By KIM ORENDOR
Davis (Calif.) Enterprise

	SO YOU WANT TO BE A SPORTS EDITOR?

Daily Oklahoman sports editor Mike Sherman knows it's also good for the office.

Sherman brought a Quaker Oats box into his office as a fine collection box.

Any time a staff member criticized a coworker they were fined 25 cents. Sherman made his own fine 50 cents.

"It used to pay for lunch once a week; now, it's once a month," said Sherman, who shared his ideas at the "So You Want to be a Sports Editor" workshop at the APSE Convention in Philadelphia on June 25.

Sherman was one of a three-member panel, led by Celeste Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Additional panelists were Andy Johnston of the Athens Banner-Herald and Matt Pepin of the New Haven Register.

The trio shared some of the surprises, challenges and accomplishments of their first year as sports editors. The workshop was attended by more than 20 people hoping to learn how to avoid the rough spots or get out of them quickly.

"A big challenge was to begin delegating things," said Pepin, who has a staff of 20 full-timers. I like to keep my hands on things, to put it in someone else's hands was difficult."

For Sherman a challenge was not with the people he had but getting people there.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"Hiring is a challenge," he said. "I'm trying to turn the Oklahoman from a place people try to avoid to a destination and change the perception of the paper."

For every challenge, there was a positive.

"I take a lot of pride in the growth I've seen in some of the guys on my staff," said Johnston, who manages a staff of seven. "Being able to work with young minds, being able to mold them, to give them assignments and take what they've done and work with them, seeing that growth in young journalists is worth it."

While all of the panelists had different ideas on how to work through most problems, they all agreed it was important to develop relationships with their peers.

"It's vital," Sherman said. "Don't work anywhere where there's not somebody who's job it is to help you get better. If they're not there, ask when they start."

Johnston said: "When I got to Athens, I set out immediately to surround myself with people better than me. It helps to have people from other parts of the country."

First-time editor or not, that's sound advice.