Jumping through the hoops

As I mentioned in an earlier blog my former sidekick Rich has departed the shores of the Black Country leaving me to man the video tiller single-handed, writes

Andy Toft

.

Consequently I've found blogging opportunities severely limited as I've dashed from one job to another, only finding pause to edit footage down into something passably coherent.

Things had already been busy following the new year but the pressure rose a notch when Graeme Souness announced his intention to buy Wolves.

Cue a frantic round of interviews with fans, ex-players and our own journalists in a bid to make sure all bases were covered on one of the biggest stories to hit Molineux in living memory.

By the end of a hectic week it's safe to say I was feeling somewhat frayed around the edges.

The fact that my editing software persisted in waging guerilla warfare on my limited technical knowledge was an added drain on my resources of energy and patience.

Come Friday afternoon anyone daring to approach my desk did so wearing an expression of extreme caution.

My week was supposed to culminate with a trip to St Andrews to cover Blues's clash with Leeds on Saturday for the Sporting Star.

A brief return to my role as a sports writer was one I was looking forward to after a week behind the camera.

That prospect was dashed when the game was called off on Friday morning, leaving me teetering on the brink of a Saturday afternoon vacumm.

However at the 11th hour - or 4.30pm on Friday afternoon to be more precise - I was told to buy a ticket for Wolves clash with Stoke the following day.

The idea was that I would sit with the travelling supporters and write a piece about their mood in the light of all the takeover speculation.

Although there was little mention of Souness among the fans on Saturday I still managed to fashion an article for Monday's paper - written amid the clearing mists of a hangover on Sunday afternoon.

The furore of the Souness story had died down a little by Monday but the relentless pace on the video desk had not abated.

Having spent the previous week concentrating on sport I was suddenly back filming news items, with pieces on Wolverhampton jewellers T A Henn and Frank Cohen's new art gallery at Four Ashes.

Today it was back to sport after Wolves' FA Cup victory set up a fifth round clash with Albion - a story which is sure to gather pace as the big day approaches.

The constant shifts between news and sport, video, newspaper and blog, have been at different times, exhilirating, stressful and dizzying.

And I'm trying to devise a new job title which would best sum up my varied role.

I was set thinking about that after seeing an advert for staff in the window of a branch of Subway, just around the corner from our office.

The notice appealed for "Sandwich Artists," to join their team.

Now I'm all for creative thinking but describing the simple task of slapping a bit of meat, salad and cheese between a couple of slices of bread as an "art" is a step too far down the road marked Poetic Licence (although it could be argued the girl who put together my 6 inch BMT sub last week adopted a Jackson Pollock-like approach to the task).

Nevertheless the advert set the old grey matter to considering a suitably odd description of my own job.

Having jumped through a fair few hoops over recent days I'm leaning towards Online/Print Gymnast.

Andy Toft is the Express & Star's video journalist. Read other entries in his blog by clicking here

To comment on Andy's blog, click here

Your comments: "Your work load is obviously getting to you, Andy. The cup clash is a fourth round tie not fifth round. All the best and keep the videos coming. They are excellent." John Smith, Stourbridge