Tyler Mayforth

Official Website of Tyler Mayforth | Delaware Born | NOLA Living

Month: May 2015

The Perfect Headline Brings It All Together

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On May 26, 2015

In Golf, Journalism

A designer’s best ammunition — or worst nightmare, depending how you look at it — is an empty budget. It means free reign on content and the all-important centerpiece, but it could also spell disaster if you don’t know what news should fill your pages.

Such a scenario presented itself to me on Sunday.

Left to paginate the entire Banner-Herald, I had a budget for news but not sports.

I did a quick perusal of the AP Sports Digest and wrote down some items I knew should get in — the Braves-Brewers game, a standalone photo of the Hawks-Cavaliers game since it would finish too late for print, an online tease for the Coca-Cola 600 and the Indianapolis 500.

Saturday and Sunday each had high school baseball as the centerpiece, so putting the Braves there was overkill in my opinion. I needed something big to happen.

A few hours before deadline and just before I went to dinner, former Georgia golfer Chris Kirk won the Colonial when Ian Poulter couldn’t eagle the par-4 18th. Perfect! Based on how much our readers love golf and the Bulldogs, it would work well.

Then I began thinking about the design and knew I wanted to go vertical with it since a few of my previous pages were horizontal. I picked good art of Kirk, but found myself stuck in a rut.

How was I going to play this? What can I package?

After thinking a bit, I stepped away from my computer and began to walk out the door for my long-awaited meal. Then I stopped in my tracks.

I sat in front of my computer and looked through the art I pulled. The best picture I had of Kirk was him kissing the champion’s trophy. What about art from the Indianapolis 500? Sure enough, I grabbed a picture of Juan Pablo Montoya kissing the bricks.

Kirk would go large; Montoya small.

I needed a headline for it all to make sense.

It didn’t take long for the idea to pop in my head.

“Sometimes there is nothing sweeter than … A CHAMPION’S KISS”

Check out the page. I thought I did a good job with it.

Flash Floods and Severe Weather, Oh My!

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On May 25, 2015

In Georgia

Less than one month after I moved to Georgia, I shot out of bed early in the morning to the sound of a siren. It honestly seemed like it was right outside of my window.

When I first heard it, I couldn’t put a finger on what it meant. I opened my blinds and scoured the outside trying to find what kind of person would try to pull a prank that hour of the morning. You can probably tell I don’t think too straight when I wake up.

Once I checked my phone and turned on the TV, I realized it was a tornado siren — not a practical joker. Tornadoes had touched down around the Atlanta area and the forecasters predicted the weather system would head to the Classic City next.

I never heard a tornado siren in the six-plus years I lived in San Marcos, Texas.

Needless to say, I was scared out of my mind and called home. Yes, there was 29-year-old me frantically pacing around my apartment with my mom on the line.

Long story short, nothing happened. The cell passed right by Athens.

Come to think of it, I never experienced any severe weather while living in the Lone Star State. An inch of ice on the ground is treacherous, but nothing more extreme.

Old-timers in San Marcos always brought up “The 100-Year Flood” as to the worst disaster to hit the city. Being situated between two rivers — the San Marcos and the Blanco — I had no doubt in my mind that it could be horrible if the rains came down.

Well, they finally did over the weekend and the aftermath is/was devastating.

Thousands of residents in San Marcos and Wimberley were displaced and hundreds of homes washed away in the flash floods. Power is slowly being restored daily.

The apartment complex where I used to live in San Marcos flooded. It was situated less than 2,000 feet from the Blanco River, which crested at 41.5 feet on Sunday.

My heart and thoughts go out to my former co-workers, friends and others affected by this past weekend’s floods. Pictures probably do no justice to what transpired.

Hi, Athens. It’s Been 10 Months

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On May 23, 2015

In Georgia, Life Stuff

Dear Athens,

How are you, my dear?

It’s been about 10 months since we got serious and started our relationship.

Time flies. I know.

Who could have imagined a long-distance, online courtship that started back in April of 2014 would turn into what it is today?

There was something different about you when I sent that first message. Yeah, I’ll admit it was a little bit cocky — but it caught your eye.

To be honest, you were my “What if?”

When I was much younger, another “What if” came into my life. So did a sure thing.

I’m ashamed to admit I took a run at the sure thing. It didn’t work out.

So when I saw you, I leapt at the opportunity. “What if,” became “What is.”

I don’t know if you see it, but there is a lot of admiration out there for you. Some might even call it “love.” After all, “Athens, I Love You” is the phrase of choice and even beget a Snapchat geocentric overlay the kids use these days.

One thing I noticed is that the people who use those aforementioned four words have been committed to you a long time. They might be lifelong residents, transplants or most likely students of the University of Georgia (woof-woof, etc).

