The Kentucky Derby is over, and Herald-Leader newsroom staffers are catching their breath. Derby is one of the busiest and most fun times of the year, with lots of extra coverage in the regular paper and two 18-page special sections. This year, we also produced some terrific photo, audio and multimedia reports on kentucky.com.
Something that always attracts readers’ attention are the big headlines on the Sports front Saturday and the Sunday special section. Those are the work of copy editors, who help put together the paper each night. It’s often a collaborative effort, especially on the sports desk, which also produces those kind of headlines for big sporting events throughout the year. The copy editors often don’t have a lot of time to come up with something, as deadlines don’t wait for inspiration. Editors throw out ideas, and others try to improve upon them. They try to be fresh and creative, incorporating the name of the winning horse and, if possible, something about how he won the race. Puns and alliteration rule the day. Past Derby headlines have included: "Charismagic" (Charismatic in 1999), "Cide Swiped" (Funny Cide in 2003), "Smarty’s Party" (Smarty Jones in 2004), and "Holy Giacomoly!" (Giacomo in 2005).
My favorite Derby week headline this year was written by sports copy editor Tawana Brown for Lemons Forever’s long-shot win in the Kentucky Oaks: "Lemony Ticket." This year’s Sunday headline was "Barbaro’s Roses," by copy desk chief Brian Throckmorton. It wasn’t the unanimous choice of those of us still hanging around the newsroom as the 11:10 p.m. deadline approached, but that’s often the case when odd horse names don’t easily suggest a catchy headline.
What else was under consideration? Here are some of the ideas staff members proposed Saturday night:
Barbaro Go!
Barbaro Rolls!
Barbarolls!
Hi Ho Barbaro!
Barbaro’s Coast
Barbaro Breaks Away
Barbaro d’Ville
Barb-Wired
Barbaro Bar None
Do you think we chose the right one? Do you have a better idea?
Tom Eblen
Managing Editor
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