Sportswriting

SPORTSWRITING
The Games. The Glory. The Story.
The History.
The games we play
The Sports Page talks about heroes. The Front Page talks about mans failures.
Qualities of a Good Sports Writer

Must know sports: rules, strategy, team and players records. Must attend the games or meets as a reporter, not as a spectator or cheerer. Must know coaches and players as intimately as possible. Must observe accuracy.
Qualities of a Good Sports Writer cont.

Must be able to take notes quickly without losing the sequence of the play. Must be fair and unbiased in reporting, even though he has a favorite team. Must not make comments without supporting them with facts on which they are based, although sports writers have more freedom than any other news stories
Qualities of a Good Sports Writer cont.

Must use the specialized language of the particular sports that he is reporting. Must avoid slang and trite expressions which hack writers use today. He should tell the story in plain, factual terms, that describe the action. Must bear in mind that he writes for his readers and not for himself.
Writing Sports Stories
The main elements of a good sports story are a catchy lead, clear focus and lots of quotes.
a catchy lead,
The lead is the attention-getter, the news in a nutshell. The classic five Ws appear in the sports leas as:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Who won? Against whom? By what scores? Where? When?
Example of a catchy LEAD

The IHMA Dragons(1) poured 10 baskets in the last three minutes to edge out the RS Tigers (2) 65-63 (3) at the opponents homeground (4), yesterday afternoon. (5)
The lead can also dramatize other elements like:

The key play 1. The IHMA High School sluggers bombed the RS batters with six runs in the third inning to subdue a nerve-fuzzling RS rally, 14-12 as they clinched the invitation game here, in connection with the celebration of the Foundation Day of RS school. 2. Foreign Philippine masters champion George Olayban birdied two of the last three holes for a four-under-par 67 yesterday and a one stroke lead over Robert Pactolerin in the opening round of the P200,000 Philip Morris Long Golf Classic.

The outstanding player 1. Romeo Reyes of IHMA, after four hours battle over the chess board, copped the most coveted YMCA trophy after outfitting Manila High School chesser William Santos in 27 moves of a Sicilian defense. 2. Ace Striker Rossel Filamer slotted home the priceless maker that lifted that multi-titled NCR team to triumph over hard-fighting CebuLhuillier, 1-6, to capture the fourth Don Andres Soriano Jr. Football Cup before a big, enthusiastic crowd at the Perdices Stadium in Davao City.

The analytical approach 1. Riding high on sizzling spikes ad tricky placing, the MLQ netters blasted the crucial third set to win 15-10, 11-15, 15-7 mini-district meet, Sept. 21 at the Torres High School Oval to celebrate the First Filipino Thanksgiving Day. 2. Pumped-up Purefoods played solid defense to frustrate a winner-take-all contest on Sunday for the PBA All-Filipino Conference Crown at the Ultra.
THE BODY
The FLOW of the body: 1. Team and/or individual standing- if the event is part of a series of games, the story must report how the teams or players stand in their relation to their competitors. 2. Decisive play- this is the most crucial part of the game that gives a certain team the winning margin. 3. Best scores for the day- the scores usually appear in the headline and in the lead. However, the writer must not neglect the top scorer of the day.
THE BODY
The FLOW of the body: 4. Play-by-play- due to limited space, play-byplay has to be condensed. In top boxing events, a separate rate round-by-round account is provided, describing the progress of the fight in detail. 5. Quotation- it is costumary for the hero of the day to have his sentiments of the fight in detail.
Former executive editor Jose Luna Castro of the Manila Times has listed elements that make up a good sports story. Personalities Play-by-play description Statistics Quotes by players Quotes by trainers/coaches Background stuff on players The importance/significance of the event The background of the game
Suggested Pointers:
The score or outcome- who won? That of course is the point of the story. Even if the game should end in a tie, with a riot, or be called off on account of a rain, the outcome is still important The significance of the outcome- was a championship at stake? Do the standings of the teams change? Who gets the cup? Is the grudge wiped out?
Suggested Pointers:
Highlights of the game- find the turning point of the game. Describe spectacular plays. tell about the last minute fumble, or the last three-second basket from midcourt if it were a basketball game. Comparison of the teams- which was the better team? Was the defending champion out-jumped on the rebound? Who did better from the foul line? In what department were the losers weak?
Suggested Pointers:
Individual stars- while present-day sports stories on teamwork have greatly discouraged individual stars and so calledgrandstand players, there are still instances where some players stand out from the rest? Who are they? What did they do to become the heroes of the game? Weather conditions- mud, sunshine, heat, cold, or wind may have a bearing on the game.
Suggested Pointers:
Crowd and celebration- dont forget the spectators. Was it a record crowd? How did the spectators behave? Where they particularly hostile to the referee?
Sports Linggo
BASKETBALL
Five, quintet, shot twinner, pivot, rally, rebound, technical foul, quarter count, 15-foot line, hook shot, lay-up, icebreaker, tip-in, one defense, man to man, 30 second rule, full court, gun time, lemon time, keyhole area, long tom, follow-up, trey, rainbow country.
Sports Linggo
BASEBALL/ SOFTBALL
Diamond, pitcher, backstop, deep center, struck out, lower fourth, shut out, hitless inning, hit a homerun, onebagger, two-baggers, force out, fourth, flier, rolling ball, umpire, struck out, bunt, slide, shortstop, fielder, southpaw, no-hit run, fanned, out-pegged at third, deep center, a scorcher to left outfield.
Sports Linggo
VOLLEYBALL
Spikes, neat placing, change court, chinese kill, wallop, block, scored off, straight set, two out of three, spiker, blocked his kill, booming services, net ball, return play, three out of five.
SOCCER or FOOTBALL
soccerites, goalie, full back, corner kick, centrada, penalty kick, free kick, pigskin.
SIPA
Fancy kick, dead ball, ball on play, single, double, etc.
Sports Linggo
TRACK:
Dashes- 100-200-80-m; Runs- 200400; 800 and 1500m; Hurdles-100m. high, 400 m low and 80 m low; Relay 4X100m and 4X400m; breasted the tape, burned the cinders, clock a new record, bore down on him, home stretch, photo finish, middle-distance runner, long-distance runner, anchor man, passed on the baton.
Sports Linggo
FIELD
Heaved the shotput, hurdled the javelin, threw the discuss, hop step and jump, broad jump, high or long jump, pole vault, Grecian disc.
TENNIS
Best of three matches, surfeit services, straight set, singles, smash cut
SWIMMING
Tanker, naiads, aquabelle
There are aids that may be useful in covering a game:

