SP OR TS
WRITING
RHEE Fer HORTALEZA
EDITOR: Weekly Guardian
Northern Bulletin
Sunday Chronicle
Northern Times
Pangasinan OnLine Balita
COLUMNIST: Northern Mirror
People’s Digest
BROADCASTER: Aksyon Radyo Pangasinan

10
QUALITIES
of a GOOD
SPORTS WRITE R

• MUST constantly bear in mind
that he writes for his readers
and not for himself.
• MUST attend games as a
reporter, not as a spectator or
cheerer.
• MUST observe accuracy in his
articles or write-ups.

• MUST observe accuracy in his
articles or write-ups.
• MUST be fair and unbiased in
reporting, even though he has a
favorite team among the
competing groups.
• MUST know sports well enough –
its rules, strategies, team and
player records and the like.

MUST know the coaches and
players as intimately as
possible.
MUST be able to take notes
quickly without losing the
sequence of the play.
MUST use the specialized
language of the particular sports
he is reporting.

• MUST avoid sports slang and
trite expressions; and should
tell the story in plain, factual
terms that truly describe the
action.
• MUST not make comments
without supporting them with
facts on which these are
based.

• SPORTS
WRITING
is, basically,
news writing, too.

• Observably all the elements found in news
writing – timeliness or immediacy,
prominence, proximity or nearness, oddity,
conflict, consequence, human interest, drama,
romance or sex, numbers and others – are
also present in sports writing. All the rules
present in news writing – especially those on
accuracy, brevity and clarity -- virtually apply
to sports writing, too.

• The latter, however,
has a
greater freedom
of
STYLE.

• Moreover, the most defined element in
sports writing is conflict as sports
connotes competition, contest, dispute,
struggle or battle for supremacy by
individuals or groups of individuals.
Definitely, conflict is present in sports
competitions.
• Opposing forces generally fight for the
crown and exert all efforts and strategies
towards this much-sought triumph.

•ACTION, therefore, is present in
sports and it is the duty of the sports
writer to bring or picture this action to the
readers who were unable to directly watch
the actual contest. The sports writer who
can expertly describe the sports action
through words, phrases or sentences is
one successful writer, indeed!
• Since action is foremost in sports, there is
consequently a need for the writer to be
adept at or knowledgeable about verbs
and adjectives. Verbs are action words
and adjectives are words that can aptly
describe the action in the event.

• At present, there exists much leeway
in sports writing styles.
Merely reading sports stories at
present immediately proves that most
sports stories are now gearing
towards NOVELTY LEADS.
Nevertheless, of course, sports
writers have not totally forsaken the
summary lead.

The leads nowadays promptly
describe the action through
carefully selected sentences that
instantly deliver the reader to
the sports scene.

The
SUMMARY LEAD

THE LEAD ITSELF
• When utilizing the summary lead (Five Ws
and One H), the writer must not fail to
state specifically who won the game and
against whom.
• It is imperative to state the score or
outcome. Where was the contest held?
When?
• If the game was not completed due to
weather conditions or other incidents, say
so; but tell the existing score when it was
stopped.

THE BODY
OF THE STORY
• If the lead is written in a thrilling
vein, the body should be given
the same treatment.
• Give the play-by-play account of
the contest, taking note of
decisive or interesting plays or
any highlights that occurred
therein.

Give the best scores of the day as
well as the team or individual
standings after the game, plus
the game’s significance, if any.
Statements that are quite
controversial or significant may
likewise be included in the body
of the story.
The weather condition may be
mentioned, too, together with
the crowd’s reactions and
subsequent post-game
celebration scenes.

•USE of SLANG
LANGUAGE
• DISCARD: … a severe blow administered to the
face and another, with the left hand, to the region of
the stomach.
• PREFERRED : … a hard uppercut to the jaw and a
left jab to the belt line.
• DISCARD: The left-handed pitcher threw the
ball so well that his opponents were unable to strike
it.
• PREFERRED: The southpaw pitched airtight ball.

