Sportswriting

1. Sportswriting Let’s play handeggand jumpball!

2. What Are Sports, Anyway? • I mean, what makes a sport a sport? • Why do they matter so much to us?

3. Let Me Be Honest With You • Sportswriting is painfully cliché much of the time. • What are some of the most common clichés in sportswriting that you have heard? In pairs, come up with the worst offenders. Write a short sports story that is as cliché as you can make it.

4. How to Avoid Clichés • Read about the sport and team to know what is already trite and overdone • Talk to the coach and players outside of the season and outside of game days to know them in a relaxed setting • Remember, sports stories are about people • Sports stories should ask why • Look for off-the-field relationships among the team that impacts what occurs on the field • Winning does not always make the best story. A team trying to win its first game could make an excellent one. • Sports is not always about playing the game; it goes beyond

5. What Makes a Good Sports Reporter? • Know sports well: the rules, strategy, team and player records, etc. Become well-informed as possible, not relying only on prior knowledge • Work at detecting strengths and weaknesses of a team or individual • Don’t attend games as a cheering spectator; you might miss important aspects of the game • Support all opinions with facts • Be informal and original as possible!

6. Develop a Focus • Don’t simply go write a story about hockey. What aspects of the team and its achievements and failures make it most interesting? Focus on that.

7. Sports Slang and Sports Language • Instead of this: “The 145-pound blazer rumbled through the giant grid of the goal line for a sweet six points,” … • …write this: “Senior running back Jonathan Belsher leapt over the defensive line from the one yard line to score the game-winning touchdown.”

8. Sports Slang and Sports Language • If a phrase is so ridiculous that no one would say it, then avoid it. • Nobody says, “grid mentor” to speak of a football coach. You shouldn’t, either. You don’t say “ice master” to speak of a hockey coach. • Use the specialized writing of the sport without getting too technical. For instance, a “jumper” wouldn’t need explanation, but a “swing backside on a lost post pick” would.

9. Statistics • Stats are important to a sports story, but don’t get carried away. • Rather than say the running back “had a good day,” explain that he “ran for a season-high 220 yards and two touchdowns.” • Place statistics in context of the sport, too, so reader knows what they mean.

10. Preparing to Write Consider these aspects when starting at your story: • Significance of event. Is title at stake? • Probably lineups and changes • Records of teams and individual players • Compare records of teams • Tradition and rivalry • Weather conditions • Systems of play and each team’s strategy • Rankings • Individual angles, like star players • Coaches’ statements • Who is favored • Crowd antics, new uniforms, etc. • Check pg. 105 in SJ

11. Types of Sports Stories • Advance story: gives insight into upcoming game, builds anticipation, answers 5 W’s and H • Trend story: what’s gone on recently and why? While focusing on the past a bit, keep in mind the future is more interesting to readers • Sports news: what affects the sport beyond the actual game • Game story: tells story of game; looks for key moments, stats, or trends to weave this story • Sports feature: story beyond or behind the game; focuses on human interest; pg. 111 in SJ