBA Pre-Draft Camp Coverage

2008-06-04T00:25:00.003-04:00

I picked up all sorts of work at last week's NBA Pre-Draft Camp, working for six different papers from all around the country. I was also linked by ESPN.com, which is a career first and sort of exciting. I also interviewed players like O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love, Brook Lopez, D.J. Augustine and Eric Gordon among others.

I got the opportunity to write two articles for the Seattle Post-Intelligence, which gave me an opportunity to get back to my Pacific Northwest roots.

The first story was about whether or not some of the top prospects are interested in going to Seattle despite the unsure location situation. You can read the complete article here. This story was also linked by ESPN.com here.

The second story I wrote was about former Nevada player Marcelus Kemp. This was an interesting story to work on because Marcelus didn't take the bus back to the hotel and skipped out on meeting with the media. I don't think he did it on purpose he was just probably excited for the camp to be over and to be heading to workout for NBA teams. Either way, it took some crafty reporting skills by me to get a hold of him, I called the hotel where the players were staying and asked for him and sure enough the front desk connected me. I then had to convince Marcelus to do the interview with me, which he graciously obliged. I'll definitely be rooting for him to make it at the next level. You can read my complete article here.

The San Jose Mercury News had me write about former Stanford star Brook Lopez and how his preparation for the draft is going. You can read the complete article here.

The Bloomington Herald-Times had me write about former Indiana guard Eric Gordon and how his draft preparation is going as well as what he thinks of the current situation at Indiana. You can read the complete article here (the Herald-Times is a subscriber only site, so I linked to another paper that picked up the story).

The Spokane Spokesman-Review had me write about Gonzaga guard Jeremy Pargo and his NBA Draft prospects. You can read the complete article here.

I'm still working on one article from the camp about Keith Brumbaugh for a small paper called the Deland Beacon. I also have an article about Pat Calathes coming out in this week's issue of the Seminole Chronicle.

Another Oviedo volleyball player heading to play in college; Lake Howell pitcher tries to bounce back from injury

2008-06-04T00:13:00.005-04:00

Before I headed out for the week to cover the 2008 NBA Pre-Draft Camp, I wrote a couple of articles for the Seminole Chronicle about a couple of Orlando-area players moving on to play in college. The articles were published on May 29.

First I wrote about Chelsea Rugg, who is the third player from Oviedo High School to commit to a Division 1 in the last few months. You can read the complete article here.

I also wrote about Noah Piard, a pitcher from Lake Howell High School who has sort of fallen on hard times during his career but is looking to bounce back next year when he plays for UCF. You can read the complete article here.

I've also written two articles for this Thursday's issue (June 5). I'll post the links in a timely manner later this week.

Last Week's Work

2008-05-26T02:27:00.002-04:00

I only wrote a couple of articles last week, one for the Seminole Chronicle and another for the Dallas Morning News.

In Thursday's edition of The Chronicle I wrote an article about a local wrestler trying to qualify for the Junior Olympics. You can read the complete article here.

For the Morning News I covered the Dallas-Orlando Arena Football League Game on Friday night. Dallas blew out the Predators, but one of the Desperados did manage to score a touchdown four different ways, which was pretty cool. You can read the complete article here.

Next week I'll be at the NBA Pre-Draft Camp here in Orlando, covering the event for various papers around the country.

Varsity the Weekly; Coming up

2008-05-21T15:38:00.004-04:00

Now that high school sports are over the freelance market has slowed down considerably. The last article I wrote for the Sentinel was for the May 15 issue.

I wrote the cover story for Varsity the Weekly. In the article I had a chance to interview two of the best high school track athletes in the state. They also did a pretty cool photo shoot to coincide with the story. You can read the complete article here.

Next week I'll be heading out to the Orlando Pre-Draft Camp, which is the NBA's equivalent to the NFL combine. So far I'm writing an article for the Seminole Chronicle and another for the San Jose Mercury News. I'm still looking for to pick up few more assignments.

On Friday night I'll be covering the Orlando Predators-Dallas Destroyers game for the Dallas Morning News.

Florida State Baseball Tournament

2008-05-21T15:32:00.002-04:00

This year the Florida High School Athletics Association instituted a new rule for the Regional Final round of the state baseball tournament. Instead of the traditional single elimination format, teams meeting in the Regional Final had to play a best-of-three series. It was an interesting twist and it definitely made my job a little more fun.