SPORTS
NO VEL TY
LEADS

• SAN DIEGO – The St. Louis Cardinals surrounded
Reggie Sanders in the clubhouse and chanted
“MVP! MVP! MVP!”
==========
• A double black-eye.
With that, it’s understandable why Aterneo coach
Norman Black is feeling blue these days.
==========
• FARMINGTON, Pennsylvania – Phil Mickelson.
Vijay Singh. David Thomas, Jim Furyk.
With four of the top five money winners on the US
PGA Tour, the 84 Luimber Classic has na better
field than most of the post-major tournaments.
==========

• The best is yet to come from the “Beast”.
“Coach told me that we have a very long
tournament so I have to pace myself,” Purefoods
Chunkee import Marquin Chandler said Sunday
night.
==========
• Marquin Chandler was not merely a Giant for
Purefoods Chunkee last night. He was a monster.
==========

• For a while, as confetti rasined down on the triumphant
Far Eastern U Tamaraws, it looked like coach Bert
Flores will be going through the whole euphoria
without experiencing the biggest thrill of it all – a
victory ride from his players.
==========
• The newest faces of Philippine tennis continued to
emerge from the horizon.
==========
• LAS VEGAS – Shane Mosley was anything but sweet. He
was a winner, though, with his sights set on bigger
things.
==========

Spor t s
Headl i nes
•HEADLINES are an equally
important part of a sports news
story.
While the lead summarizes the
entire news development, the
headline summarizes the lead itself.

ONE DECK
Pacquiao wins!
P’sinan is champ!
Espino is victor!
Patriots, Beermen clash tonite

TWO DECKS
Mindanao beach
volley champs
GM Barbosa
off to Vietnam
La Salle gals eye second
crown in UAAP volleyball
Donaire in 12th
Elorde awards

THREE DECKS
Broken nose
steals milestone
glory from Kobe
Powerade
vows to
win crown
Undermanned
Azkals battle
Icheon FC

FOUR DECKS
M’weather:
Maganto,
Pacquiao
‘cheaters’
POC to raise
own funds
for Olympic
participation

Transforming the
HEADLINE
Dagupan City hosts national
seniors basketball tournament
Dagupan hosts national
seniors basketball tourney
Dagupan hosts nat’l
seniors cage tourney
Dagupan hosts
nat’l cagefest

SPORTS
VOC A BUL A RY
(Some frequently used terms
or sports lingo)

• BASKETBALL - quintet, zone defense, five,
rebound, rally, man-to-man, keyhole area, 30-
second clock, long tom, tip-in, press, steals,
15-foot line, twinner, follow-up, lemon time,
playoff slot, haul rebounds, dish out assists,
inside baskets, point guard, homecourt
advantage, playmaker.
• BASEBALL/SOFTBALL - diamond, pitcher,
short stop, southpaw, shut out, back stop, pegged
at third, swatters, pitcher’s mound, hit a
homerun, fails to make the catch, deep center,
fielder, strike out, innings, a double steal of
second and third bases, unearned runs, reaches
first base safely.

– VOLLEYBALL - booming service, net ball,
spikes, change court, wallop, best attacker/receiver/
server/blocker/digger/setter, block, two out of
three, blocked his kill, spiker, peppered with
12 hits.
– SOCCER FOOTBALL - goalie, fullback, corner
kick, pigskin, penalty kick, centrada, corner kick
– SIPA - fancy kick, dead ball, single, ball on play,
double.

• GOLF - hole-in-one, birdie, bogey, par, fired a 7-
under-64, win by
two strokes second putt, behind the green, one-
shot lead, tee-off, four-stroke lead, sprint down
the fairway, hit pivotal shots, hole clutch putts,
carded a two-under par 70
• TENNIS - straight sets, singles, smash cut,
doubles, half volleys, passing shots, good serving,
grass court, backhand volley, double fault, lost
serve
• TRACK EVENTS - breasted the tape, dashes,
runs (200, 400 & 800), hurdles,burned the
cinders, relay, clocked a new record, photo finish,
middle distance runner, anchor man, pass the
baton,bore down on him, break the record

– FIELD EVENTS - heaved the shotput, hurled the
javelin, threw the discus, broad jump, pole vault,
hop-step-and-jump, Grecian disc, long jump.
– CYCLING - wheel by wheel, remate, multi-lap,
yellow jersey, lead pack.
– BOXING - round by round, slugfest, flyweight,
welterweight, jab, uppercut, heavyweight,
uppercut, ring, knockout loss, landed a left body
blow, lightweight, super-featherweight, split
decision, boxing stable, flurry of punches.

– SWIMMING - aquabelle, freestyle, tanker,
breaststroke, naiad, backstroke, diving board.
– TAEKWONDO - turning side kick, jins,
heavyweight, finweight, flyweight.
– CHESS - grandmaster, chess board, zugzwang, plus
47 ELO rating,
nine-round tournament, blitzkrieg chess, king,
queen, board one, bishop, knight, opening move, rook
or tower, pawn.
– ARCHERY - bowman, drawing back

THAT’S
ALL,
FOLKS!