Review the "Game Plan for All-Star Sports Coverage" handout from class on April 6. Post a brief reflection here about key points or lessons learned. Even though the primary audience for this is high school students, what can you take away from the author's message that will enable you to cover sports effectively?
Post a response by 6 p.m. on April 13.
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The four point approach to writing a "gamer"- prepare, watch, ask, write. These points will allow a good story about the game to come out. I learned that it is extremely important to understand the game before you write about it. Also, most people who are reading the article most likely already know what happened, so a good angle has to be taken. A detailed story or about something that happened outside of the game is good to write about--something that the reader doesn't already know.
ReplyDeleteAlso, not always writing about the star players is an important lesson. If you write a profile on someone then it is important to spend a lot of time with them and see them in two situations. It is also important to be up to date with technology and have as many skills as possible.
Taking all of these elements will definitely help me write a better sports article. All of these points will come to mind while preparing and writing my article.
-Grace Luoma
Learning how to be a good sports journalist was the main emphasis of the article. Many writers think watching a sports game and writing about it will suffice, however, a lot more effort goes into it.
ReplyDeleteWhen covering a sports event it is important that you know the rules of the game. Not only does this make your job easier, it makes your writing stronger. When interviewing a player on the team, you should talk about specific plays or situations. Typically, you will receive better responses because they will feel that you actually put time and effort into you job.
Another important element to remember is that there was an audience and they know what happened so try and find a different angle. This could include writing about an unknown player or interviewing them off the field to get another perspective.
Lastly, the best quotes to use in your sports story are those that you get from outside sources, not coaches and teammates.
-Christal Ceithamer
The best sports writers genuinely understand the game. The volleyball example the article gives suggests asking why a player shifts more to the left than usual. Journalists really need to study the game to pick up on players' mannerisms.
ReplyDeleteA helpful reminder was that the audience already knows what happened. They watched the game too. To make a gamer interesting, the writer needs to add an angle.
Sports stories do not always center on the game itself. It adds depth to the story when journalists take a look at other perspectives. For college sports, the students, faculty, band and cheerleaders have valid opinions.
Talk to as many people as you can. Sports Illustrated's Gary Smith speaks to at least 50. More angles are presented this way.
-Amanda Price
The first thing that draws me to this packet is the plethora of examples. I always think it is important to have visuals when explaining how to do something. The examples help aid the reader in really understanding how to write for sports.
ReplyDeleteThe four point guide is definitely going to help me going in tomorrows game. I think the third point "ASK" is interesting because it makes you realize you need prior knowledge about the game. if this were a soccer game we were watching I would be worried, but baseball isn't to foreign to me.
We'll see if this packet helps in covering tomorrow's game.
-Daniella Fusari
After reading the “Game Plan for All-Star Sports Coverage,” I realized that it takes much more effort and dedication to be a sports writer. A journalist who covers a sports game needs to have much more detail going into a game than maybe going to an event such as a musical. You have to know background information about the players and coaches, you have to know their records, and it’s vital to fully understand the sport at hand.
ReplyDeleteThe four-point approach: prepare, watch, ask and write, makes a lot of sense and hopefully will come in handy when it comes to write a sports article. You can’t go out there as a fan would; a journalist has to go out there with no bias for picking favorites and study the players, coaches, and fans. It’s also difficult, because you can’t just talk about what happened during a game, because spectators and fans already know the outcome. Writers have to make interesting spins and stories which will interest readers to continue reading. This guide to sports writing really did have some great tips for the beginning sports journalists.
Charlotte Whedon
Game Plan for All-Star Sports Coverage was a great packet filled with some quick tips on how to be successful a sports writer. Something I did not take into consideration before was how you must be fully aware of the rules of the sport you are covering. I know the basics to all sports, but when covering a story you must know the ins and outs of every rule or else you can miss important details of the game.
ReplyDeleteThe other key part of the article I enjoyed was how sports writing is constantly changing. As a writer you are not always covering last nights game or the MVP, but sometimes have to find stories with a spin to keep the writer enticed. Sports writers are now incorporating law, social issues and the economy and their affect on athletics.
Samantha Cook
I liked the layout of the Game Plan of All-Star Sports Coverage. The 1-4 point layout of the most important concepts of sports writing was easy to understand and digest.
ReplyDeleteI especially liked the idea of finding an angle to use to make the story more than a simple account of the statistics.
Good stuff, I just wish I would have read it before I wrote my article.
David Glenn
Game Plan for All-Star Sports Coverage is a great layout system for aspiring sports writers, it gives you the tools and steps needed not only to report a sporting event but to be able to report on a sporting event and turn it into a story. People want more than just numbers, they want a story that grips them and gets them involved and interested in more than just the game itself.
ReplyDeleteMatt Brown
The Game plan for All-Star Sports Coverage provided key information for executing a good and precise sports coverage. It outlined the major points for writing an article starting from before the game all the way till after the game. What i got from this article was that it is very important to know everything about what you are covering before you even cover it. Do ing your research about the players, coaches, team history, and other key aspects could help a lot when deciding what questions to ask and from what standpoint to write your article. Another key point was the importance of interviewing people other than the coach and the players. Often times you will get generic quotes that are pre thought out for specific questions. But when you ask others who don't have that same reputation or persona to uphold you might get a lot more information and detail.
ReplyDeleteabove comment
ReplyDelete-Ryan Lowe-
When covering a sports story, it is always important to have more than just a general idea of what you're covering. The Game plan for All-Star Coverage highlights all the important aspects one must know before covering a sporting event. Are there all-stars on the team? People who need to step up? Does this team need to win this particular game to advance to the playoffs? What's at stake for the team? All of these are questions that one must think about prior to arriving to the game. The more information you know about the teams, and certain sport your covering, the better story you'll come out with.
ReplyDeleteWayne Westerlind
After reading about sports coverage, I have realized there is more to covering the world of sports than just that stats. There are a lot of other side subjects than can make sports writing a lot more interesting. Its important to not just cover star athletes and "main characters". There could be other interesting variable within the equation. Maybe another player had something dramatic happen in there personal life. This is something that the public would be interested in. I also learned that when quoting about events and games, the best ones do not come from a coach or player.
ReplyDeleteChris Campo