I covered the West Orange-Lakeland series for the Orlando Sentinel. Writing articles for the Saturday May 10 issue and the Sunday May 11 issue.

You can read the May 10 story here.

You can read the May 11 story here.

Orlando Predators Coverage

2008-05-21T15:24:00.002-04:00

Despite my illness, I had already committed to cover the Orlando Predators-San Jose SaberCats game for the Orlando Sentinel and the San Jose Mercury News.

I wrote the preview story for the May 3 issue of the Sentinel. You can read the complete article here.

On Saturday night I went to the game and wrote both stories.

Here is the story that appeared in the May 6 issue of the Orlando Sentinel. I actually wrote two stories for the Sentinel, one with no quotes that I sent immediately following the game and the other which was linked above. At one point they were both up on the Sentinel's Web site, but it appears they took my first draft down.

Here is the story that appeared in the May 6 issue of the San Jose Mercury News.

State Softball Tournament

2008-05-21T15:10:00.004-04:00

On April 29 I kept to my busy ways, pulling double duty for the Gainesville Sun and the Orlando Sentinel.

At 4 p.m. I went watched 2007 2A State Champion Trinity Prep beat Keystone Heights 10-2. You can read the complete article here.

Following that game I raced across town to Timber Creek High School, where I saw the Wolves fall to Jacksonville Mandarin 7-6. You can read the complete article here.

Both games were pretty entertaining, but the Timber Creek game came down to the final out, which is always exciting.

Wakeboarding

2008-05-21T15:05:00.003-04:00

In between all my tennis responsibilities I was also working on a preview for the Pro Wakeboarding Tour stop in Orlando.

I wrote this article about the rise of women in the sport of wakeboarding that was publishing on Thursday April 24. I had a chance to interview many prominent women's wakeboarders, including ESPY award winner Dallas Friday. There's also a pretty cool photo slide show along with my story. You can read the complete article here.

I also covered the actual event on Sunday April 27, with the article coming out Monday the 28. You can read the complete article here.

I'm back for good this time

2008-05-21T14:56:00.002-04:00

Sorry for another delay in my posting, I had a minor health problem that kept me in bed for a week or two. Now I'm back with more than a few links from my absence.

First from the Seminole Chronicle. The following articles were published on April 30.

The Master's Academy conducted a nationwide search to find a new coach and finally found the right man for the job. You can read the complete article here.

The Lake Howell girls tennis team qualified for the state tournament, and is loaded for another run at the tournament next year. You can read the complete article here.

I have another article coming out in tomorrow's edition of the Chronicle.

Trinity Prep Track & Field; Oviedo Girls Lacrosse

2008-05-03T20:46:00.002-04:00

While I was out writing 10 articles about tennis, it didn't mean my normal obligations would go away. I wrote two feature articles for the Seminole Chronicle as well.

The first was about the Trinity Prep Track team.

You can read the article here. I was sort of disappointed because the headline writer called the state meet, "states." That's a term I try to stay away from, so it doesn't make much sense.

The second was about the Oviedo girls lacrosse team, and their journey to the state Final Four.

You can read the article here.

I'm back with plenty of links

2008-05-03T19:42:00.003-04:00

Sorry I haven't updated in almost two weeks, I've been so busy writing articles that I haven't had a chance to write an update. Even as I'm writing this right now I'm working at the San Jose SaberCats-Orlando Predators Arena Football League game. I also have a pretty bad ear infection that I'm fighting through, but I already committed to write for the San Jose Mercury News and the Orlando Sentinel, so I couldn't back out at the last minute.

The last time I updated I was just getting ready to head out to the Class 1A-4A State Tennis Championship, which were held at four different sites in Orlando.

I committed to write for three different papers, the Orlando Sentinel, the Naples Daily News and the Bradenton Herald.

It was interesting to cover because all the papers wanted different stuff from different sites. Below you can find links to all the articles I wrote during the week, and the papers I wrote them for.

Orlando Sentinel:
Lake Highland Girls Tennis -- Class 2A Championship -- Monday's Coverage, published Tuesday
Gulliver Prep Boys Tennis -- Class 2A Championship -- Tuesday's Coverage, published Wednesday
Trinity Prep Boys Tennis -- Class 1A Championship -- Thursday's Coverage, published Friday

Naples Daily News:
Naples High School Boys and Girls Tennis -- Class 2A Championship -- Monday's Coverage, published Tuesday
Naples High School Boys and Girls Tennis -- Class 2A Championship -- Tuesday's Coverage, published Wednesday
Barron Collier Girls Tennis -- Class 3A Championship -- Wednesday's Coverage, published Thursday
Barron Collier Girls Tennis -- Class 3A Championship -- Thursday's Coverage, published Friday

Bradenton Herald*:
Braden River Boys Tennis -- Class 2A Championship -- Tuesday's Coverage, published Wednesday
Bradenton Prep Boys Tennis -- Class 1A Championship -- Wednesday's Coverage, published Thursday

*I wrote another article for the Herald, but I can't find the link online.

