After Joe sent the story to the copy chief, he turned to me, smiled, and said, “Good job. See you next week.” What? They wanted me to write again? I was shocked. Clearly, I had done something right. But what?
The next morning, my spine tingled when I read the byline: Joe Gisondi. I was a little ashamed that I hadn’t written every word myself. I hadn’t realized yet that journalism is a team game where everyone—assignment editors, copy editors, designers, proofreaders—contributes to a story’s success. That doesn’t mean sports reporters should blithely expect others to correct their mistakes. But it’s nice to know you have that support.
I determined not to repeat the same errors. So I made new ones, which were corrected and revised by editors while I sat and watched, listening to their suggestions and explanations as they worked on my copy. And each week I heard, “Good job. See you next week.”
As I write this book, I hear those editors’ voices, their suggestions, and their encouragement. I hear the voices of the 120-plus sports journalists and coaches who offer advice in these pages on how to cover more than 20 beats, from auto racing to field hockey to wrestling. These voices come not just from The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, ESPN, MLB.com, Yahoo! and Sports Illustrated but also from respected, nontraditional media outlets, such as Bleacher Report, FanGraphs, baseballHQ.com, @RotoGraphs, @Sportsmanias, and from smaller news organizations that employ the majority of sports journalists. In places like Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Kennebec, Maine, sports coverage means local coverage, and local coverage means kids and schools.
For students and beginning sports journalists, this field guide serves as their portable editor: posing questions, suggesting new approaches, and summarizing the basics needed to cover any game. It offers hands-on, practical advice, the kind given in sports departments across the country. Like the one I sat in so many years ago.
Training Needed
Although Americans play dozens of sports, just a few—football, baseball, basketball—get most of the media coverage. Millions of people follow those sports, but that doesn’t mean either fans or sportswriters understand them expertly. Teachers and editors know that their students and new hires know far less than they claim. Even so, few sports journalists receive formal training. So many young reporters cover games more like fans than professionals. They fumble through statistics, struggle to take proper notes, mishandle interviews, and settle for both clichéd language and the same old leads. They’re not sure how to identify or write about the most significant plays, trends, or moments in a game.
This book provides even the most basic writers with the tools they need to succeed on their first assignments. It trains writers to answer, in advance, the questions their editors and readers will ask: What happened? How? Why? The running back ran for 200 yards. Any fan can see that, but a journalist needs to explain why. Did the offensive tackles drive back a smaller defensive line? Did the offensive coordinator scheme so well that the defense was confused? Did this running back follow his blockers well or display amazing athleticism?
A track runner broke the county record in the mile. How? Did she take the lead early, have to kick it in for the final lap, or get pulled along by a competitive field? And how did she train to prepare for this meet?
Just like athletes, journalists need training. The introductory chapters of this book start that training by providing the big picture, with tips on interviewing sources, writing game stories, acting professionally. Chapters on blogging and covering high school sports prepare writers for two areas that are booming as news organizations focus even more on local action and interactive approaches to news.
The core of the book, the middle section, takes beginning journalists step-by-step through every one of the 20 sports they’re likely to be sent out to cover. Within each sport, four sections provide tips on how to prepare for the game, what to look for while you’re watching, whom to interview, what to ask and finally, how to write up what you’ve seen. PREPARE—WATCH—ASK—WRITE: You’ll see those four sections in each sports chapter. In addition, experienced sports journalists chime in with their own advice, sharing what they’ve learned about how to observe events, take notes and keep score, and interview players and coaches.
Of course, no book of field-guide size could possibly fit in every rule and every term for every sport a journalist might need to cover. Instead, these pages contain the basics a young reporter is most likely to need. Reporters will learn the following:
▸ Keep score accurately and effectively. Illustrated scorecards show how to record scores and take notes on auto racing, baseball/softball, basketball, bowling, and football.
▸ Understand the rules when covering an unfamiliar sport. Can golfers flick bugs off balls before hitting them? Are stock-car drivers legally allowed to bump other cars? How much tailwind nullifies a record-breaking track performance? What’s the purpose of a drag flick in field hockey?
▸ Understand the necessary terminology. What’s a “near fall” in wrestling, and what does a coxswain do in rowing? What does 6–4–3 mean in baseball? How many pins are recorded in a frame after a spare?
▸ Ask more informed questions after games. Did the safeties stay back, trying to prevent the deep pass? Did the pitcher have more spin on the ball?
Uses for the Classroom
This field guide is designed as a companion “un-text” for sports-writing classes. Teachers can use the introductory chapters to review the basics: research, observation, interviewing, and writing game stories. This new edition adds a new Section II on multimedia, with new chapters focused on social media, mobile media, visual storytelling, writing for television, and writing for radio. There is also an entirely new chapter on using advanced statistical metrics in sports journalism. In addition, you can go over chapters on specific sports before covering a local or college team as a class. Do make sure to let the college sports information director or high school athletic director know before doing this, so they can assist. These hands-on activities strengthen students’ abilities to take notes, keep score, and focus on the most significant angles.
Inviting coaches to class to speak about their specific sports gives students not just good information but a chance to practice interviewing in a relaxed environment. Students can review the appropriate chapters before listening to a speaker, then ask questions and write up the session on deadline as if it were a press conference.
Since this book is devised as a practical guide, ask students to apply what they’ve learned, assigning them to cover games or beats. You can even set up a blog to cover college or high school teams in your region.
Reading great sports stories is the best way to provide a sense of options and inspire students to write better. Readers such as the Best American Sports Writing series or The New York Times Sports Reader acquaint students with the best of the best. Local and national newspapers, on paper and online, show how professionals in markets large and small go about their jobs.
Students, teachers and advisers can also regularly check in to my sports blog at either sportsfieldguide.org—which has been favorably reviewed by Poynter’s NewsU, Cyberjournalist, American Press Institute and College Media Advisers—or follow me at @joegisondi on twitter for additional tips and insights into sports journalism issues.
Acknowledgments
Years ago, I learned that sports reporting, like anything in journalism, is a team effort. More than 100 professional
