Ten Top Tips for Ten Top Tips for Tiptop Sports WritingTiptop Sports Writing

How to make your sports section the How to make your sports section the best-read, most-meaningful part of best-read, most-meaningful part of

your high school newspaperyour high school newspaper

Karl GrubaughKarl Grubaugh

The Gazette The Gazette

Granite Bay (Calif.) High SchoolGranite Bay (Calif.) High School

The Sacramento BeeThe Sacramento Bee

Top 10 Tips Top 10 Tips for Tip-Top Sports Writingfor Tip-Top Sports Writing

So, do you get the feeling So, do you get the feeling that people aren’t reading that people aren’t reading your sports section? Is your sports section? Is your sports coverage your sports coverage dominated by dated game dominated by dated game stories and cliché-filled stories and cliché-filled features?features?

These 10 tips can go a These 10 tips can go a long way to improving long way to improving your sports coverage – your sports coverage – and your readership of the and your readership of the entire newspaper.entire newspaper.

1.1. Reporting ComesReporting ComesBefore WritingBefore Writing

You MUST do the hard You MUST do the hard work of reporting before work of reporting before you sit down to write a you sit down to write a storystory

Remember, sports is one Remember, sports is one of the most statistics- and of the most statistics- and facts-heavy subjects out facts-heavy subjects out there – you have to have there – you have to have those at your fingertips to those at your fingertips to write good sports stories. write good sports stories. That means you have to That means you have to find out who has them, or find out who has them, or keep them yourself.keep them yourself.

2. Don’t Try to Do Too Much2. Don’t Try to Do Too Much

Find a SINGLE FOCUS Find a SINGLE FOCUS and stick with it!and stick with it!

Don’t try to tell Don’t try to tell someone’s life storysomeone’s life story

It’s tough to tell more than It’s tough to tell more than one person’s story at a one person’s story at a time, so avoid the time, so avoid the temptation to tell the story temptation to tell the story of entire teams. Pick a of entire teams. Pick a player or two, not the player or two, not the whole offense or defense.whole offense or defense.

3. Show, Don’t Tell3. Show, Don’t Tell

OK, so this is perhaps a OK, so this is perhaps a bit of a cliché, but it’s bit of a cliché, but it’s important that you important that you understand what it means understand what it means – you have to put the – you have to put the readers in the story.readers in the story.

Some examples:Some examples: Use DESCRIPTION and Use DESCRIPTION and

get the DETAILS!get the DETAILS! How? DO YOUR How? DO YOUR

REPORTING!REPORTING!

4. Don’t Do Game Stories 4. Don’t Do Game Stories

Most high school Most high school newspapers distribute newspapers distribute approximately every three approximately every three or four weeks. Unless you or four weeks. Unless you distribute more often than distribute more often than once a week, leave the once a week, leave the game stories to the daily game stories to the daily newspapers.newspapers.

Exceptions? When you Exceptions? When you can get a big game story can get a big game story into your paper less than a into your paper less than a week after the game has week after the game has ended. ended.

5. Avoid Cliches Like the Plague5. Avoid Cliches Like the Plague

If you’ve heard it before, If you’ve heard it before, figure out how to say it figure out how to say it another way.another way.

An example: An example: He took it to He took it to the hole in a gut-check the hole in a gut-check game. “It’s all about the game. “It’s all about the team,” Smith said. “There team,” Smith said. “There isn’t any ‘I’ in TEAM, so I isn’t any ‘I’ in TEAM, so I played my own game and played my own game and took it up and down the took it up and down the floor at 110 percent, and floor at 110 percent, and then let the Ws and Ls then let the Ws and Ls take care of themselves.”take care of themselves.”

6. Avoid ‘Jock Talk’6. Avoid ‘Jock Talk’

With all-ESPN all the With all-ESPN all the time, this is a pernicious, time, this is a pernicious, difficult problem to avoid, difficult problem to avoid, but you must endeavor to but you must endeavor to only use intelligent, only use intelligent, meaningful quotes.meaningful quotes.

Suggestions – 1. Some Suggestions – 1. Some coaches and athletes will coaches and athletes will fill SILENCE with more fill SILENCE with more thoughtful remarks, so thoughtful remarks, so learn to WAIT for better learn to WAIT for better answers. 2. Don’t ask answers. 2. Don’t ask cliché questions.cliché questions.

7. Use Dramatic Story-Telling 7. Use Dramatic Story-Telling Devices to Tell Your StoriesDevices to Tell Your Stories

Use the drama of sports to Use the drama of sports to write more dramatic write more dramatic stories.stories.

Consider literary devices Consider literary devices like foreshadowing, etc.like foreshadowing, etc.

Consider story-telling Consider story-telling approaches like italics to approaches like italics to set off events in a different set off events in a different time or place, etc.time or place, etc.

Try techniques like the Try techniques like the Wall St. Journal feature Wall St. Journal feature method.method.

8. Don’t Always Write8. Don’t Always WriteThe Obvious StoryThe Obvious Story

Look for the little-Look for the little-known, unmined known, unmined nuggets on your nuggets on your campus.  campus.  

Look for the stories Look for the stories that people don’t that people don’t know about. Those are know about. Those are the stories people will the stories people will want to read.want to read.

9. Sports Is Also News9. Sports Is Also News

Just because it’s going Just because it’s going in the sports section in the sports section doesn’t mean it needs doesn’t mean it needs to be soft and squishy to be soft and squishy and entertaining. Even and entertaining. Even on high school on high school campuses, sports has campuses, sports has its share of hard-news its share of hard-news stories that are stories that are begging to be told.begging to be told.

  Some examples: Some examples:

10. Read Good Sportswriting!10. Read Good Sportswriting!

There is plenty of bad There is plenty of bad sportswriting out there. sportswriting out there. Try to avoid it.Try to avoid it.

Find the good stuff and Find the good stuff and use it as a model for use it as a model for reporting and story-telling reporting and story-telling techniques.techniques.

Examples: The Best Examples: The Best Sports Writing of the Sports Writing of the Year, Sports Illustrated, Year, Sports Illustrated, ESPN the magazine, the ESPN the magazine, the L.A. Times, the Boston L.A. Times, the Boston Globe and many others.Globe and many others.

Thanks for Listening!Thanks for Listening!

Karl GrubaughKarl Grubaugh Granite Bay (Calif.) Granite Bay (Calif.)

High SchoolHigh School 1 Grizzly Way1 Grizzly Way Granite Bay, CA Granite Bay, CA

9574695746 916-786-8676, x5811 916-786-8676, x5811

or 5514or 5514 kgrubaugh@rjuhsd.uskgrubaugh@rjuhsd.us