It is not exactly true to say I paid $50 a week to cover Clemson on its way to winning the 1981 national championship. I graduated from college in June of that year, and turned down an offer of $350 a week from The Miami Herald to cover high schools in West Palm Beach. The Atlanta Constitution offered me $300 a week but promised me I could cover colleges.
Not Georgia or Georgia Tech, mind you, both way too important to Atlanta readers to trust to a kid. Clemson and South Carolina, both within driving distance of Atlanta, served as the perfect-sized beat for me.