Sports Writing
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Sports Writing . Trivia Time!. Match the mascot (MLB) & National League Angels Athletics Blue jays Devil rays Indians Mariners Orioles Rangers Red sox Royals Tigers Twins White Sox Yankees Astros Braves Brewers Cardinals Cubs Diamondbacks Dodgers Giants Marlins Mets
Sports Writing
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Presentation Transcript
Trivia Time! • Match the mascot (MLB) & National League • Angels • Athletics • Blue jays • Devil rays • Indians • Mariners • Orioles • Rangers • Red sox • Royals • Tigers • Twins • White Sox • Yankees • Astros • Braves • Brewers • Cardinals • Cubs • Diamondbacks • Dodgers • Giants • Marlins • Mets • Nationals • Padres • Match the mascot to the team (NFL) • Ravens • Bills • Bengals • Browns • Broncos • Texans • Colts • Jaguars • Chiefs • Dolphins • Patriots • Jets • Raiders • Steelers • Chargers • Titans • Cardinals • Falcons • Panthers • Bears
Trivia Time! • (NW Div.) • Nuggets • Timberwolves • Blazers • Sonics • Jazz • (SE Div.) • Hawks • Bobcats • Heat • Magic • Wizards • Matching: NBA • (Central Div.) • Bulls • Cavaliers • Pistons • Pacers • Bucks • (East Teams) • Celtics • Nets • Knicks • 76ers • Raptors
Trivia Time • How did you do?
Challenges • Logistics • Statistics • Deadlines • Ethics • lingo/jargon
Ethics • Conflict of Interest • Boosterism • Freebies
News • Coaching changes • Letters of intent • Awards • “unsavory” stuff • Difficult stories require courage, a sense of fairness- and for HS journalists since Hazelwood- a supportive administration
Types • Sports features • Trend • Advance • Advance trend • News stories • Game stories
Sports feature • These are the stories behind or beyond the game • Based on human interest and/or oddity • Athlete profiles • Seasonal activities • Girls playing on boys teams • Athletes paying for personal trainers • Students who coach teams with younger kids • Informative features on unusual sports and the students who play them
Trend • Does not rehash plays from each game • Highlights trends in the course of a team’s play since the last issue • Answers the question: What’s gone on over the last month and WHY? • More analysis and focus on individual players
Advance • Gives insight into the upcoming game, providing as many specifics as possible • May focus on a specific aspect of the upcoming game: how will the team replace an injured star? • Built on strong quotes, description and anecdotes • Requires coaches and reporter to think ahead
Advance trend • Adds information on the upcoming game to the trend story, including how last month’s games influence it • Include information on the upcoming event as the first part of the story • Devote more space to the upcoming event • Condense into the available space as many of the highlights of the past events as possible
Sports news stories • Sports have also become big business, especially at the college/professional level • Look for stories about college recruiting, sports funding, fan behavior, use of performance enhancing drugs
Game stories • Seldom used in monthly student newspapers unless a late deadline on a significant game • Excellent option for posting on line • Not a rehash of play-by-play action • Focus on interesting and game-changing moments first • Weave in postgame quotes from players and coaches
Sports vs news stories • Similarities • Both use similar types of leads: feature angle or news lead • Both look for interest-compelling facts • Both use an inverted pyramid structure (unless it’s a feature) • Differences • Sports writing is more colorful, less formal than news writing • Sports writing is more faster paced and lively • Sports stories can be more flexible than news or feature writing
Writing sports stories: structure • News in descending order • Game events aren't told chronologically; key moments or developments are played high • Second graph supports the lead • Some basics are played high but no “bunched” together • Transitions • While stories may be written in an “unnatural” (not chrono) order,they should still flow. This can be accomplished by simply using appropriate transition words
Writing sports stories: style • Scores are numerals separated by hyphens (12-6, not 12 to 6) • Team records are numerals separated by hyphens (8-2, not 8 to 2) • Winning scores always come first (your team lost 12-6, not 6-12) • Spell your opponents’ team/school name mascot correctly • Use sports terms that apply to the specific sports occasionally, however, you do not have to define them unless they are obscure
Writing sports stories: how to • 1. have a strong lead • 2. write clearly and concisely • 3. know the content • 4. give the major play by play • 5. use quotes as possible • 6. check you facts **See your handout for these notes**
Writing sports stories: tips • Write about players and teams, not games • When writing about players, always identify them by class in school and position on team • Keep up with team stats and use them frequently in stories • Keep up with individual stats and use them frequently in stories • Know sports writing style • Watch the team practice and play (especially for personality profiles) • Look for opportunities to do sports feature stories that are not tied directly to the games • There is a difference between reporting and commentating on… • Never be a cheerleader for your team
Basics- when reporting you need… • Score • Records • Site • Classification • What’s next (tournament or playoff…)
Pitfalls • Commentary • Expertise • Player criticism • Clichés • Redundancy • quotes
Lingo/jargon • http://www.sportscliche.com/
Captioning sports photos • Give the outcome of the play if possible • Name players on BOTH teams • Give the outcome of the game/match within the caption • It’s preferable to have stats about the player in the caption • Use player’s number (in caption) after their name, if they number is visible in the photo
Captioning sports photos • Example: • While avoiding an East Paulding defender, senior Drew Coffee, #45, prepares to go up for the shot. “I played pretty well this game. I was very relaxed. Having a good game feels great and builds your confidence,” said Coffee. Coffee scored 14 points aiding the team in their 64-56 defeat of the Raiders. • 1st sentence in PRESENT and describes what’s going on in the picture • 2nd sentence is a QUOTE related to the picture/game • 3rd sentence is PAST tense and gives background on stats/game outcome
Caption practice • Write a caption for the Photo to the right-
Group analysis • See handout