NWPASports.com

PROFESSOR BRIGGS' BASIC SPORTS WRITING TIPS

The calendar still shows that it is July, but fall sports will be getting underway locally in a little over a month.

The start of an academic year means there will likely be men and women making a foray into sports reporting for the first time, be it youth sports, scholastic sports or at the collegiate level in a sports information capacity. These reports and recaps may be for a Facebook page, an Instagram post, web sites, a newspaper and/or other forums.

Writing is a skill. It is comparable to playing a musical instrument, carpentry, painting or athletic pursuits. Some people have natural writing ability that allows them to excel relatively easily, much like those who have aptitude on the piano, swinging a golf club or painting a mural. Others become proficient after practicing. Most people will improve as writers, just as most golfers will lower their score by playing more rounds, hitting balls at the driving range and putting on practice greens.

Here are some tips that will raise the level of one’s writing, even if the writer is new or relatively new to sports writing:

 1. Get to the Important Stuff Early

Very few people are going to read a story/recap/release from beginning to end, whether it is five paragraphs in length or a five-page composition. Thus, a writer needs to put the most important details of an event in the opening paragraph or paragraphs. The phrase “inverted pyramid” describes this writing principle.

What are those important details? Final score/final finish, key play(s) or events, statistical accomplishments (yards, points, etc.) and significance of the result (e.g. team clinches conference title, fifth straight win).

A reader will not sift through a sea of text to find out who won and what happened. Giving a thorough “play by play” from the beginning to the end is not helpful. There will be times where giving chronological details is important somewhere in a recap, perhaps describing a pivotal moment a few paragraphs in: “Milwaukee forced extra innings by scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth inning against New York reliever Rich Gossage. Molitor and Yount both singled with one out. Both men scored when Gorman Thomas doubled to left field.” But those instances should be limited.

2. Remember Who is Reading

A game story or recap should be easily understood by anyone who reads it, whether the reader is in elementary school or played and coached that particular sport at the highest levels.

Keep it simple. Don’t use too many technical terms or rare synonyms. This is not the forum for a writer to demonstrate his or her Scrabble skills. “Write for a third grader’s reading level,” is a good rule of thumb.

The game story or release is designed for a general audience. It is not a doctoral thesis. Now, it does not have to be “See Spot run” level of simple. But that is much better than “Observe canine tetrapod Spot scurry.”

3. Trim the Fat

Often, less is more in writing. Some statistical details are relevant to a story, but many are not. It is notable if a basketball player scores 15 points. It is not notable if he or she also had two steals or one blocked shot.  If a football player rushes for 120 yards and a touchdown, that should be mentioned. If that player also catches five passes for 50 yards or has an interception on defense, it is significant. However, if the player has one catch for five yards or makes two tackles on defense, that tidbit should probably be left out.

Also, leave out redundant or subjective terms. “A close 27-24 victory,”

4. Capital Offenses

Inexperienced writers have a tendency to capitalize things that do not need to be capitalized. Not everything is a proper noun.

Names, cities, conferences, venues and specific titles should be capitalized (e.g. “Taylor Swift,” “Chicago,” “Atlantic Coast Conference,” “Tiger Stadium,” “Speaker of the House”). Positions, class years or occupations are not capitalized.

YES: “The team selected senior catcher Buddy Thompson as team captain.”
NO: “The team selected Senior Catcher Buddy Thompson as team Captain.”

YES: “Smith spent five years as an elementary school guidance counselor.”
NO: “Smith spent five years as an Elementary School Guidance Counselor.”

YES: “The school board voted 8-1 to hire Smith as head coach.”
NO: “The school board voted 8-1 to hire Smith as Head Coach.”

School majors are not capitalized, unless it directly pertains to a proper noun, such as a language or cultural/ethnic grouping. “Smith will major in business management,” “Smith will major in English literature and African-American history.”

5. Cut the Commas

Commas are used to separate words, phrases and ideas so that the reader understands what the writer is trying to communicate. Some are very important, such as this series of words “I like cooking, my family, and my pets.” The comma tells the reader that the writer has three preferences, not that the writer likes to cook his/her family and pets.

Many commas are not needed, however. When describing a player with his/her class and/or position, commas are not needed. “Senior setter Mary Smith” or “junior quarterback John Smith” are suitable, not “Senior setter, Mary Smith” or “senior, Mary Smith” or “setter, Mary Smith.”

If one is not sure whether to use a comma, read the sentence and determine whether the comma is needed for clarification purposes. “When in doubt, leave it out,” is a good rule of thumb.

6. Alternating Possession

With sports teams, there are both singular and plural possessives. The school name or city name (e.g. “Sharon,” “Purdue,” “Canada,”) is a singular unit. Thus, using “its” for something owned by that unit is appropriate. “Sharon won its fifth straight game.” “Purdue will make its fourth appearance in the title game.”

The nickname of a school or city team is a plural unit. “Their” is the proper word for something related to possession. “The Bears won their first title since 2018.” “The coaches will have their meeting in June.”

7. Spell It Out

Avoid most abbreviations in writing. Writers should spell out words such as “touchdown,” “points,” “yards” and “assists” in stories. Same with states, provinces and countries. “John Smith scored five touchdowns in a game played in Gas City, Indiana.”

Titles can be abbreviated, such as “State University hired Dr. Kate Brown as assistant professor of mathematics.”

8. It Takes Two

Remember the differences between “to,” “two” and “too.”

To – in the direction of, approaching or toward. “Let’s go to the grocery store.”
Two – the number between one and three “I want to buy two loaves of bread at the store.”
Too – in addition, also, or excessive “I wanted to go to the store too.” “The bread is too expensive at the other store.”

9. They’re There

Remember the differences between “there,” “their” and “they’re.”

There – in or at a location - “The store was very busy, but I still had to go there.”
Their – belonging to someone or something - “The neighbors do a good job of keeping their trees trimmed nicely.”
They’re – contraction of “They are” – “I do not sleep well at night because of the neighbors. They’re up all night, playing loud music.”

10. Other Miscellaneous Tidbits

When reporting a score or posting on social media (especially “X”), the score is always read and given as “Leading Team (score number), Trailing Team (score number)” or “Winning Team, Losing Team” if it is final. “State 21, Tech 14 halftime” or “State 35, Tech 28 Final”

From a football statistical standpoint, a few reminders:

*The number of pass completions must equal the number of pass receptions for a team.
*The number of passing yards must equal the number of receiving yards for a team.
*In high school and college, yards lost on quarterback sacks are deducted as rushing yardage. A sack can only be credited on a passing play. If it’s an obvious quarterback run (draw, option, sweep) and yardage is lost, it is not a sack.
*In high school and college, if a team goes past the first down marker in the process of scoring a touchdown, a first down is also credited. Example: State has 1st and 10 at the Tech 15. State runs for a 15-yard touchdown. State is also credited with a first down on the play. (If it is “goal to go,” no first down is credited on the touchdown.)

When referring to numbers, if the numbers less than 10 are spelled out (i.e. "one," "five). Numbers 10 and above are written with the Arabic numerals (24, 35, etc.). The exception is when referring to a figure as part of a larger figure, such as foul shots. "State made 8 of 11 foul shots in the fourth quarter" or "Jones completed 5 of 8 pass attempts on the final drive."

This is not an exhaustive list, but more of a "101" document. The ability to write well is a skill that can help someone in nearly every vocation. Hopefully, people will find this helpful in some way.

Did I forget something? Disagree? Email me!