Lopsided GBB game- is my article too short?

I understand that you have to cover the games -- that's why sports sections exist, after all, because of the games -- but what's to stop you from taking more of a feature or analytical bent with your game stories? If you're covering sports for a weekly, you should not be writing the same type of gamer you would write for a daily. Everyone who cares will already know what happened, so it's your job to tell them how or why it happened and what it means.

In the case that started this thread, why not talk to the players about what they might have learned from playing the powerhouse team and how it can help them for the rest of the season?

 

True, but with the interwebs, that's now the same for everyone who types on dead trees. In the case of this story, it happened because the local team sucks, and it means the local team sucks.

 

That's not necessarily true in the case of high school sports and daily papers. For example, the main school I cover was on the road last night. I checked the wire several times before I went to bed, but the score hadn't moved yet, so I learned how they did by ... wait for it ... reading our paper this morning.

Nonetheless, I'm a believer in more analysis in gamers, rather than play-by-play, and exponentially more so at a weekly. And if the game's a real stinker, you can always go for a featurized story.

 

Exactly, if it's a weekly and deadline/time permits, call the coach the next day after he's had a day or a practice to sit on it a bit. Better yet, go to practice, talk to a captain about how they handle it in practice next day. Much more interesting read. For a weekly, a box score tells the gamer story much better IMHO...

 

I am so happy I lasted 6 weeks at a weekly before I went daily.

First off, covering a 43 point loss by your team on the road against an out of area team seems like a waste of time. Unless you are doing a feature, couldn't a phone call have sufficed?

"Coach, how did you do?"

"We got destroyed in all facets of the game," coach said.

That is pretty much it.

I love my local weekly paper, but I find it as my main source for town news the daily ignores. What should they do sports wise? I think a weekly main feature story on an athlete or issue, and maybe stories recapping and previewing the upcoming week depending on the deadline. The problem with the gamer is that 4 days later it is still sitting in someone's bathroom. The main bar story should have at least a weeks shelf life.

Yes, easier said than done. But, whenever I see weekly guys interviewing high school coaches and asking them how effective their matchup zone was I want to pull my hair out.

 

I agree with you on more analysis.

 

Just remember, if you don't give the women equal coverage you can be sued for sexual discrimination. So said a whackjob prep parent to one of my reporters today.

Is it wrong of me to hope she tries to take us to court on this?