Tyler Mayforth

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Clark Kent Left the Daily Planet

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On August 16, 2015

In Journalism, Life Stuff

Goodnight, sweet prince. You served me well.

Goodnight, sweet prince. You served me well for more than one year at the Banner-Herald.

It started to hit me when I turned off my computer for the last time at the Athens Banner-Herald. Rarely did I turn it off before (mostly logged out), but it felt right.

Once I walked out the door and it shut behind me, the realization hit like a truck.

That very well could have been my final day in newspapers. Not for the week. Not for the month — but for life. Nearly eight years in the business and then cold turkey.

What I felt wasn’t remorse, because I accomplished what I set out to do. My first and only goal that I can remember in journalism was to become a college beat writer by the time I was 25. I accomplished that when I accepted my second full-time job at the ripe age of 22.

I grew exponentially — not only as a worker, but as a person — from the time I started my foray into journalism with the Connecticut Valley Spectator in New Hampshire its endpoint at the Banner-Herald. In between, the now-defunct Bar Harbor Times in Maine and the San Marcos Daily Record in Texas (where I achieved that aforementioned goal) served as strong launching pads.

Journalism will always have my heart but I knew there was something out there for me, which is why I looked elsewhere and eventually found my current job with the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association.

And what is life without adventure? Thanks to journalism I’ve been able to live in three states and the skills I honed in Texas led me on a path to New Orleans. Plus, those skills I honed, which included my multimedia chops and page design, among others, allowed me to become a versatile worker who can plug and play anywhere.

Near the end of my run in Athens, I thought I put out some good work. Here are two designs I thought turned out really well. It’s funny how you hit a stride at the end.

Nothing more American than the Wimberley VFW Rodeo

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On July 6, 2015

In Journalism, Texas

Nearly one year has passed since I moved to Georgia and in that time, I began to reflect on what I covered while in Texas and how it shaped me during that time.

With the Fourth of July recently skipping by, I found it tough not to think back to the past five years when I spent that day — or weekend before then, depending on when it fell — covering the Wimberley Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Rodeo.

At first I balked at the assignment, just because it was the rodeo. Then I learned the first night of the rodeo featured a regional stop for the Professional Bull Riders and I had watched enough of that on TV over the years to pique my interest a bit more.

The best stories I found on those Friday nights belonged to the rodeo protection athletes — or clowns, as many like to call them. I wish I could locate my first feature from the Wimberley VFW Rodeo, because I loved it. Turns out those RPAs don’t get paid unless they work, so if they break a bone, tough luck — they get back out there. Tough way to live, for sure, but those guys love what they do and keep riders safe.

Mutton Bustin’ always made for a good laugh and an award-winning photo. That photo was by Gerald Castillo, but I honed my photo skills over the years (at top).

When it comes down to it, I have this to say about the Wimberley VFW Rodeo: Nothing — and I mean, nothing — is more American than covering, watching it.

Fireworks, patriotic music and rodeo: Can anything top that display of Murica?

I mean, you could strap George Washington to a bald eagle and have him wave the 50 stars and 13 stripes, but you’d just be getting greedy. Plus, that would be crazy.

Anyway, happy belated Fourth of July to you all and happy belated birthday, USA!

Don’t Let Mistakes Keep You Down

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On June 10, 2015

In Journalism

It stared at me as soon as I walked in the office on Tuesday.

As I got closer to my desk, the purple circle punched me in my gut.

When I sat down and took a deeper look, I felt sick to my stomach.

After a conversation that afternoon about mistakes in display type (or headlines to those not in journalism) in general, I not only busted one, but also got the person’s name wrong in the mug. If there was any saving grace — to be honest, there isn’t any — it was on an inside page. Still, to have that happen the day of a discussion sucked.

I let it affect me much longer than I choose to admit and went on autopilot not too long after. I went right to work on paginating Op-Ed, and halfway through I found out that wasn’t my duty for the day. I only had to do sports. Oh well, I still finished it.

For some reason, while wallowing in my mistake-borne malaise, a scene from the newest Rocky move (“Rocky Balboa”) played in my mind. Yeah, I don’t know either.

All right, if we’re being completely honest here, that scene didn’t play in my mind. It just seemed so right to put in here. And when it comes down to it, that’s what I did.

I shook whatever funk I had and wanted to make sure today’s sports section sang. I put my all behind every section I design, but this one had extra motivation behind it.

Our centerpiece was a lengthy feature on the evolution of tight ends by a Georgia Grady School student. From what I understand, they write a tome as part of their curriculum and get extra credit if it runs in the newspaper. We had several others grace our section and each time I made sure it looked good for them to have a clip.

And remember what I said about good art making a centerpiece? Today’s picture, taken by AJ Reynolds, recently won top honors from the Georgia Press Association. You’ll see why. It would be a true travesty if it didn’t win, because the lighting hits it perfectly and the action inside the frame — as well as the reactions — are golden.

So there you have it. Today was quite the adventure, but with every mistake you make in life, you can either let it eat you alive or learn from it and move on.

I’ll try to do better next time. It’s all about growth, right?

Elation, Pressure and the Belmont Stakes

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On June 7, 2015

In Journalism, Sports

Elation to buried under mounds of self-induced pressure.

That’s how my Saturday night went on desk at the Banner-Herald.

Why? Well, I’m glad you asked.

Around 6:40 p.m., I walked from our downtown office to Mellow Mushroom on my way to getting dinner. Thanks to my reconnaissance during trivia nights, I knew that place had a lot of TVs and a low-pressure waitstaff, which would allow me to settle in and potentially watch history be made with a plethora of other cheering patrons.

