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Learning football strategy

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by ConnSox5, Sep 17, 2007.

  1. Danny Noonan

    Danny Noonan Member

    I preferred to turn the knob up and cause an earthquake, especially once Barry Sanders headed in the wrong direction and scored a safety. Earthquake, game over. That was the best part about electric football.
     
  2. Gold

    Gold Active Member

    If you go to a college library, there probably are books which describe technical aspects of coaching football because there are PE students who are studying to be coaches. That might be the best way to do it.

    The other thing is to find a coach, perhaps a retired one, and just take them out to lunch and ask questions you might be afraid to in a post-game situation because they would seem stupid. Also, ask coaches what they want to know when they read a story.
     
  3. bigbadeagle

    bigbadeagle Member

    Years ago, I would go see my high school coaches and spend time with them while they drew up stuff on the white board and discussed plays, formations, etc. It was quite a primer on things.
    At a college team I covered, it was national signing day (no, no capitalization because it is not a freaking holiday, I don't care what some Robbie Joe in Tuscaloosa or Wyman in Kingsport think) and I was in the football coach's office - mind you the men's basketball game was about to tip off in five minutes about 35 feet away - and he was already drawing up stuff for next year and we went through some of that.
     
  4. EStreetJoe

    EStreetJoe Well-Known Member

    watch whatever midweek show on ESPN Ron Jaworski is on. He'll break down the x's and o's for you.
     
  5. I had the same problem with basketball last year. I asked a coach and got laughed out of the gym. It became a running joke with him, and he would say PAT rather than free throw. I took it well.

    And why is there a mime holding shoulder pads at the bottom of this page? Odd.
     
  6. Again, read Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger. You don't need to know all those minute details that you're worrying about. What you need to know is the people you are writing about --- what their story is. Read Friday Night Lights. It will shed a whole new light on the game for you and give you an idea of what good sports writing is all about.

    People do not want to read about zones, blitz packages, nickle and dime packages, cover 2, cover 3, read option, blah, blah, blah. Who cares??

    People make stories. Read the book.
     
  7. If you can get past Huckleberry's pounding of the dead horse, someone mentioned Jaworski, and while I really don't like Merril Hoge, watching "NFL Matchup" has been pretty enlightening for me on a very basic level. Low on highlights, high on game film, and what I think it does is open your eyes to how to look at the whole field, rather than just the skill players. Once you can grasp that, work backwards to your level, get some books and learn what this stuff means.

    The benefit (and Huckleberry, you might want to pay attention here if you're capable) is that you can speak with coaches and players in their language. More than any other sport, football is isolated in the way it's executed. Strategy is EVERYTHING in the game, and the language that goes with it is pretty daunting. But there's a guy at my shop who took a "Coaching Football" class in college, and it's very clear from his writing that he has a better grasp of how things work than most of his competitors. The point isn't to write about blitz packages and defensive alignments. The point is to UNDERSTAND those things, so you can converse more deeply with the coaches and players.
     
  8. Good points ... understanding the game is without a doubt necessary. But for good writing, knowing your subjects and knowing how to communicate with them is not just necessary but essential. Now, back to my dead horse ... where is he?? He needs to be pounded some more.
     
  9. BigSleeper

    BigSleeper Active Member

    Huckleberry's points are valid to an extent. People make great stories, and becoming an astute observer of the human condition will only make one a better journalist. But to ignore the opportunity to learn more about the game is just plain foolish.

    To many reporters covering a high school game and have maybe 12 inches to write are going to be in a far better position to serve their readers with a story based on a sound knowledge of the game rather than filling the hole with the score followed by 11.5 inches of underdeveloped human-interest fluff. That's not really serving the reader. It's usually just serving an ego.
     
  10. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    Most writers will start out with preps. Therefore I highly recommend starting out in Texas. Prep football is big all throughout most of the country, but Texas takes it to a wholeotherlevel with the attention, traditions and pageantry. Only in Texas will a prep game break a college stadium attendance record (SMU's). It's also good preparation for a future major beat.
     
  11. Totally agree. Texas football exceeds all. That's by Bissinger's book is at the top of the list for reads. If you're only getting 12 inches to write, then you don't have much to work with. That may be common many places but it's doing the reader a dis-service for community based newspapers. They should allow at least 18-20 inches if they want any depth at all.
     
  12. Yeah, we're all probably pretty close on this one. I think it's absolutely worthwhile to catch up some of the more inside-football-type coaching books, but not just so you can spout off about 3-4's, zone blocking, and the like in print. Do it so you understand the game and can explain it to your readers better.
     
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