Boy's Lacrosse State Championship Game

2008-04-20T23:51:00.003-04:00

I spent last night working at the Inaugural Florida High School Athletics Association Lacrosse Finals at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Fla. Local favorite Lake Brantley High School came up short in its bid for a state championship, losing to perennial lacrosse power St. Andrew's High School.

You can read my complete story here.

While I was covering the event I noticed two things. Plenty of fans were complaining that St. Andrews has an advantage because it's a private school that can recruit and that private schools should be lumped into their own state championship. That's a fairly interesting point, and imagine the impact it could have on other sports like football, basketball and track.

Also, the crowd for the game was amazing. I didn't have an opportunity to include it in my story because I didn't get a concrete number before deadline. But at halftime the paid attendance at the game was over 1,300. I never realized what a revenue generator lacrosse is, and if promoted the right way it could become the football of the spring for Florida high schools.

What do you think? Should private schools get their own athletic classification? Did you know high school lacrosse was such a big deal in high school?

Class 2A Region II Track Meet

2008-04-18T18:10:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I was dispatched by the Orlando Sentinel to cover a track meet. Luckily it was close to home, at Lake Highland Prep, which is also one of my favorite places to watch a meet. It was a little different than usual as reporters were there from Lakeland, Citrus County and The Villages. This meant I spent most of the night writing my story from a crouch similar to that of a catcher, with my laptop balanced on a CD player/sound system in front of me. Thank God for all those innings I spent catching in my slow pitch softball league.

You can read my complete story here.

There were a lot of interesting story lines to play of off, but I decided since Lake Highland won the meet I would focus the story on them.

There was one minor hiccup regarding the agate. The sports desk told me that they'd be receiving it directly from the timing company, so I didn't have to do it. Unfortunately, at 10:15 (30 minutes before deadline) the desk called and told me the didn't have it. Of course everyone was already gone from the meet and the Lake Highland coach told me he'd have the guy send it in less than 20 minutes. Not sure if it made it in the first edition or not, since I haven't seen the paper today.

Either way I've got a busy next couple of days, state lacrosse is tomorrow, then it's the Magic-Raptors on Sunday, followed by five days of the state tennis tournament. Not to mention I've got a few more articles to write for the next edition of the Chronicle. Either way, it should be a fun next week or so.

Bishop Moore beats Osceola on Senior Night

2008-04-17T12:35:00.002-04:00

Last night I covered a baseball game between two local powers, Bishop Moore and Osceola, for the Orlando Sentinel. The Hornets came out on top, despite playing the game without one of the team's best players, pitcher Jimmy Haughney. Haughney missed the game because of a death in the family and it was clear the Bishop Moore players used it as motivation.

You can read the complete article here.

The Hornets were the 2007 Class 4A State Champions. Here's a post victory photo from last year's state championship game.

Tonight I will be heading out to cover a track meet for the Sentinel. I'll post the link tomorrow.

Lake Howell Softball

2008-04-17T12:29:00.003-04:00

For today's issue of the Seminole Chronicle I wrote an article profiling the rise of the softball program at Lake Howell High School. The Silver Hawks softball team won just six games during the 2005 season, but have won two consecutive district titles and go for their third Friday night. It's always nice to see teams have a dramatic turnaround, especially in a case like this where there are two seniors that have been there for the good times and the bad.

You can read the complete article here.

Winter Springs Baseball

2008-04-17T12:18:00.004-04:00

In today's edition of the Seminole Chronicle you can find my article about the Winter Springs Bears baseball team. The Bears have eight players that have already committed to play in college, including five for the University of Central Florida. The article focused more on the team's success this season, rather than the players that are moving on. I may revisit some of the players going to play at the next level in a later article.

You can read the complete article here.

Ready to go: Above, the Winter Springs baseball team warm up before its home game against Orangewood Christian on Tuesday night. Photo by Andy Jacobsohn, Seminole Chronicle.

