Chapter 12: Sports Writing

1
Chapter 12 Sports Writing

• The Sports story ? Word Pictures? Must be
  descriptive
• Lively writing
• Reflective adjectives
• Powerful adverbs
• Active verbs

2
Chapter 12 Sports Writing

• Not just the best,also the worst
• Avoid Clichés
• Dont be tritesee examples on p.263

3
Chapter 12 Sports Writing

• Preparing for Sports Coverage
• Research
• Knowledge of sport
• Get to know coaches players
• Observe practice

4
Chapter 12 Sports Writing

• Pre-Game Story
• Telling fans what they can expect
• Research rosters, strengths weaknesses of both
  teams
• Score of last game between teams
• Physical condition (injuries)
• Starting line-ups
• Compare records so far this season
• Comment on styles of play
• Consequence of this game
• Analysis of individual players
• History of rivalry

5
Chapter 12 Sports Writing

• The Game Story
• The true test of a sports writer is that they can
  take good notes on all the action
• Analyze watch for key plays and turning
  points, include score in the lead, credit
  scorers
• 1. Result (score) 2. Where When
• 3. Turning Point 4. Outstanding players
• 5. Standings 6. Scoring details
• Streaks 8. Post-game comments
• Externals 10. Size of crowd
• 11. Statistics 12. Duration of game

6
Chapter 12 Sports Writing

• Post-Game stories and Features
• Interviews about reactions
• Deeper more in-depth
• Analysis
• Coach/Player Personality Profiles
• Season/team wrap-ups

7
Chapter 12 Sports Writing

• Sports Story Checklist
• Does the content of the story reflect support for
  the local team without being excessively
  partisan?
• If the story is Pre-Game, does it give specific
  information about the opposition as well as the
  home team?
• For Game 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 Associated Press stylebook?