Note: Cathy Cobbs is the managing editor of the Reporter’s monthly print editions. This is the column she wrote for the April edition. You can access the April issue here.
Welcome to the April print issue of Reporter Newspapers. As I started working on this column, I found that I was falling into the worst black hole that journalists dread over the course of their careers – writer’s block.
It’s kind of like the “yips” that many athletes experience, when you just can’t seem to do your job, no matter the fact that you’ve done it over years, even decades.
For example, Jon Lester, a Chicago Cubs left-handed pitcher who had an incredible command of the strike zone, couldn’t seem to make a simple toss to first.
Hall of fame golfer Tom Watson revealed a little-know fact – that his short game, plagued by the yips, cost him at least one major victory each year over his most dominant decade as a pro golfer.
Seven-footer Shaquille O’Neal was a dominant big man in the NBA, but
he had a profound weakness – his free-throw shooting. He made only 52
percent of his attempted shots over his 19-year NBA career.
Experts suggested Shaq try the “granny-style” method, which meant launching the ball underhanded. To me, this feels like a real insult for grannies, who
could probably shoot better than him at any age.
Consider this: Lester, knowing that he just couldn’t do it, sometimes threw his entire glove (with the ball securely tucked away in it) to his first baseman so as to not give easy runs to the Cubs’ opponents. Shaq, on the other hand, said he’d rather shoot zero percent from the line than lower himself to trying a method endorsed by elderly people.
My writer’s block couldn’t have come at a worse time – with less than
24 hours before the paper goes to the printer. So I’ve decided to go with the “Lester” method by highlighting the work of our talented journalists who have written really good stories for the April issue.
Collin Kelley has done a great job recounting 10 years of CHaRM, DeKalb’s hard-to-recycle facility that is expanding its operations to a third location. In our Brookhaven special section, Beth McKibben discusses MARTA-friendly dining choices in Brookhaven and beyond.
We’ve also got a lot of real estate news spread throughout the paper and, for a change, it’s mostly positive.
Bob Pepalis and Logan C. Ritchie have the scoop on Sandy Spring and Brookhaven on our city-focused pages. And back when I possessed the ability to put words together, I wrote a Tucker-based story about a stolen goat. But that was in the good old
days (AKA a week ago).
Well, this too shall pass, as the grannies say. In the meantime, thanks, as always, for reading all of our offerings, whether print or digital, and supporting local journalism.