More work coming

2008-04-15T13:25:00.003-04:00

I guess I spoke too soon about this being a light week. It looks like I'm going to have to miss the Magic game tomorrow night in favor a local baseball game.

I'll be writing for the Sentinel, covering a game between local powers Bishop Moore (20-3) and Osceola (21-2). Osceola has also won 11 straight games.

It should be good game and hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Another note regarding Florida baseball. I interviewed Winter Springs coach Jeff Perez yesterday, and he told me that he wishes Florida teams could play more than the 25 games they're allowed. He said teams in other states often play more than 25 games, and with the nice weather in Florida he's not sure why they're so limited.

What do you think? Does Florida play enough high school games? Should the limit of 25 regular season games be extended?

State Lacrosse Championships

2008-04-14T13:05:00.004-04:00

It looks like I'll be heading out to cover the 2008 FHSAA State Lacrosse Championships this weekend at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Fla. I'll be doing my primary coverage for the Orlando Sentinel.

I don't know who will be playing yet because the tournament is still in progress, but it looks like at least one Central Florida team is guaranteed to make it to the boy's final. That means I'll be writing one story about the boys and if a local girls team reaches the final I'll also be writing about them.

Even though this week is pretty busy, I may still try to pick up some out-of-town work for papers that may have teams from their area in the competition as well.

If you have a team in tournament and would like coverage, e-mail me at wommackw1@bellsouth.net

Stories I'm working on the for the week of April 13-20

2008-04-13T17:47:00.000-04:00

This week is going to be moderately busy for me because I'm wrapping up my last semester as an undergraduate and I have a few assignments due at school.

While none of the stories I write for my classes will probably see the light of day, here's what I should have published this week.

I'm writing two stories for the Seminole Chronicle, one about Lake Howell High School's softball team and another about Winter Springs High School's baseball team. Both teams have had impressive seasons, especially the Bears who are nationally ranked. The articles will be in the paper and online Thursday April 17.

As of today I only have one story that will be published in the Orlando Sentinel this week. I'll be covering the Class 2A Region II Track & Field Meet at Lake Highland Prep in Orlando on Thursday night. As long as the weather cooperates, you can find the article in Friday's Sports section of the Sentinel.

On Wednesday night I'm scheduled to go to the Washington Wizards vs. Orlando Magic game at Amway Arena. This will be the last home regular season game for the Magic and could help determine who the team plays in the first round of the playoffs. I'll be writing for Inside Hoops, and perhaps post something on Bleacher Report from the game. If you have any specific questions for any of the players, submit them via comment and I'll try to ask your question.

Winter Springs Softball

2008-04-13T17:36:00.000-04:00

For the April 10 issue of the Seminole Chronicle I wrote an article about the Winter Springs Bears girl's softball team. It was an interesting article to write, especially since the Bears have had an up and down season.

You can read the complete story here. (Photo by Michelle Yoffee-Beard, Seminole Chronicle)

Oviedo Water Polo

2008-04-13T17:24:00.001-04:00

For the second consecutive week I wrote an article about the aquatics community in Oviedo, Fla. Last week I focused on the youth swimming programs at the Oviedo Aquatic Center. This week I spoke with Oviedo High School Water Polo Coach Charlie Rose about his team's progress this season.

You can read the full story here. (Photo by Ed Ruping, Seminole Chronicle).

What I found interesting about this article, is that the turnout for the program wasn't that great. I know the sports climate is different in Florida than it is in Oregon, where I grew up, but it seems to me a school with over 2,000 students shouldn't have a problem with participation numbers for any sport.

I don't think the problem lies with Rose or his staff, but perhaps high school kids just aren't as into sports as they used to be. There's plenty of other activities that keep young people busy, so maybe sports are taking the back burner.

What do you think?

The Manatees Are Back

2008-04-13T17:11:00.001-04:00

It's been a light week for me in terms of published work, but I did have a pretty long article in the Orlando Sentinel last Thursday.

In case you didn't know Florida Manatees are on the move again, migrating from their warm water winter homes back out into the open waters of Florida's rivers and oceans.

My article is about the precautions the state is taking to protect manatees and boaters. You can find the complete story here. (Photo by Barbara V. Perez, Orlando Sentinel)

This article was interesting to write, and it was sort of a throwback to my newswriting days. I interviewed almost 10 sources, but I wasn't able to get quotes from everyone into the story. Either way, I think it turned out well.

My next outdoors assignment for the Sentinel will be published April 24, and will be about the upcoming wakeboarding championships.