I hate to keep good news a secret

By Staff
Charles Prince, Sports Editor
I don't do well with secrets. I have a hard time keeping good news to myself..
This is a case that keeping some good news secret until a specified date is just killing me.
The Alabama Sports Writers Association met in Montgomery this past Wednesday and Thursday to pick the All-State teams in softball and baseball.
As a voting member of the ASWA, I was there to take part and make a case for the local players I had seen play this season. I voted for several local players I thought were deserving of inclusion as the best in all the state.
After the selection process ended it was decided not to release the names of the players chosen until Sunday, May 30. That's when I had to start keeping good news to myself.
The Enquirer comes out on Thursdays each week. Because of tha,t I have to wait to publish my story about the local players who made the team until Thursday, June 3.
By that time all the large daily newspapers in the state will have already run the list of everyone who made the team in all classifications from 1A through 6A.
I guess I could run the story this week, but that would violate the agreement that all the other sports writers in the state decided upon.
By doing so however, I could lose my voting privileges and that could be damaging to the athletes I cover.
Some deserving players who could have been on All-State teams in the future might miss out because I could not vote for or nominate them in the first place.
That's why I'm waiting until the June4 issue of the Enquirer to run their names in the paper.
The local players who made the team will know they have made the team by the time this column appears in the paper.
I have contacted them and arranged for photos to be taken for the June 4 issue.
But I can't put their names in the paper this week. I can't help but feel like this is a big burden for me.
If I can't put their names in the paper, at least I'm going to let everyone know which schools in our coverage area that had players chosen.
In baseball, this will come as a surprise to no one, the Hartselle Tigers are represented on the 5A All-State team.
In softball, Danville, which made their first trip to the state tournament since changing to the fast pitch game, has two players on the 3A team. Falkville placed two players on the 2A team and the Hartselle Lady Tigers have three members of the 5A team.
That's all I can say for now. Next week, look in the paper for the photos and names of all the players in our area who were honored by making the All-State team-the paper with the sports writer who can't keep good news a secret.