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    13 views36 pages

    11 Sports

    Uploaded by

    RAFAEL MARTINEZ LONDONO

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 36
    Who won and why? Chapter Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to: © Cover a game and write a recap of it. © Use social media to provide in-game coverage of sports events. © Shoot strong sports action photos. * Write a player profile. * Incorporate player, team and season stats in your sports writing. © Create sports features that incorporate current issues, concerns and topics. © Write a first-person sports column. Key Terms 2Posaveab bullet time long-form feature sportrait decisive moment player profile stats, game brief real-time updates Title Ix live coverage recap While studying, look for the activity icon ae to: > + Build vocabulary terms with fash cards and matching activities. + Extend leerning with further discussion of relevant topics. + Reinforce what you lea by completing style exercises worksheets and end-of-chapter questions (G-WLEARNING con Coen eae 318 Journalism: Publishing Across Media Introduction “1 always turn to the sports section first. The sports section records people's accomplishments; the front page nothing but man’s failures.” Earl Warren, Chief Justice, Supreme Court eg It Is Monday morning before the first bell. Students in the halls talk excitedly, maybe even angrily, about a controversial call moments before the game-ending buzzer at Friday night's football game. As — students pass the publications classroom, they pick up a copy of your publication, hot off the presses. Turning to the sports pages, they see. Freeze that moment. What will your readers see when they open the sports section and start reading? Coverage of Friday's game? A strong action photo of the key play? A sports column about the role of officiating and the impact of the new conference rules on Friday’s game? If you sent the paper to the printer before the Friday game, will your readers see a teaser that tells the audience to check online for the game summary? Online, will they find coverage posted Friday night? Did your staff's real-time updates via social media allow everyone to be well-informed and interested in. the game, and its controversy? Why Does the Sports Section Matter? Avhigh school publication has a daunting task: to keep tabs on. everything about school for ten months every year. That would not be 80 hard if you did not also have homework, sports, community service, work, family obligations and a hundred other potential pressures and obligations. Some may wonder why sports are allowed to occupy so much “real estate” in your print publications, so much space on your Web page, so much time in your broadcasts, so much data in your social media and so much energy from your staff. The seven news values held the answer, * Proximity: The sports section covers your school, the people you see every day. It covers the teams that may represent you and your community. + Timeliness: Sports happen. A heat has just finished, the buzzer has sounded at the half, the season will begin in two days. While much of the school year may seem to unroll in slow motion, sports crackles and pops with timely events. + Impact: Often 40 or 50 percent of a student body participate in sports. Those who do not participate have friends or relatives who do. For some, a team’s success or failure represents the school’s worthiness, power or heroic efforts. A sports team may be a proxy for the whole community, with alumni and local businesses following its fortunes. + Prominence: Athletes can achieve a kind of visibility that is usually out of reach to all but a few students. The athletes may be the movie stars and supporting actors of your school, and what affects them affects their team, your school and perhaps the wider ~ community. Copyright Gootheart-Willeax Ca, Ine Chapter Eleven Sports 319 ‘+ Oddity: Some of your most-read stories will be about traditions, people, places, objects and occurrences that never show up in the ‘box scores. Sports is rich with these stories. * Conflict: Where else can you find intense, even violent, conflict visible to the public from start to finish that begins and ends on a schedule? + Human interest: Long-time UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, “Sports do not build character. They reveal it.” Your audience is interested in the people involved in and attached to sports. With all these potential news values, sports can provide journalists with rich storytelling opportunities. Sports coverage can be bright, active, up-to-date and visually strong. Sports writing also provides a “lens” with which to look at issues that impact the lives of all students. A strong, sports section might focus its lens on topics such as these: © stress + time management + technology + nutrition * sleep © head injuries and their impact on academic performance * use of medical marijuana * drug addiction and recovery * gender inequality ‘+ homophobia + physical rehabilitation and recovery from injuries YOUR TURN 1. Ina small group, brainstorm at least three specific sports stories from your school or community based on one of the topics listed above. 