5.10.2000
Knowing when not to get cute

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By BOB JAGOLINZER
Journal Staff Writer
     From the beginning, when the Journal's Northwest section editor Jeni Brown first told me about a girl supposedly being on the Ponaganset High School boys' wrestling team, I decided that any story I wrote would have to be done somewhat, ah, carefully.
      After all, wrestling is a sport in which participants grab each other at close quarters, with one contestant trying to end up kneeling on the other's arms and shoulders.
      And it was to be a story about teenagers. (Lighted matches and free-flowing gasoline comes to mind.)
      But it was also about something more -- an instance of people participating in nontraditional roles.
      That's what made the story interesting. And that's what I tried to write about.
      Who were these two girls, why did they like the sport, what did they do to participate, and how did they handle the inevitable gender clashes? To me, these were all germane questions, to be asked of the kids and their coaches.
      I thought the school officials might be difficult, especially if they thought I might try to get ``cute'' with the story.
      But I checked with the regional school district superintendent, who said he was unaware of any Ponaganset girl wrestlers. But he called me a couple of days later and said there indeed was a girl on the wrestling team.
      I told him I wanted to do a story.
      He kind of grunted and said something about the district in the woods always seeming to be some sort of pioneer.
      He also gave me carte blanche to go ahead.
      The wrestling coach was more than helpful. He welcomed the opportunity to get some publicity for his team.
      He told me there were two girls on the team, and there had been a girl on the team several years ago.
      So much for any novelty angle.
      In talking to the kids, it became apparent they weren't out to set the world on fire or pioneer any feminist cause. They were two kids who just wanted to have fun at a sport they liked.
      That's how I tried to tell the story.
      I thought it was important to try to get all the angles, that is, the kids, their teammates, school officials, parents, and the state Interscholastic League officials.
      But when I wrote it, my lead really didn't work. I tried to re-create a generic wrestling match. But I wasn't there, and Jeni questioned using it.
      I thought it worked. But Jeni really had a problem with it.
      I was at home, so over the telephone she and I talked about it. Ultimately, we agreed and reworked the lead in a way that seemed to get the reader into the story more quickly.
      As I was writing the story, I kept trying to come up with a reference that was not suggestive or offensive.
      Enter the crab.
      Crabs -- used primarily for either fish bait or food -- seemed the perfect fit. I defy anyone to think of these things, their pincers locked on each other battling over a piece of rotting fish, as being sexy.
      There was no great writing or literary device here. It just seemed to work. It said what I wanted it to, simply and succintly.
      There was one other thing. Whenever I was tempted to try to get cute in the story, I looked at some pictures on my desk, of a 5-year-old ``buddy'' of mine (i.e., my grandaughter).
      I tried to write the story as I would want someone to write about her if she ends up being in a similar situation as the Ponaganset girls: simply and straightforward. I guess it worked.



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