Reporting on turnovers and missed kicks in high school football

Well, shottie's an asshole.

 

he really is. he really is.

 

And a massive air strike.

Don't forget the massive air strike.

 

there's a lotta love here, man.

 

I mentioned the player's inability to field the punt that led to the winning field goal in the eighth paragraph of a 29-paragraph story and his missed extra point in the 18th.

I did not mention that the missed extra point forced the coach to try for the touchdown on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, instead of trying an 18-yard field goal that would have given the team the victory if it was made. I imagine the readers could figure out that if had made the extra point, that would have put the team down by two points, instead of three.

I led with the team in our paper's coverage area falling one yard short in its comeback attempt. The competition rather lamely led about the ball-control running success of the other team, which is from outside the coverage area. I still remember early in my career being chastised for leading with how the out-of-area team did, a mistake I trust have not made again.

 

If it's important to the outcome of the game, name the kid. If it does not determine the outcome or have an important effect, don't include it. Be sensitive to how you write about any high school kid, too. Remember that they're adolescents, still, and hardly need to be slammed by the media. Life and peer pressure are hard enough at that age.

Had a kid fumble three times in game and all three were different ways. One of them led to a last-minute score that won the game. He got his name mentioned, but I still managed to have some sensitivity in how he was portrayed. The kid knew he was the goat, but I didn't call him one.

 

How about "the punt was mishandled, leading to the game-winning field goal."

 

I disagree.

 

You disagree that it's embarrassing, or you don't want to be uncovered?

 

I prefer:

The slippery pigskin descending from the heavens did what slippery footballs have done since Abner Doubleday invented the game -- it slipped from the grasp of Podunk's heroic return man and, ironically, deposited itself into the grasp of a player from Rival Tech who sped down the field for the winning points.

 

Probably beats the lede:

"Johnny Blakely booted a game into the hands of Surlyville last night with an unprecedented 13 fumbles in 15 touches."

 

That's freakin' funny, dude.