The Death of Sportswriting?

I disagree with the presumption that the most devoted fans have already watched the game. Maybe you can say that with football, but not in the sports with more than a game a week.

 

As a hardy baseball fan, I can agree with that. It's just impossible to watch everything you want to see -- that said, reading about a game and watching the game are two entirely different experiences. Do I want to watch it more than I want to read about it the next day? Absolutely -- I'd rather see it with my own eyes than view it through a writer's prism, no matter how much I like and/or trust that writer.

But as a reader, I do get something out of a game story the next day, assuming it's written well and it tells me something I didn't know or puts it in a context I didn't think about. I don't really give a shit about the play-by-play (if I really want to see the damn play, I'll go watch the highlights for myself) and I don't want a bitter hack's perspective on how much this team sucks any more than I want a looser fanboy's perspective on how great this team is. But if you give me something interesting to read, I'll read it -- whether I watched the game or not.

I think we forget that sometimes. If it's interesting to read, they'll read it. Doesn't matter how casual or hardcore they are as fans, doesn't matter if they watched every game or none ... if it's a good read, they'll read it.

Easier said than done, of course.

 

It's not necessarily that you watched the game as much as it is you already have a snapshot of what happened. Except for people who go to bed at 7:30 p.m., I don't think many people who are fans crack the morning paper to see what the local team did last night.

 

BTW, the guy's premise that writers didn't talk to athletes half a century ago is completely incorrect. There were plenty of quotes in stories in the 1950s.

 

I do, but I'm fully prepared to accept that I'm atypical in that regard. I don't like TV and basically only watch game broadcasts...don't watch highlight shows, etc. I get my sports news from print and online media.

 

People at small newspapers have to be creative and inventive because a large section of the readership assumes they're not as good as the people at bigger places.

That, of course, is complete horseshit. There are people at smaller places writing circles around people at big places. Not always, mind you, but it's not as rare as it seems.

As for gamers, straight play-by-play ones are the least imaginative you can do. It's like saying "People are going to read this anyway, so I'm going to throw a couple quotes around shit they already know happened." We're in these jobs to use our imaginations.

 

You can't take the same approach to every game story.

A game story from a high school or small college event is completely different than one you'd write at a bigtime college, pro or other major sporting event. Some level of PBP is expected in the former, only because there are probably quite a few people interested who didn't attend.

At least that's the case in this market.

Where I have problems is the people who will write a Podunk High game story then basically use the same system for Big State U.

 

We initiated a system last year for football, for all levels above high school, in which we used a breakout box for the most important play-by-play: Here are the three or four most important events that led to Team A beating Team B.

That freed up space in the gamer for more analysis and less play-by-play.

 

Yeah, you need a little blow-by-blow stuff. But, there are too many people who use that as the basis of their stuff.

 

I think its sort of obvious that gamers need to have less play-by-play and more feature-y stuff, but try being creative when you're busy running from the press level to the locker rooms and back, on deadline.

I like to have my cake and eat it, too, but it just isn't always possible. Well, maybe it is if you work for a monthly.

 

Creativity is possible at any point, even on deadline. That's why I start thinking about where I might take my story while the game's going on.

Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals ended five minutes before my paper's deadline. Because I was covering the Cavaliers, we held, but not for long. Creativity's possible in any circumstance.

 

Interesting discussion. A few thoughts...

1) Perhaps I'm just not as good a writer as Chad, but there are some game stories in which it is impossible to avoid play-by-play filler. When you have to send for first-edition as soon as the game ends (or earlier) with no quotes, you may have to use a bit of PBP. Or if the paper demands 20 inches for a late game and you have two minutes to grab the manager and scribble some quotes, sorry, but it's possible the gamer is going to have a bit of PBP.

2) I don't think gamers are dead, although saying that has been a popular fad in this business for as long as I know. I can tell you that I NEVER read a gamer from our local minor league baseball team. The ONLY time I have ever read a gamer is when I've attended the game as a fan. People want confirmation, analysis and explanation of what they've seen. It's the same reason we read movie reviews after we've seen a movie.