- Sports stories contribute greatly to the world of sports
- But sometimes writers don’t give sports stories the attention and credit they deserve
- A good example of excellent sports news reporting is that of the NBA Finals Game 6
- Elements of a sports story:
- Storyline
- Context
- Quotes
- Key players
- Key Statistics
- Storyline:
- Follows what happened in the game
- Must keep readers engaged, especially if they already watched the game
- Game 6 of the NBA Finals
- Dirk Nowitzki-did well
- LeBron James-did poorly
- Journalists compared the two in their stories
- Ledes: Nowitzki and James compared, James did bad, Nowitzki victorious
- Context:
- Nut graph has who, what, when, where, why, and how
- Who the important players were
- What game it was, what was the outcome
- When it happened
- Where it happened
- Why/how that outcome came to be
- Quotes
- Don’t just interview the local team, interview anyone you might think would contribute to the story
- Reaction quotes
- Quotes also offer analysis of the game
- Key Plays
- Keep notes during the game of plays used, runs, or anything special like that
- Example: The Dallas Mavericks vs. the Miami Heat by Eddie Sefko, Dallas Morning News, Joseph Goodman, The Miami Herald, Howard Beck, NY Times, Tim Reynolds, Associated Press
- Key Statistics
- Don’t put in every statistic in, it will bore the readers if you do
- Look for stats that might not appear in the box score
- Compare stats from each quarter or half
- Covering games can be hard, here’s how to make it easier:
- Do research before the game
- Plan to take notes
- Come up with good questions beforehand
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