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Olympic coverage

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by rpmmutant, Jun 3, 2008.

  1. rpmmutant

    rpmmutant Member

    I am trying to put together a list of athletes from our coverage area who are competing in the Olympics. Not just major sports, track, basketball, swimming etc., but some of the minor ones too. Is there a place that lists the media relations people for the minor sports in the Olympics? I found a few, boxing, shooting, roller sports believe it or not. But what about things like handball, kayaking, sailing, archery? Any ideas?
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Go to the USOC site.
     
  3. dixiehack

    dixiehack Well-Known Member

    I just realized that this will be my first Olympics since retiring from the copy desk treadmill. And hot damn, will I ever not miss having to cram everything onto 2/3 of a page so we can have our daily preseason football feature on how the Fightin' Thalidomide Babies of Bumfuck High are going to turn it around this year thanks to their four-man senior class that hasn't won since the fifth grade.
     
  4. HejiraHenry

    HejiraHenry Well-Known Member

    Be cautious, as the USOC's definition of "hometown" doesn't always square with your reality. That will not always account for birth places, etc.
     
  5. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    A lot of sports haven't held their Olympic qualifiers yet so there will be a lot of holes in your list. I know the track and swimming qualifiers are later this summer and I'm pretty sure none of the team sports have finalized their rosters yet.

    You'll also want to check out the individual sport NGB websites, which you can link to thru the USOC site.
     
  6. silentbob

    silentbob Member

    I was just discussing this with my wife the other day: Aside from coverage of local athletes, how much do people want to read about the Olympics?

    I said not much.
    She said very much.
    We are no longer speaking.
     
  7. dieditor

    dieditor Member

    I'm with you, SilentBob. After Tibetan controversiesn, over-commercialization, over-politicizing, rampant doping, and pro athletes in some of the bigger sports, I could really care less. I'm spending August getting into pennant races and the NFL, where I don't have to worry about that stuff. ;)
     
  8. TheHacker

    TheHacker Member

    Just wanted to say I laughed out loud for a good 15 or 20 seconds upon reading "Fightin' Thalidomide Babies .." That is pretty much every preseason football story, isn't it? If we bore ourselves, that doesn't leave much hope for the readers. If there are any left besides the Whinin' Parents of the Babies of Thalidomide.
     
  9. rpmmutant

    rpmmutant Member

    I found out there's a woman from my neighborhood who's on the USA handball team and I was interested. I found out there's a woman who used to play softball at one of our high schools, went to Harvard, played ice hockey and is now on the USA rollersports team. Rollersports isn't even an Olympic event, but I am interested. Then again, I had a discussion with another writer who's doing a story on one of the UCLA track coaches who's working with the Olympic team. I told her I had no interest in coaches. I would rather read stories about the athletes. Maybe that's just me though.
     
  10. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

    Unless there's a feature that becomes must-read or someone runs 100 meters in 6 seconds, my daily allotment of reading from the Games in China will be less than 60 seconds. I don't know any of the athletes and, frankly, the whole thing simply has lost its appeal.
     
  11. HejiraHenry

    HejiraHenry Well-Known Member

    But it doesn't matter what you think. Never does. The question is, "What does the reader want?"
     
  12. IGotQuestions

    IGotQuestions Member

    People will be interested in reading about the socio-political aspect and evil China in these Olympics more than than the actual competition.
     
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