COVID-19 Closeup: Bill Potrecz
COVID-19 CLOSEUP
SUBJECT: BILL POTRECZ, BPSN
What would you be doing at BPSN if the pandemic hadn’t hit? A few things come to mind. I would be haggling with BPSN partner Bernie Puchalski for vacation time; Lacrosse season would be in full swing so I would be immersed in covering the St. Catharines junior A Athletics as they primed for a run at an Ontario championship and birth at the Minto Cup, which was to be held in St. Catharines in August; Summer is also time for the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association Regatta and Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. And, of course, anything and everything to do with local baseball.
What are you doing now at BPSN? A good question! The COVID-19 pandemic has forced BPSN to dig deep for stories. It’s not always easy when there are no sports being played but we have managed to come up with some excellent features and now have the opportunity even more to focus on young athletes who are moving on to the next level in the fall.
What is the biggest obstacle to doing your job during the pandemic? The lack of games to cover, which often generate not only game stories, but feature ideas.
What do you miss the most about the pre-pandemic world of BPSN? Being out in the community covering games and meeting some of the best athletes and coaches in Niagara; BPSN’s weekly meetings where Bernie and I would map out our week and often solve the problems of the world all in only a couple of hours.
What do you miss the least about the pre-pandemic world of BPSN? Shaving. Also, not having to be three places at once which often occurs come playoff time in just about all sports.
What is the biggest thing wrong with your industry that you can reveal without getting fired or demoted for your honesty? Getting readers to understand that good local journalism needs to be paid for and not taking for granted it will always be there.
Is there an easy way to fix the problem? If there were I’m pretty sure it would have been implemented by now.
Is there a hard way to fix the problem? A pay wall is a possible solution, although, it seems most readers are not willing to pay for content.
What would be one suggestion to make your industry better? Go back in time and not give away the product for free and then ask readers to support it financially later.
Has the pandemic changed how you will approach your work at BPSN? The home office and cell phone are now the two most important components of our job. Pretty much everything is done remotely, which is often more convenient, but not always necessarily the best way to conduct business.
What is the first thing you are going to do when life returns to normal? Go to a baseball game. Not even close.
What daily activity do you miss the most? Watching baseball, coaching baseball.
What guilty pleasure do you miss the most? Eating in restaurants.
What is your favourite outfit to wear around the house if you are working from home? You don’t want to know. Next.
What do you do to replace the time spent working on BPSN? Eat, eat and eat some more. Lots of TV. Lots of time on the phone. I have yet to use any of the many extra hours available for anything productive.
Are you most likely to be a hunk, chunk, drunk or Sasquatch when the pandemic ends? A hunk of what?
What is the worst habit you have picked up during the pandemic? Justifying spending an inordinate amount of time on my phone every day.
What is the best habit you have picked up during the pandemic? Making a concerted effort to reach out to others, many of whom I don’t regularly keep up with.
What is something good about yourself you have discovered during the pandemic? I can eat more than I would have thought without become sick.
What is something bad about yourself you have discovered during the pandemic? I am even lazier than I thought.
In the weeks ahead, BPSN is hoping to get people in Niagara’s sporting community to share their COVID Closeups. If you want to volunteer, shoot Bill or I a text. You have our numbers.
BPSN and the COVID-19 pandemic
Like all small businesses dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, BPSN is not sure what the business landscape will look like when things return to normal. Our website is financed primarily through advertising revenues and partnership agreements with many local sports and educational organizations in Niagara. Our goal is to continue providing our readers with the extensive local sports coverage you have come to expect from our site. Since our inception, we have written more than 2,800 stories on our local athletes and teams. Many of our readers have given us one-time donations or send us monthly contributions to help offset our costs. We would be eternally grateful if others would consider doing the same by using the Support Us button located on the right-hand side of our home page below the mosaic.
Thank you for your continued support.
Bill and Bernie.
