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Is this the worst lede ever?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by senior_editor, Jun 21, 2007.

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  1. senior_editor

    senior_editor Member

    From the U.S. Open

    OAKMONT, Pa. -- The nastiest golf course ever designed by man, sitting on a tree-stripped, ill-tempered piece of real estate in the broiling heat of the Pittsburgh suburbs has decided the best golfer in the world is a fat guy who smokes between shots, looks like Rocky Graziano, has a nickname of "The Duck," dropped out of school at 11, doesn't speak English and taught himself how to play the game as a kid by mending broken clubs and fetching balls out of the woods in the foothills of Cordoba, Argentina.
     
  2. Chi City 81

    Chi City 81 Guest

    It's one hell of a run-on sentence, but it doesn't even come close to approaching the worst lede I've ever seen.

    That would go to a stringer for the Waukegan News Sun who, in September 2005, said that a team played New Orleans to the victorious team's Hurricane Katrina.
     
  3. senior_editor

    senior_editor Member

    Hope that stringer didn't get another gig. That's pretty bad.
     
  4. shockey

    shockey Active Member

    um, isn't this, like, three days old? ??? ??? ???
     
  5. joe

    joe Active Member

    The punctuation is a nice touch.
     
  6. SCEditor

    SCEditor Active Member

    A simple google search shows the story doesn't get much better.

    Worst lead? No. Pretty bad? Yeah.
     
  7. Shaggy

    Shaggy Guest

    Take this one to the bank, kids: An 89-word sentence is a freaking no-no.
     
  8. Satchel Pooch

    Satchel Pooch Member

    Kinda liked it for a change of pace.
     
  9. senior_editor

    senior_editor Member

    Believe it or not, this was in a major metro. It belongs in Overwriting 101. It's also grammatically incorrect. A terrible job by the writer. I'm surprised the desk let it go through.
     
  10. chazp

    chazp Active Member

    That is the longest opening sentence I've ever seen in a sports or news story. TERRIBLE!
     
  11. Speedys Sweater

    Speedys Sweater New Member

    Maybe the lede sucks, but he had the guts to call out Tiger throughout the rest of the story.
     
  12. Walter Burns

    Walter Burns Member

    Kinda makes this one (being discussed on another message board) seem like Jim Murray:

    Even with a Tiger stalking him right down to the bitter end and a Pennsylvanian gathering himself for one, last-ditch flurry, a barrel-chested Argentine with a penchant for striking the ball pure -- and also for lighting up a cigarette on the course to calm his nerves -- was able to earn the title at the 107th United States Open golf championship that concluded yesterday at Oakmont Country Club.
     
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