Writing the football feature story

Transcript

1. Football features Reclaiming reluctant readers
2. There are two kinds of readers…
4. Feature stories
6. Let’s look at three questions
7.  What kinds of features should we be writing?  What makes a good feature?  How can we apply feature technique to news?
8.  What kinds of features should we be writing?
9. Types of feature stories What is a story? Narrative vs. story
10. Types of feature stories
11. Types of feature stories  Historical
12. Types of feature stories  Historical  Profiles
13. Types of feature stories  Historical  Profiles  Away-from-the-game (spouses, equipment manager, college recruiting, groundskeeper, band, cheerleaders, economic impact of football)
14. Clifton Pollard was pretty sure he was going to be working on Sunday, so when he woke up at 9 a.m., in his three-room apartment on Corcoran Street, he put on khaki overalls before going into the kitchen for breakfast. His wife, Hettie, made bacon and eggs for him. Pollard was in the middle of eating them when he received the phone call he had been expecting. It was from Mazo Kawalchik, who is the foreman of the gravediggers at Arlington National Cemetery, which is where Pollard works for a living. "Polly, could you please be here by 11 o'clock this morning?" Kawalchik asked. "I guess you know what it's for." Pollard did. He hung up the phone, finished breakfast, and left his apartment so he could spend Sunday digging a grave for John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
15. Types of feature stories  Historical  Profiles  Away-from-the-game (spouses, equipment manager, college recruiting, groundskeeper, economic impact of football) band/cheerleaders  Localizations
16. Types of feature stories  Historical  Profiles  Away-from-the-game (spouses, equipment manager, college recruiting, groundskeeper, economic impact of football) band/cheerleaders  Localizations  First-person participatory
17. Types of feature stories  Historical  Profiles  Away-from-the-game (spouses, equipment manager, college recruiting, groundskeeper, economic impact of football) band/cheerleaders  Localizations  First-person participatory  Explanatory
19. Types of feature stories  Historical  Profiles  Away-from-the-game (spouses, equipment manager, college recruiting, groundskeeper, economic impact of football) band/cheerleaders  Localizations  First-person participatory  Explanatory  Q and A
20.  What kinds of features should we be writing?  What makes a good feature?
21. What makes a high-reader- interest feature story?
22. What makes a high-reader- interest feature story?
23. Finding the story What makes a high-reader- interest feature story?
24. Finding the story Focusing the story What makes a high-reader- interest feature story?
25. Finding the story Focusing the story Reporting the story What makes a high-reader- interest feature story?
26. Finding the story Focusing the story Reporting the story Interview techniques What makes a high-reader- interest feature story?
27. Finding the story Focusing the story Reporting the story Interview techniques Crafting the story What makes a high-reader- interest feature story?
28.  What kinds of features should we be writing?  What makes a good feature?  How can we apply feature technique to news?
29. Applying feature technique to game stories
30. Sports writing has changed in response to changes in the media landscape
31. When writing about sports, you have to learn to navigate an odd literary predicament: Your audience often already knows the outcome before it starts reading. An editor at Sports Illustrated once advised me that the art of the work rested in telling people who already know what happened a story so compelling that they forget everything and, at the end, wish they'd been there. This editor helped me to regard sports as a parallel world full of little climaxes and telling details, just waiting for you to make the most of them. Nicholas Dawidoff in The New York Times
32. In other words, it’s not about the game, it’s about the story.
33. Every game has two elements A chronology A story
34. Traditional news structure Delayed leads The changing shape of news
35. Here’s what this looks like…
36. The Toronto Blue Jays came from behind in the ninth inning to edge the Texas Rangers 7-6 Monday in a matchup of AL Division Series opponents the past two seasons. Kendrys Morales hit a go-ahead single after a tying single by Josh Donaldson in the ninth inning. The Jays had entered the ninth trailing 6-5. Toronto won despite blowing a 5-1 lead in their first visit to Texas since last postseason, when they won the first two games in a best-of-five sweep that was their second straight ALDS victory over the two-time defending AL West champs. Donaldson’s single off closer Matt Bush scored Ryan Goins, who just beat the throw to second for a leadoff double. Morales’ hit to the gap in left- center scored Donaldson from second after a stolen base and a walk. It was the third blown save in 11 chances for Bush (2-2). Roberto Osuna worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 18th save in 22 chances.
37. The Rangers blew their 13th save of the season Monday. It seemed perfectly appropriate. Perfectly, horribly, appropriate. In losing 7-6 to Toronto, Texas falls to 9-21 since 2013 against a Blue Jays team that has become a real nemesis. Both teams are battling to stay above .500, and the Rangers had a chance to make a real statement with a five-run fourth inning and scrappy work by the bullpen. But closer Matt Bush allowed two runs on three hits in the ninth inning and blew his second save in his past four chances. Texas is 11-for-24 in save situations, worst in the American League. “It seemed like after he gave up the lead-off double on the fastball, it got away from him,” said Rangers manager of Bush, who has now blown two of his past four save opportunities. “I think his best pitch is a fastball. The two walks, one was on a slider, the other curve ball. The rest of the damage was done on his secondary stuff.” Bush agreed, saying he has to be able to trust his stuff.
38. Rangers closer Matt Bush's best pitch is his fastball. He averages 97.8 mph with it -- eighth-hardest among pitchers with at least 200 thrown -- and uses it about 72 percent of the time. But he steered away from the fastball in the ninth inning on Monday night, and it cost him in a 7-6 loss to the Blue Jays at Globe Life Park. "I feel like I didn't attack guys enough," Bush said. "I can't lose confidence in my fastball. I feel like I missed with some sliders and getting beat on my second-best pitch." Bush was asked to protect a 6-5 lead and nail down his ninth save. Instead he gave up two runs for his third blown save. Including the postseason, the Rangers have lost 17 of their past 25 games against the Blue Jays over three seasons. "I don't think that we look at it as a what club it's against or anything like that," Texas manager Jeff Banister said. "Anytime you lose a game like that, they're challenging. However, again, I'll repeat, rewind and repeat about what I say about this team, where they're able to bounce back and move on." Bush started the inning with a fastball and Ryan Goins smacked it into left-center for a double. That seemed to impact Bush's pitch selection. He threw 15 pitches to the next four hitters, 13 of which were secondary pitches.
39. Elements of a game story
40. The story line and delayed lead Elements of a game story
41. The story line and delayed lead Nut graf Elements of a game story
42. The story line and delayed lead Nut graf Significance of the game, impact on standings, etc. Elements of a game story
43. The story line and delayed lead Nut graf Significance of the game, impact on standings, etc. Important statistics Elements of a game story
44. The story line and delayed lead Nut graf Significance of the game, impact on standings, etc. Important statistics Comments from players, coaches Elements of a game story
45. The story line and delayed lead Nut graf Significance of the game, impact on standings, etc. Important statistics Comments from players, coaches What's next? Elements of a game story
46. The story line and delayed lead Nut graf Significance of the game, impact on standings, etc. Important statistics Comments from players, coaches What's next? Housekeeping: injuries, events around the game, non-game news Elements of a game story
47. The story line and delayed lead Nut graf Significance of the game, impact on standings, etc. Important statistics Comments from players, coaches What's next? Housekeeping: injuries, events around the game, non-game news Elements of a game story
48. And the bottom line… Write for your readers.