2. What other topics could be included in the list above? Add to the list. 3. Going Deeper. Describe how two of the topics or stories that you have discussed could serve as a lens for looking at topics that relate not just to sports but to your broader community as wel Is It a Sport? ‘What should be covered in a high school sports section? That can be tricky. Is cheer a sport—or an activity? Is ballet a sport—or an art form? Is surfing a sport—or a hobby (Figure 11.1)? What about a student who. Copyright Goodheart-Willeox Co, Inc. 320 Journalism: Publishing Across Media Figure 11.1 Some publications cover athietic activities, such as suring, that may not traditionally be considered “sports” oto Scoty Bar, The Ving, Pao ARO AIR SehG0, has joined a local roller derby team—is she an athlete? Should your publication cover her and her team? The simplest and most limiting policy, the policy that lists what your sports section cannot afford to ignore, is this, “IFitis a school team, we cover it.” If itis sanctioned by your school, has school-endorsed coach and school-based season schedule, it is a sport. Under this definition, cheer competitions should be included on your sports coverage list. When you say you cover school teams, it means all teams and all the sports, not just the teams the staff likes or wants to cover, but all of the teams and sports. Talk to athletes at your school about your coverage. Do not be surprised to hear students say some sports get all of the ink while other sports do not seem to exist. A strong sports section covers all sports For the Record Beyond Title IX: Girls Sports en te ttre cence Prior to the 1970s, many American high schools had strong boys sports programs that often featured the “big three": football, basketball, ‘and baseball, along vith the other traditional boys sports of wrestling track, tennis, swimming, water polo and hookey. Girs sports programs, however, offered fewer sports, included fewer athletes and were not supported at the same financial evel as ‘their male counterparts. In 1972 federal legislation was passed to Correct this gender disparity in scholastic sports programs. Collectively, this legislation became known as Title IX. Since then, American high schools have seen tremendous expansions in the athletic opportunities available for female athletes and the recruiting of female athletes at the collegiate level. Not only are more girls playing sports, more sports are available to them. In the 2000s, for example, lacrosse became one of the fastest-growing U.S. girls sports. Copyright Goodheart Willcox Co, Ine Chapter Eleven Sports 321 during their seasons. Baseball belongs on the sports page, but so does badminton. Volleyball’s win should be featured, but also girls cross- country competition. But if you only cover sanctioned team sports at your school, you will miss students who participate at a high level in sports off campus. Surely they are athletes and deserve to be covered. Consider the California high school student who participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics in table tennis, though her school had no table tennis team. (Figure 11.2). If your publication is to cover sports in your community, you need to broaden your coverage beyond just school teams. Having made that decision, you then need to decide what stories should be in sports and what stories should be covered in another part of your publication. For example, if a student participates in circus training, such as silks and trapeze, should that story be in the sports section or in the features section? Consider these criteria: Ifit is an Olympic event, you are safe calling ita “sport.” If it has appeared in the pages of Sports Illustrated or ESPN or ona broadcast sports segment, itis probably a sport. If it involves competition, physical ability, physical training, strategy and winners and losers, it is probably a sport. Broadening coverage to include all your local athletes, not just those on school teams, can lead to vibrant story ideas. For example, one high school journalist spent an afternoon photographing fellow students who liked to | Figure 1.2 Interesting participate in parkour (urban chase and obstacle competition). He came back | $P2"s stores, such as tis with strong photos and a solid sports story that interested his audience. Saute Opmpic found outside of the school sponsored teams. LILY started from the bottom ‘Story by Ami Drez and Crs Smith, Photo by Grant Shorn, The Viking, Pal lo High School Vlleox Co, Ine ', S If students at your school surf, race road bikes or dirt bikes, row crew, compete in ice skating, martial arts, curling, rock climbing, geocaching, ‘gymnastics, ultimate Frisbee, skateboarding or skiing or snowboarding, they belong in your sports section (Figure 11.3). Talk to them and tell their stories. Getting Started with Strong Sports Reporting Strong, balanced sports coverage requires journalists to plan ahead and follow through on their commitments. Calendaring and scheduling help editors, reporters and photographers communicate with each other, wr na An ‘evergreen’ story is one pro yo written ahead of time, to be G0 aon ts ra tnesontve bt maybe edited to become a timely story or a sidebar to a timely story. Evergreen stories allow your staff ‘o invest significant time and resources in a story without the pressure of an immediate deadline. Strong publications and broadcasts keep a file of evergreen stories, to be published or adapted to changing circumstances. Consider these topics for your evergreen file: + Concussions. Young athletes sustain head injuries at least as often as do their older counterparts. Second impact syndrome, which can lead to death, also concerns athletes and your community. Watch for Policies, laws, gear or practices that reflect an awareness of these issues. Fitness routines. How do different teams at your school