BASKETBALL- FG (field goal) 2; Ft (free throw) X1; PF (personal foul); TP (total points); js (jumpshot); di (drivein); lu (lay-up); LT (long tom), etc. BASEBALL/SOFTBALL- ab (at bat); h (hit); rbi (run or runs batted in); e (error); etc. VOLLEYBALL- p (placing); bs (booming service); s (spiker); bb (black ball); cp (change of phase, etc.
Sports coverage can be divided into four kinds of stories:

sports news, game results, profiles and opinion pieces.
Sports News Articles

These stories are news articles about sports. They should be balanced and be written in an inverted pyramid style: the important info at the front of the article and the less important background stuff at the bottom.
Game Results Articles

This type of article summarizes a game and gives a few post-game quotes from the players and/or coaches. They are very timesensitive. If the article is not run immediately after the game, it is old news.
Profiles
Profiles are feature-style articles that highlight the story or achievements of a particular athlete, coach or team. They tend to be longer than regular sports stories and require more research than in sports news stories.
Opinion Pieces
Some student newspapers have sports columnists, while others accept opinion submissions from writers-at-large. Either way, opinion pieces are a good way to inject color and life into a sports section.
As a student reporter you must remember:
Focus on the important plays of the game or a key player, and build your story around it.
Michael Jordan scored 35 points to help the Chicago Bulls clobber the New York Knicks by a score of 105-73.
When reporting in sports you don't have to put in every play, just the important ones that made a difference.
What do we look for in a good sports story? *Has a striking LEAD *Uses fresh mix of TERMINOLOGIES *Style and approach is original *LEAD SUPPORT captures the story *Flow of DETAILS highlights the crucial moments of the event *Shows the writers familiarity and knowledge of the games RULES *Appeals to both female and male readers
SUMMARY LEAD
In a summary lead, the who and how will be the lead emphasis. The final score should be in the lead and not repeated elsewhere in the story. Many beginning writers, in an attempt to summarize the game, repeat the score in the body. This is wrong. If the reader forgets the score, he can easily refer to the lead.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION LEAD

The background information lead is another type of lead you should know about. It is a lead many sportswriters now use, especially when writing about games that have been broadcast over radio or television.
Spike
Block
Dig
Thank you

Sportswriting

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SPORTSWRITING

The Games. The Glory. The Story.

The games we play

Qualities of a Good Sports Writer

Qualities of a Good Sports Writer cont.

Qualities of a Good Sports Writer cont.

Writing Sports Stories

Example of a catchy LEAD

The lead can also dramatize other elements like:

The lead can also dramatize other elements like:

The lead can also dramatize other elements like:

There are aids that may be useful in covering a game:

Sports coverage can be divided into four kinds of stories:

Sports News Articles

Game Results Articles

As a student reporter you must remember:

BACKGROUND INFORMATION LEAD

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