More yardage questions

I like to have them for reference, at least. And that means I want them to be accurate. I will use them if the numbers are unusually high or low, or if there's a big difference. I tend to use milestone numbers, like 100 yards rushing or passing.

Again, some places use summary boxes that include stats, so you have to have them.

 

This is applied if it's a bad snap. If the center snaps the ball over the QBs head, and the defense pounces on the ball, it's a team rush/team fumble. This is thrown out if the QB or other offensive player picks up the ball and makes a gain out of the play, then it's a rush (or pass if it so happens) credited to said player, but still team fumble.
If the QB does pick up ball and tries to make a break for it, but is still caught behind line, it's still a team thing.

 

I would list it in the scoring summary this way:

BF -- John Doe 27 run with lateral after Richard Roe 6 pass from Joe Blow (Heywood Jablome kick).

If you want a really goofy play, try writing up the Vikings' defensive return from Sunday's game at Dallas -- two fumbles and a lateral on one scoring play.

 

They do down here in Texas, spnited. We run as comprehensive of stats on high schools as a lot of papers run on the NFL.

 

yep. as i recall qb gets credit for five yard rush, center gets credit for td, no rush, no rush yards. just fumble recovery in end zone.

 

To answer spnited, I rarely use more than a couple stats in my story, but we run full AP-style box scores, and I want the numbers to be accurate. Plus, I'm just a bit of a stat-geek, so I like knowing how to score things.

 

I've never quite understood this thinking. Yes, you can weigh yourself down with numbers. But is it so bad to say, in one paragraph, "Johnny Jones ran for 124 yards and three touchdowns, Billy Smith passed for 210 yards and two scores, and the Podunk High defense held Smalltown High to 35 rushing yards in a 35-0 win on Friday."?
Simple, informative, and it actually gives people a quick idea of how what happened, happened.

As far as the stats question, here's an example from a game I covered last week...local team scores on an 85-yard hook and lateral at the end of the first half. Their star running back took the pitch and went the last 70 yards for the TD. If it's credited as a rush (which I think I did, incorrectly, for his total in my story), it gives him about 130 for the game. Otherwise, he's well under 100 and the stat means something entirely different.

 

No, no, no. On a hook-and-lateral (and on any play, for that matter) all the yardage is recorded in the same category. If the play originates as a pass, it's all passing/receiving yards. If it originates as a run, it's all rushing. But you can only have one attempt per play, thus the player who receives the lateral gets the yardage, in the appropriate category, but no attempt. Capiche?

 

*applause*

Heywood.

I love that kid.

 

Did you guys know this? I didn't. I apologize to all the QBs over the years to whom I gave a minus-1 or minus-2 yard rush on a kneel-down. From the NCAA stats manual:

>>In a clarification of previous policies, a team rush should be charged when a quarterback kneels down in order to run out the clock. Also, a team pass attempt should be charged when a quarterback throws a pass into the ground in order to stop the clock. In neither instance should the individual player be charged with the play.

 

To answer spnited's question, since I started the thread, our paper runs complete stats of every game we cover. Every kid that touches the ball, even if for negative yards, gets at least his last name in the paper.

The play in question didn't actually make it in the story, but I was curious how to account for the yardage.

 

There's nothing wrong with putting stats like that in the paper. And I don't think spnited was saying eliminate all stats.

But you can definitely put too many stats in a story and bog it down. In other words, don't rely on JUST stats for a story. Let the stats be a secondary thing.