work out for optimal strength, health and flexibility? This story has potential for visual storytelling. The trainers. A feature or profile on the trainers ‘and others who keep the athletes in top playing condition can provide an interesting look behind the scenes. Fields, pools, racks. The physical spaces where athletes train and periorm vary considerably trom school to school, or even within the same school. Athletes have strong opinions about the fastest pool in the conference or the best baseball field in published as time, space and interest “Evergreen” Sports Story Ideas the league. Try a feature on the turf, or the surfaces on the school track, or the divots in the soccer fields. Contrast the facilities two diferent teams use. Research the best team at your school from 10 or 20 or 25 years ago. Find the key players on a successful team from the past. Ask them to retell the story of their best season. Use ‘school yearbook photos and pictures from those years to illustrate the piece. Gear, Choose any of the sports at your school, then do a piece on the gear required to do the sport, how the gears put on and Used, what it allows them to do, how the gear has changed over time, or how players feel about types and brands of gear. For soccer or ‘cross-country, for example, the topic of cleats ‘may provide good story material and great quotes. Research a sport for which rules and Protection guidelines have changed over the ast years and examine the impact of those ‘changes on the game. Do improvements in safety make for a better game or a less interesting one? “Where are they now?” Look through yearbooks from the past decade. Which players had breakout seasons, or unusual seasons? Do you have athletes from your school who went on to play in university or semi-pro or professional teams? Do not ignore people who did not play after high school. Did athletics form—or damage—these people? Copyright Goocheart-Willeox Co, Ine. Chapter Eleven Sports 323 balance their schedules and still be present to cover their sports. Ideally editors help with this scheduling, but reporters also take responsibility to keep commitments and to enlist others to help when they cannot be where they promised to be. Strong sports coverage requires that journalists attend many practices and games or matches during the season, not just a single game or event. It also can mean attending post- season activities if athletes and teams are highly successful Photo by Grant Shari, The Viking, Palo Ato High School Scheduling Sports Coverage Figure 11.3 Crew can be a Most high school sports are held during ‘schoo!-sanctioned sport, but three distinct seasons: fall, winter and spring, though the sports and their See ia eS ho seasons will vary across regions of the country. At the beginning of the participate in club sports school year, journalists should create a master list of all school teams by _can enrich a publication's season (Figure 11.4). This will help ensure that all are covered and allow _ Ports section. What athetio you to begin planning your coverage. ‘ropa penn kg [As soon as possibie, sports journalists create a master calendar that | jour publications? shows when and where each sport practices and competes and when post-season play may begin. Include the junior varsity and frosh-soph teams, They may become the strongest stories. Your calendar allows sports writers and photographers to plan their coverage as well as their own busy schedules. With this type of advanced planning journalists may be able to arrange for someone else to help ‘them when they cannot be at an important event. Planning ahead also allows editors to make sure everything is being covered and photographed as appropriate. Good calendaring helps avoid bad coverage. Journalists know it may be hard to get a strong game story or a great photo on deadline in the Figure 11.4 A master li of your school's sports can Golf (girls and boys) * Water polo (girls and boys) © Wrestling help your ta erect a exis cand fo eer ¢ High Schoo!’ r List of S| practice, game orciher * Badminton ___* Soccer (girls and boys) important sporting event * Baseball |_| for each team, © Basketball ( pete © Che 2 * Cross-country “Tennis (girls and boys) | * Diving * Track and field (girls and * Football boys) i © Hockey _ * Volleyball (girls and boys) Lacrosse (girls and boys) Copyright Goodheart-Willeox Co, Ine 324 Journalism: Publishing Across Media final week of the season. Rain happens, snow happens, injuries happen and life happens. Good scheduling means that you have weeks, not days, to cover interesting games and take action photos that feature individual players. ‘When the season ends, you can recap (summarize) the season based on solid reporting and a file of photos. It also means you will avoid competing with six other reporters covering six other sports for the good ‘camera or the services of your best photographer. Sports Events Are News Events Scores and game recaps are breaking news. They need to be reported as swiftly as humanly, and electronically, possible. They also need to be reliable. If you rely on a buddy at the game to give you the score, you are reporting hearsay, not news. Reporters and photographers need to be physically present at a sports event. Phoning players and coaches for quotes about a game from the journalism room days after the event took place is not the way to report breaking news. Journalists gather the five W’s of the game, and possibly of the season, by having their cameras and their notebooks at the ready when the teams are playing, The