Writing Sports Stories

Sports Stories• No scores in the lead• Sports writers must interpret the game• No play-by-play rehash, the readers

have TV• Offer something to the fans who saw

the game• Opinion (analysis) is ok

“Slanguage” – Sports language• Sports-specific language (terminology) is ok. • Trite (boring from overuse, cliché)

expressions are not ok• Trite: Functioned like a well-oiled machine

(p.285)• Good: Hit the field like a broken catsup bottle

(p. 286)

Understanding sports• Know the rules and strategies, and the

reasons behind them.• Read the sports page• Watch sports events on tv• Play sports• Get to know the coaches and players

• Reporters need to get across the feelings and motivations of coaches and players.

Sports Coverage• Cover the sporting whether winning or losing• Don’t ignore minor sports, JV teams, and girls’

teams• Recreation sports should be considered too• Skiing• Skateboarding

• Sports shorts• Highlights and stats

Sports Features• Personality profiles• Sports technology• Training regiments (see 289)

Pregame Story• Requires preemptive reporting

• Gather info on other teams (coaches and sports editors)

• Components of a pre-game story• Last year’s scores of contest• Condition of athletes• Key athletes or starters• Comparison of teams or

individuals• Comments on style of play

(offense and defense)

• Significance of events (records, future)

• History of rivalries and overall history scores

• See p. 291• Sports-related events

• Band• Spirit events• Half-time• Cheerleaders

The Game Story• Keep detailed accurate notes (press box)• Develop a quick note-taking method.• Look for turning points

Partisanship• You’re busy, no cheerleading

Game Coverage• Games are old news, not too much detail• Brief accounts, score credit, good

plays/players• Score, name of event, boys or girls, sophs JF

or varsity team

The Postgame Story• AKA

• The sideline story• Spectator actions

• The background story• Historical rivalries

• Sports interview

• Players/coaches• Locker-room story

• Wrap-up or review of the season

• Untangle confusion with controversy

• Update readers on score record

Checklist• Does the content of the story reflect support for the local

team without being excessively partisan?• If the story is pregame, does it give specific information

about the opposition as well as the home team?• For game and postgame stories, has the writer taken

essentially a featurized approach?• Is the language fresh and original, with “slanguage” kept to

a minimum?• Is the story free from grammatical errors and in accordance

with the publication and general AP style?

Sportswriting today • p. 297