See, American Pharoah needed to win the Belmont Stakes on Saturday to complete the elusive Triple Crown. It had been 37 years since Affirmed last did so in 1978.

I’m one of those folks who, like many I’m sure, loves to see sports history unfold in front of their eyes. Needless to say, I wanted to be in front of a TV on Saturday.

Sure enough, American Pharoah led wire-to-wire and pulled away at the end for a comfortable victory. I exchanged high-fives with people around me and walked out.

I had more important things to do, like design an eye-catching centerpiece. Oh, boy!

Once I got back to the office and got settled, I began to sift through the avalanche of images the Associated Press snapped at Belmont Park. I pulled a few that caught my attention and knew eventually they’d post one that would pull everything together.

I cycled through designs and suddenly felt a load of stress on my shoulders. It wasn’t like deadline staring me down (I still had a few hours), but the self-induced pressure of being a perfectionist. I wanted the front page of the sports section to pop since it was a big moment and let’s face it — how many are on desk when history happens?

Time marched on and while I had something on the page that looked good enough, it wasn’t great. I wasn’t going to accept anything less than great in my eyes, so I hit delete and combed through the AP’s stockpile again until something stood out.

Eventually I found an aerial of the finish, which had enough air for me to work with.

Then I found a sidebar from the AP that broke down the keys to victory in the race.

Slowly, but surely, the puzzle came together until I truly liked the finished result.

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.

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.

SBS: Zombie Cats (Texas State) Invade Vegas

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On April 15, 2015

In Journalism, Story Behind the Story

Editor’s note: This is the first part of a series chronicling the story behind the stories I feel are some of my best. Here is the tale of how  “Bobcats down Denver” came about and earned me a first-place honor from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors for Breaking Spot News (Sports). So, without any further ado…

“I’m not going to lie: I really like our chances against Denver tonight,” an assistant coach for the Texas State men’s basketball team told me inside the gym at The Orleans in Las Vegas. “We scouted them well and put together a great game plan.”

I replied as any degenerate (ergo; sportswriter would): “So you’re telling me I should go put down a money line bet on you guys as soon as I finish working out?”

“Now I didn’t say that,” he replied. “Don’t be getting me in trouble with the NCAA. All I know is that we might need to stay in Las Vegas for at least another night.”

One more night in Sin City? Who could argue with that? I mean, to the untrained eye, work in Las Vegas sounds awesome but when you’re covering a basketball tournament and trying to show your employer that you deserved that trip and trying to get some amazing career-changing clips, there is little time for play.

Two days earlier, the Bobcats — or “Zombie Cats,” as I and several other media members called them — advanced to the quarterfinals with an easy 68-56 win over Seattle University. Texas State never trailed the Redhawks and actually played a semblance of defense (uncommon at the time), earning the zombie moniker.

So all that stood between the Zombie Cats and a spot in the WAC Tournament semifinals — and a possibility of saving head coach Doug Davalos his job (spoiler alert, it didn’t) — was Denver. Texas State lost by 11 on the road the Pioneers, then were drilled by 15 at home despite a career-high effort by Joel Wright (33 points).

Wright stepped up again in the third meeting, as did his teammates. Behind 32 points by Wright, the Bobcats jumped ahead early and held off Denver en route to a 72-68 upset win. Texas State was the seventh seed, while the Pioneers were No. 2.

Near the end of the game, however, I heard several of the Bobcats chanting. I had an idea of what it was, but didn’t want to say for sure and be horribly, horribly wrong.

So I asked the head coach after the game. He smiled and said, “No comment.”

After the press conference, I pulled a student manager aside and he told me exactly what it was — “Change our flight. Change our flight. Change our flight.”

For some reason, the Bobcats were scheduled to fly back to San Marcos, Texas on Thursday night. Someone didn’t have faith that the Zombie Cats would make it to the semfinals. Well, they did and I’m quite glad, because it gave me a great clip.

Oh, and by the way, I made some money betting Texas State. I’m a stinker.

From Afternoon to Morning, Nothing Changes

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On April 7, 2015

In Georgia, Journalism

While I’m nestled in Athens, Georgia, I still keep tabs on San Marcos, Texas.

How could I not? I spent nearly seven years of my life in that town.

Of particular interest to me is the quality of work my former assistant does (I’m proud of hiring him and want to see him succeed) as well as the state of my former newspaper, the San Marcos Daily Record.

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More Responsibility? No Problem

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On March 10, 2015

In Georgia, Journalism

Moving to Georgia forced me out of my comfort zone.

That doesn’t go for just in life, but at work — as I’ve mentioned before.

Recently my bosses wanted to see how I handled the responsibility of designing the A section. Yes, the front page and all of that good stuff.

Was I nervous? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. Mainly because it was new.

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Georgia, Unbeaten Kentucky and The Big Time

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On March 6, 2015

In Georgia, Journalism

 

Outside Stegeman Coliseum | Kentucky at Georgia

There was a certain buzz around Athens, Georgia earlier this week.

As soon as the Georgia Bulldogs dismantled Missouri last Saturday, the town’s focus shifted to Tuesday’s home finale against none other than Kentucky. Yes, those Wildcats who are kind of good at college basketball (29-0 at the time, No. 1 in the nation and expected to steamroll the field in the NCAA Tournament).

Long before the regular season reached the home stretch, several pundits said Georgia had the best shot at ending Kentucky’s perfect run. While the Wildcats are a super team full of McDonald’s All Americans, the scrappy Bulldogs use enough motion on both ends to where it could throw that kind of team for a loop.

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