Championship ups and downs
Over the course of the 13 years or so that I've been walking the sidelines of local high school athletic contests in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, I've had the chance to cover more than my fair share of teams that have earned trips to the finals. In fact, my very first season, back in Spring of 2001, I remember covering one of, if not the most dominating team I've ever covered, the Kennett girls' tennis team. That team just steamrolled everyone and I distinctly remember being at New Hampton School covering their championship match. The stories that I get to write after those championship games are always the best. Usually it's easy to find a hook, a way to bring readers in to the story. There's usually plenty of great quotes and happy pictures with championship trophies make great front pages. However, it's the stories on the other side of the championship games that are a bit harder to write. If the stories of the champions basically write themselve...