reporters note scoreboard times ‘when important plays take place and listen for key stats throughout the game, They may take a hundred photographs each game, but like or use only a dozen, Journalists who are physically at the game can accerately report scores and recap the game afterward, but in addition, they are there to report newsworthy events, At the very least, their reporting can f ® pe s Seven Guidelines to Keep in Mind wont About Sports Coverage ‘~ pb x0” 1 Provide balancod coverage 5, Keepitfar The same ethics appl to sports a ‘of male and female teams and sports, ‘coverage as to any other coverage. Do not let including visual representation in photos yur publication be used to promote private and videos. ‘agendas. Consult with your editor before 2 yor 2. Cover all sports, not just the “big” sports. publishing anonymous reports, such as. Badminton, cross-country, and gymnastics player complaints about the coach or other take incredible amounts of ime and players. Cover tough stories when the public commitment, and deserve to be covered. has the right to know, but always with solid 8. Tell the story of the whole team, not just rae naaraone couroeey and Delerioes the stars. 6. A season is not just one game. Provide scores 4. Focus on the story, not just the score box, of ieee tierra Uanoulthe semen ‘a game or competition 7. Make it easy for your audience to get accurate, updated sports stats from your publication. Copyright Goosheart-Willeox Co, Inc Chapter Eleven Sports 325 contribute to a meaningful season recap. But if you publish online, you can publish a game story for each competition, including JV and frosh- soph games. If you report accurately and write well, your stories will be read and appreciated more often than you suspect, and you will develop a following as a sports writer. Before You Begin Your Coverage ‘Once you know which sport you are going to cover, do some research. If you are not familiar with the goal of the game or how the game is scored, leam about it. Ask someone who plays the sport to explain the basics and the key strategies to you as if you were an interested 10-year-old. Never be afraid to ask about what you do not understand. Find out what abilities make a standout player. Learn the technical terms and lingo specific to that sport. Each sport is like alittle country with its own language. A good reporter will make sure she speaks the language and uses the lingo accurately in any sports articles. Use a term incorrectly, and you lose credibility. ‘The lingo itself can be fascinating. In hockey, for example, a “hat trick” has nothing at all to do with head geat. In basketball, “double doubles” sound like an ice cream sundae, but actually refer to a specific threshold a player reaches in scoring, rebounding and assist statistics. While it is possible to look up the sport’s terminology online, you may do better by talking with a player or coach in person. Ask him to describe the common terms that players of that sport use to describe S a Tips for Planning Sports Coverage eas? gr dakyour cost ae doctor for alist of teams, peo coaches (with contact information) and the calendar of games in each level in each sport atthe beginning ofthe year. Check fr revisions atthe start of each season. Post the game schedules in your publications room and make it available digitally to everyone on staff, Update the calendar monthly and cover—or arrange coverage—for every home game. Consider using beats for sports coverage, assigning specific reporters and photographers to cover each sport for the season. Plan ahead for the big games. Often reporters and photographers may require Copyright Goodhenst-Willeox Co, Ine. special credentials for big games or post- season play. Check on the availability and condition of your staff's cameras and other equipment. Check the lighting of the venue in advance, if possible. It you face any administrative or coaching staff restrictions for photographers or reporters wanting access to fields or players, request a written reason explaining the restrictions. You may want to get parents and players involved in requesting coverage of these events. This could help you get the access you need. School publications have a right to cover the events of the school community, and sports games are an important part of what is happening in a school. 326 Journalism: Publishing Across Media scoring, statistics or specific moments in the action. Doing this in person allows you to get a better “feel” for the sport. In addition, you can ask for clarification when a term is confusing or odd, Continue your background research on the sport by reading online or print sports news from professional media sources. You will Jearn how writers talk about that sport, and how they incorporate sports-specific terms into their reporting. It is hard to write sports if you do not read sports. Learning to Cover Sports ‘The first game story you write will probably not bea strong one, but your second one will be better. How do you get past those first few weak stories? For the Record Colorful Sports Terms and Phrases Sports has a language of its own, Here are just a few examples: love (tennis): means *zer0,” and is thought to stem from a mispronunciation of 'oeuf (‘egg" in French) flea flicker (football: a quarterback hands the ball off to the running back, who quickly tosses the ball back to the quarterback, who throws it downfield (the play resembles a dog who uses a quick flick of his pavr to get rd of fleas)

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