Don't Put Your Eggs in One Basket

Here's an off-season lesson about what happens when you get too full yourself and think victory is certain: The Indianapolis Colts weren't the only ones smarting after their surprise loss to the Steelers in Sunday's NFL playoff game. The Gannett Co.-owned Indianapolis Star saw its extensive, Armageddon-style coverage plans flushed down the toilet. Newspapers routinely ready themselves for big-time coverage of such events, but Editor & Publisher magazine chronicles preparations that go above and beyond the call,most likely owing to the fact that the Colts were heavy favorites to win:

Among those predicting victory were editors at The Star, who had already booked eight hotel rooms in the Motor City. The newspaper was planning to send 20 staffers to the big game, and was preparing to print special victory editions for distribution after the game in both Indianapolis and Detroit. The paper had even commissioned a book on the "Super Bowl" season, with 16 chapters already written by Colts beat writer Phil Wilson.

"It would have been out the Friday after the Super Bowl [Feb. 10]. It would have been between 140 and 160 pages, a nice coffee table book," said Tim Wheatley, assistant managing editor/sports, who said a week's worth of special sections leading up to the game were also in the works. "We had reporters working six or seven days a week to get all of the copy for these done."

More heartbreak here.

Colts' Upset Loss Forces 'Indy Star' to Shelve Super Bowl Plans [Editor & Publisher]