Off The Bench

Being a sports journalist means getting to know some of the biggest names on and off the field. It means traveling around the country and dining at the finest restaurants with MVPs and Hall-of-Famers. It means having the inside scoop on the biggest trades and signings and, sometimes, the feuds that make or break championships.

Unless you're Bill Davis. And, like, 98 percent of sports journalists in America.

Bill never covered a Super Bowl. He never got to witness a final out of a World Series from the press box. He didn't get splashed with champagne as the new champs celebrated in the locker room.

He did get to interview the winner of the annual tractor pull at the Knox County Fair. And he wasn't doused with champagne -- more like mud and grass.

Off The Bench: The Totally True Adventures of a Small Town Sports Reporter details eight years of stories like this and more. Far removed from the glory of ESPN, Bill worked high school games and county fairs -- you know, the real celebrities in small-town rural America.

Bill worked as the sports editor of the Mount Vernon News. He dealt with coaches who preferred discussing Greek cuisine instead of his team's 12-0 loss to the rival high school. He reported how coaches got suspended for handing out Tic-Tacs on the sideline. One football coach attributed his play-calling success (or lack thereof) to many, many hours playing Madden.

Bill worled with a chief photographer who was older than most of downtown and who thought nothing of leaving a loaded shotgun unattended on the sports desk. He had to deal with an overbearing boss who was constantly trying to do his job for him despite knowing nothing about sports. The most popular employee at the paper was a cat who was likely older than the chief photographer. He worked with computers so old they struggled to read the internet. The floor shook when anyone walked by. The carpet was worn and smelled like old cat.

Each chapter delves into another sport, another aspect, another unpredictable story. The collection of odd events and quirky characters will keep the reader laughing at the turn of every page.