'Watch the $$%#% game'

I covered a MLS game and there were six reporters in the press box. I went to the bathroom and as I did, someone scored. I came back and asked who had scored and none of the other five reporters in there had any idea.

 

Another thing I wished Jones would have touched on: don't show up dressed like a homeless guy. Look respectable.

 

Read it again. Those are Rules 5 and 6.

 

Pretty good advice. My thoughts:

*The longer you're on a beat, the less you have to "watch" the game. Patterns become easier to pick up. You learn what counts, what doesn't. You don't usually kill yourself watching the getaway day game if you're covering the visitor and they've already won the first two games of the series. You know the visitor probably wants to get the fuck outta there and isn't going to play a five-hour game to prove a point. Likewise, you don't hit up the manager with WTF questions about why the bats went cold. Let the radio jocks pore over every Sunday mistake (and they will, sure as shit).

*You still need to know when to turn on the antenna because something special is happening. I could never be one of those guys who wandered around too much early in a game. I actually wanted to see patterns emerge first. If it was a 40-point game kind of night, I wanted to have paid attention to the opening movement of the symphony, so to speak. I didn't want to be the guy who sat down and said "boy, McGee's got 13 already, huh?" Beginning were important to me.

*Pick out some small, offhand detail of the game - not before or after - to bury in the story, like an extra treat. How a guy crisply came off consecutive screens for back-to-back three pointers. Describe a good touchdown run with an extra detail. Maybe a single to start a three-run inning ricocheted of the rubber. Maybe a guy got caught looking at a strike that literally split the plate in half. Just something.

*Don't overeat. Boy, is that a simple piece advice, but I've seen people do it. Eat only one of anything. One cookie. One hot dog. One slice of pizza. It can affect your whole attitude and writing ability, sitting there with a giant loaf of food on your stomach.

*Practice how to hold your recorder, yet still write legible notes, quickly yet not be some person whose notebook is sticking two inches from some person's face. And, yes, this takes some practice. Maybe one or two times. Practice on a lover or a buddy or a parent or something. Do not leave one of your information gathering tools - the notebook - in the pocket just because you couldn't figure how to hold both at the same time. And, unless you're recording it for audio purposes to put on the Web, keep the recorder low, out of sight. It only has to be good enough for you to hear.

*Learn how to punctuate your quotes. In other words, how sources/players/coaches emphasize certain words. Others disagree with me, but I think it's worth listening for a potential dash or semicolon. Or understanding the difference between a compound sentence, and two completely different sentences, the second of which starts with "And." I'd battle with copy desk on that last one, by the way.

*Think about how you word questions.

 

In their defense, I can watch a goal be scored in hockey right in front of me and not have any idea how it happened.

 

I got so used to one coach's playcalling when he was at another school, I was in the stands with a buddy of mine, who was a season ticket holder for that team. Coach's team was making a last-minute drive for a potential winning TD. My buddy asked me, "What's he going to call? What's he going to call?" I think I got the last four plays in a row pegged. The defense didn't, but it didn't matter. Incomplete pass on fourth down ended it.
But I got that from watching intently, even at practice, for a couple of years a decade earlier.

 

Thank you, Pilot. I thought the only one who had that issue.

 

+1. Although I've gotten better. But it still seems I'll be writing down a big hit or penalty...and they'll score as I'm frantically trying to get it all down.

 

It definitely can take away your focus when tweeting and blogging, but a lot of times I see people falling into the habit of tweeting meaningless plays. Yeah there are a lot of people who are actually following the game through Twitter because they can't watch it, but most people can follow the GameCast. I use Twitter to give supplemental information on a play a viewer might not be able to see, not just tweet "Player A picks up another first down. ball at own 35, 8:15 left."

 

All this sounds great and Chris Jones is right, but it seems like there's a lot of meddling bosses who are more interested in tweeting or blogging than in actually letting a writer watch the damn game and write the best possible story.

 

Maybe you're covering the wrong sport.

 

Have been doing most of my gamers -- h.s. and pro -- while carrying a Nikon for the last year and a half ... It radically changed the way I see, report, and write ... I found I was wasting so much time in the press box (surfing, gabbing, eating, falling asleep) ... what a waste of time ... now, I get to stand in or next to the dugout ... between the benches ... etc. ... believe, me, I have to be a lot more alert than I was before ... and that alertness pays off ... I find that my note taking doesn't suffer ... and it's made the games a whole lot more fun ... I know this way isn't for everyone (or anyone else) ... but it's sure given me a nice jolt of energy ... As for deadlines, it's just a matter of budgeting my time and taking a few innings or a period off to write ...