Sport Reporting

For this last post we were asked to discuss what hinders, and what facilitates, the ability of sports reporters to meet their deadlines.

The first thing that comes to my mind is that you really can't be there for the pure enjoyment of the game in order to report on it. I like to take the game in, and let the ebb and flow of the action take me along for the ride. When I knew that I was going to have to write a report of the game I found myself paying more attention to the individual players from both teams instead of completely rooting on my team. I would imagine that the best sports reporters are able to set aside their favoritism, and give an accurate accounting of the game. Local reporters always seem to have a tilt toward the hometown team, but the ability to let yourself get lost in the action is probably a luxury that reporters cannot afford. That's not to say that you can't, or shouldn't, enjoy the game. I think that a reporter who enjoys what he or she is reporting on is more likely to give us a story that is interesting and pleasurable to read. For me it was a different mindset in the approach to watching the game. I had to pay attention to the game instead of just being a spectator.

I was originally going to report on the Maryland v. UVA basketball game earlier in February. The big problem I ran into there was that we walked out of the Comcast Center after 10PM, and I walked through my front door at 10:57. For me the difficulty in reporting on that game was the time constraint. I supposed if I had been part of the press contingent covering that game I would have had Internet access during the game, or at least had something available to write notes. I considered it my dry run. Fortunately for me, the Georgetown game I went to was at Noon so there was no time issue. I also knew the area quite well outside of the Verizon Center, and if I needed wifi access to post my story I knew where it was available.

Basically, I think Internet access has probably become a tremendous benefit to reporters trying to meet deadlines, while at the same time I imagine it has increased the pressure somewhat. Assuming the game is over before the deadline, there seems to be almost no reason why a reporter cannot meet a deadline given the ability to utilize the Internet. So it's a bit of a double-edged sword, but I still think it's a bigger benefit. Beyond the deadline, it gives the reporter the ability to check facts on the fly, follow up on things, and get alerts about other stories while the game is in progress.

One problem that I had was keeping all of the players and plays straight during the game. Frankly, I would have been better off to have had some type of notebook with me to write down key points. Instead I relied on my memory when I sat down to write a recap of the game. In theory, I would have learned this after the first game I attended, but as I've said before on this blog, I have a bit of a hard head. As with most fans, the plays that stick out are the ones that benefitted my team. If I had taken a more impartial approach I may have had an easier time retelling the events. Keeping track of the stats was also difficult. I relied on the scoreboard to tell me who had the most points, while I'm sure reporters have access to a box score during the game.

I think another difficulty with recapping a sporting event is ensuring the main highlights are incorporated, while not missing big points in the event. I suppose the flip side of that is making sure that you fit everything that happens into the story. It was definitely difficult to sort out just which events were keys to the game, while trying not to overdo it with unnecessary points.

One thing that I took away from this exercise is that I'm not cut out to report on sporting events as I always feel that there's something I'm missing, and that makes it really hard to submit my work.