I’m trying to feel that emotion for you. I am.

It took me a while to even think about uttering those words to San Marcos. I know I shouldn’t talk about past relationships in front of you, but it must be done.

I wasn’t planning on staying with San Marcos as long as I did. Two years max, I said.

But the longer you stay in a relationship, the more you grow — and learn.

I finally fell for “San Marvelous” one month after contacting you.

There was just something about the way she pulled together around her softball team and in turn, my coverage and in turn, me. I poured my heart into that month. As the kids say these days, “I felt some type of way.”

That’s probably why I cried when I put her in my rearview mirror one month later. I never shed a single tear over a previous relationship ending, but seven years — plus a lot of long nights, sweat and everything else — finally caught up to me.

Athens, I’m excited about what the future holds in store for us.

I’m learning to like you more and more every day.

Hopefully it turns into love.

Yours for now,

Tyler

Spidey Senses: Bad for Journalists, Great for Fans

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On May 16, 2015

In Journalism, Sports

Work in an industry long enough, you begin to develop “Spidey Senses.”

This goes for any line of work, but journalism is one of those where those senses are honed and trained, because something can change in less than a moment’s notice.

Such was the case Friday night in the Athens Banner-Herald sports department.

Two hours until deadline I let the sports editor know our centerpiece had to change since the original art wasn’t good enough. I could create an element, but good art is good art and good art pulls a centerpiece together and draws readers to the page.

A quick succession of texts set Plan B — Hawks-Wizards Game 6 — in motion (“OK. Cool) and put my “Spidey Senses” on high alert (“Hawks are up big”).

At the time, Atlanta led Washington by 10 or more points in the third quarter. But if you paid attention to the series at all, Game 3 and Game 5 were decided on the final basket while Game 4 turned on a missed shot, so Game 6 would likely follow suit.

With 30 minutes until deadline, I turned on the TV to see the Hawks squander a five-point lead with less than five minutes left. Then, as if I knew it would happen all along, the Wizards had a chance to send the game to overtime. I turned to a fellow desker and told her, “Watch this. One shot is going to destroy my front. I know it.”

Paul Pierce received a pass from John Wall, dribbled into the corner and fired up a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Swish! If it held up on replay, the game would be tied.

I started to move elements around to centerpiece Plan A.

Referees concluded the ball left Pierce’s fingertips a split-second too late.

Atlanta celebrated. Washington was in shock. My centerpiece survived.

If you’re a fan of basketball, the Hawks or Wizards, Friday night was a treat.

If you were on desk or writing about the game, your “Spidey Senses” got a workout.

How about some other instances in which my “Spidey Senses” went into overdrive?

  • Back in 2009, Texas State led Southeastern Louisiana by 24 points early in the fourth quarter of a Southland Conference football game. Like a fool, I started to write my game story — then stopped. I turned to a colleague and told him the game was far from over. Sure enough, the Lions scored three consecutive touchdowns and added the ensuing two-point conversions, sending the game to overtime. Southeastern Louisiana scored first in the extra period. The Bobcats answered and missed the extra-point attempt.
  • I wrote about this before, but late in Texas State’s win over Denver in the 2013 Western Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament, I heard the players chanting something on the bench. After the game, I asked what it was and the head coach told me “No comment.” That sent my “Spidey Senses” off in a good way, which led me to an award-winning angle.

Dr. Strangeblog or: How I Learned to Love Themes

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On May 9, 2015

In Blogging

I’ll go ahead and just say what y’all are thinking.

No, not that. Close, though.

“Just pick a theme already and stick with it!”

I’ll admit it: This blog has schizophrenia.

Every time I think I settled on a theme, other themes want their say. As I stated before, I’m a perfectionist, so I want everything to look as great as it can.

If you come around these parts enough, you’ll see I primarily switch between two themes — Rowling (current) and Trident Lite (previous).

I dig Rowling because of the colors and look. To me, it just looks clean and that’s what I think matters when it comes to a personal/professional blog. Too cluttered is awful and an off-the-wall color scheme screams 14-year-old One Direction fan (They’re still a thing, right?) I’m also partial to the related posts that show up on each post.

Then there is Trident Lite, which also has a strong color scheme and looks relatively clean. What I don’t like about it — and tried to change through CSS, but nearly killed my blog doing so — is the blank space after three or four posts. It’s a small thing, but as I stated above, I’m a perfectionist and want everything to look just right.

If I could blend Rowling and Trident Lite, it would be the perfect theme. Heck, if this one had post previews underneath the featured image, it would be my first choice. Until that comes along, I’ll continue to cycle themes and give those downloaders who create these wonderful themes and extra download and might even give a review.

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