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.
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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
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Sports Features
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Personality profiles
Sports technology
Training regiments (see 289)
Pregame Story
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Requires preemptive reporting
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Gather info on other teams
(coaches and sports editors)
Components of a pre-game story
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Last year’s scores of contest
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Condition of athletes
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Key athletes or starters
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Comparison of teams or
individuals
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Comments on style of play
(offense and defense)
Significance of events (records,
future)
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History of rivalries and overall
history scores
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See p. 291
Sports-related events
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Band
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Spirit events
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Half-time
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Cheerleaders
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The Game Story
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Keep detailed accurate notes (press box)
Develop a quick note-taking method.
Look for turning points
Partisanship
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You’re busy, no cheerleading
Game Coverage
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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
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• Players/coaches
AKA
• The sideline story
• Locker-room story
• Wrap-up or review
of the season
• Spectator actions
• The background
story
Untangle confusion
with controversy
• Historical rivalries
• Update readers on
• Sports interview
score record
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Checklist
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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
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p. 297