Worst lede ever

[Johnny Dangerously]

Not a lede, but just as bad in a cutline:

"Members of the City High School soccer team pay tribute to Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

Cutline at the first newspaper where I worked: "This file photo of an F-14 fighter plane is similar to the one used in the attack on Libya."

It made me wonder what the Pentagon budgeted annually for those fast, powerful file photos.

 

[DonBowman]

One more from Hartford.....our (at the time Red Sox writer) covered a Boston-Toronto game in early Sept. that gave Boston a solid edge in the division race. I don't remember the exact lead..but it was something like......
How boot dem Red Sox eh? Dey are in first place in the MeerKeen League East. The Blue Jays. finee!!!

The assistant sports editor who gave the story its first lead called him back and asked him to refile...when he asked why, she said it was garbled. Of course he had the nerve to be offended.

Sigh.....I loved much of the writing there sometimes.

 

[longjumper42]

These are just a few examples of who I 'compete' with on a daily basis...some of these are headlines, some are leads and some are just bad sentences.

"Wrestlers ready to roll:
‘Our pace is just sic ‘em’ "

"due to the overpowering, gritty attitude that has become intrinsic to MCHS wrestling."

"Six wrestlers attended states last year"

"Cheer, dance teams to bring Bulldog pride to States"


could anyone explain to me what 'STATES' are??? I mean comon' at least use the right word!

 

[fletch b. fletch]

I'm paraphrasing this one from an infamous stringer at a paper in Michigan who had a lede quoted on an earlier post: "Even the best can have a bad day when they had to be at their best." This guy had so many ledes that could fit here that another worker at the paper used his material in a class about how NOT to write.

 

[murciélago]

The One: Lead+nut graf division.

ATLANTA -- Who would've thought the first pitch could mean so much.
For New York Met Robin Ventura, it meant two home runs.

 

[Flash]

One more from Hartford.....our (at the time Red Sox writer) covered a Boston-Toronto game in early Sept. that gave Boston a solid edge in the division race. I don't remember the exact lead..but it was something like......
How boot dem Red Sox eh? Dey are in first place in the MeerKeen League East. The Blue Jays. finee!!!

The assistant sports editor who gave the story its first lead called him back and asked him to refile...when he asked why, she said it was garbled. Of course he had the nerve to be offended.

Sigh.....I loved much of the writing there sometimes.

He should have been fired.

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

The One: Lead+nut graf division.

ATLANTA -- Who would've thought the first pitch could mean so much.
For New York Met Robin Ventura, it meant two home runs.

One of the all-time greats. A time-honored favorite.

 

[happygirl]

BOSTON — A year ago, the Bruins pretty much dreaded the shootouts.

Not any more.

The Bruins won their third straight shootout Thursday night, all in the last 15 days. This time, they needed a shootout goal from rookie Phil Kessel to start the seventh round of the shootout for the only goal to give the Bruins a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the TD Banknorth Garden Thursday night.

 

[da man]

BOSTON — A year ago, the Bruins pretty much dreaded the shootouts.

Not any more.

The Bruins won their third straight shootout Thursday night, all in the last 15 days. This time, they needed a shootout goal from rookie Phil Kessel to start the seventh round of the shootout for the only goal to give the Bruins a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the TD Banknorth Garden Thursday night.

Wait, I wasn't quite clear on something. Did the game go to a shootout?

 

[happygirl]

yes, I think it was a shootout.

 

[happygirl]

...and, by the way, it was Thursday night.

 

[SoSueMe]

BOSTON — A year ago, the Bruins pretty much dreaded the shootouts.

Not any more.

The Bruins won their third straight shootout Thursday night, all in the last 15 days. This time, they needed a shootout goal from rookie Phil Kessel to start the seventh round of the shootout for the only goal to give the Bruins a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the TD Banknorth Garden Thursday night.

Wow. Tell me again, how did this game end?

My pet peeve is the same word used twice in the same graph (excluding "the" and "and" etc. but you know what I mean.)

 

[happygirl]

You gotta wonder, what was the editor thinking? Or what was he on?

 

[Clever username]

Ah, what would we do without the AP wire and its cliche machine?

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sometimes it pays to be both lucky and good. Just ask New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur and defenseman Brad Lukowich.

 

[fishwrapper]

This is still the winner, if you ask me...:

Like two ****s passing in the night, ...


Text from a Dallas Observer article as being the result of a typo. The paper later explained the writer had purposely altered the common phrase "like two ships passing in the night" in order to make a joke.

 

[Ledbetter]

Don't know if it's already been posted, but:

R U ready?

 

[sirvaliantbrown]

Just read this piece of comical awfulness:

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - Greg Paulus has spent the start of his sophomore season recovering from a foot injury. That makes the already tough job of being Duke's point guard even tougher.

He didn't miss any games, but there was always the postgame talk of when would we see the old Greg Paulus.

According to his coach, there was a better version on display Saturday night than the one who led the Atlantic Coast Conference in assists last season.

Paulus scored all 13 of his points in the second half and led the 11th-ranked Blue Devils ' impressive defensive effort over the final 20 minutes in a 61-52 victory over No. 18 Georgetown.

''That was better than the old Greg,'' Mike Krzyzewski said. ''The old Greg was good. Those plays he made in the second half were of a sophomore Greg. Those are the plays he'll make now that's he's coming back from the injury.''

Paulus had other things than the injury on his mind.

 

[Blushing]

Jim Reeves of the FW Star-Telegram began a recent column with this confession: "I am not God."

Well, now that we've cleared that up ....

 

[dawgpounddiehard]

Jim Reeves of the FW Star-Telegram began a recent column with this confession: "I am not God."

Well, now that we've cleared that up ....

Yup. As a reader of this column, I'm looking at that lede and thinking, "I am not reading this."

 

[sporting_guista]

BOSTON — A year ago, the Bruins pretty much dreaded the shootouts.

Not any more.

The Bruins won their third straight shootout Thursday night, all in the last 15 days. This time, they needed a shootout goal from rookie Phil Kessel to start the seventh round of the shootout for the only goal to give the Bruins a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the TD Banknorth Garden Thursday night.

Can you spell B*A*T*E*S -- don't even have to look it up