My First sports article...

[Dawgs0916]

I have been writing for my town's newspaper for about three months now, but just recently I finally got to write my first "sports" piece. I am really excited and got some incredibly good feedback from a lot of people that made me feel pretty good about my future goals. Here is the link....if I could figure out how to paste it all pretty on here I would haha. Its a fairly lengthy read but its worth it . Let me know what you guys think.....as you can tell im really excited haha


http://www.coveleaderpress.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1004&Itemid=53

 

[Dawgs0916]

When anybody gets a chance I would really appreciate some un-biased feedback...

 

[peplaw06]

I think it's pretty impressive for a first run. You definitely have the writing skill.

The journalistic skill will come. Not that it's bad now, but it just needs a little polishing, which is to be expected for a first timer. You'll learn a lot at Tech. Good luck.

 

[Hostile]

I liked it. It will be interesting to see how you handle reporting on a sporting event.

If you can I strongly recommend that you check out the sports writings of Jim Murray. What you want is to always give more than expected of you and describe as much as you can as briefly as you can.

 

[CATCH17]

Good stuff man you should be proud.

 

[DallasFanSince86]

Great read. And like Peplaw06 said the journalistic skill needs a little polishing but you will learn that in school. Again great job.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Good job!

 

[Dawgs0916]

Thanks, that was obviously more of a first person account article, not in the classic "journalitic" sense. But I know I def. need more refining...I have never even taken a journalism class. Getting a job there was my first experience lol.

 

[Chief]

For your first published sports article, at age 18 or whatever, that's a nice job.

Keep in mind that the hours you'll work as a sports writer and the pay you'll receive probably aren't going to be good. But if you really love it, and the other things (pay and hours) aren't all that important, then you'll be fine.

You certainly have ability.

The best advice I can give you is read, read, read. Like Hos said, the best columnist that ever lived was Jim Murray. Currently, Rick Reilly is probably among the best columnists.

But don't just read columns. You'll need the basics, so read regular news stories ... game stories. Practice writing straight leads and feature leads. Get an AP Stylebook and learn that style (you'll need to know that).

Don't focus so much on reading blogs ... read game stories, feature stories and columns, or opinion pieces and learn the difference. A lot of young writers tend to let their opinions sneak into regular news stories.

The guy at the Lubbock paper who covers Texas Tech football (Don Williams) is a Tech alum and he does a very nice job of reporting. He's been there several years now. He's a solid writer and good reporter, so it would be good to read his stuff every day.

You are doing the right thing ... working for your hometown paper at a young age. The experience you're getting now is 10 times better than any class you'll take.

Good luck.

 

[Dawgs0916]

Thanks a lot Chief. Yeah everyone tells me about the pay not being good at all. It honestly does scare me. But I mean if its enough that I can live comfortable off of, then I am good. I am not looking for a lavish lifestyle or anything.

Doing strictly news stories so far except for this (things like covering Relay for Life, Awards ceremonies, etc), THAT is really not something I enjoy all that much. Its the sports that really appeal to me.

It is what I have always wanted to do, I want to work for the Dallas Morning News or a big magazine or something, but I don't know. Thanks for taking the time to read it though..

 

[DallasCowpoke]

When anybody gets a chance I would really appreciate some un-biased feedback...

Epilogue: William, who graduates next week with the Class of 2008, plans to attend Texas Tech in the fall and study journalism. His dream is to someday cover the Dallas Cowboys.

You're doomed!

:


j/k... Good luck!

 

[peplaw06]

Thanks, that was obviously more of a first person account article, not in the classic "journalitic" sense. But I know I def. need more refining...I have never even taken a journalism class. Getting a job there was my first experience lol.

I was going to ask that, but didn't want to come off as condescending or pompous.

That being said though, makes it a more impressive piece IMO.