No gamer on front page?

Maybe not, but somebody down there needs to quit fixing something that's not broken.

If you're correct, 2MCM, then put the gamer out front and put the column inside. It's different, but the obsession with a growing number of inky types to go outside the box went too far with this one.

When you turn on SportsCenter following the Super Bowl, do we get a photo essay or a review of the game? A lot of people saw that game, but you won't catch ESPN - or any other network or affiliate - offering the viewer a photo essay, POV diatribe or opinion pow-wow first.

 

I have a problem with the word "rehash." If that's the best your beat writer can do -- you know, the writer that spends every day with the team and should know its ins and outs better than any fan -- why bother covering the team at all?

At a paper like the Sun-Sentinel, I would expect the beat writer to be able to write with some flair, perspective and insight on a team that, as noted above, stands head and shoulders above every other franchise in South Florida. That, in fact, is the best argument for putting the gamer out there: Fans that rabid will read *everything* they can about their team, including and especially a well-written game story.

Beyond all that, I doubt that the placement of the gamer was the designer's call. Metros tend to have duty officers who make those determinations.

 

If you look closely, this is "Dolphins Extra," not the main sports section, which is where the gamer could be.

 

If you look even more closely, it's a wrap. It's Section C. Up at the top, it says "Sports inside," with a refer to the Marlins story. Also in Section C.

No, the game story is inside the wrap. Let the debate about appropriate placement continue ...

 

The score is there. The photo is powerful. The headline pretty much explains what happens. Next question: What kind of impression did Culpepper make and what can fans expect? All covered, all the "casual fan" -- if there is such a thing when it comes to the Dolphins in South Florida -- needs to know.
I might have at least started the gamer on the front and split the column and the start to the gamer with a hairline. But anybody who wants to know what happened is going to turn the page for the gamer

 

I believe the Indianapolis Star did something similar to this throughout last season, putting Kravitz's column on the front of the section with art played huge, then running the game story inside. I know two of the guys on their Colts team really well and they didn't like it because it played down the game story, but in the instance where the game starts at 1 p.m., I can understand it better. This is an age where people know what happened before they pick up the paper, so I think you lead with something that pushes the story forward, such as a column, and hook the reader.

In the case of the Pittsburgh-Miami game, though, it was a night game and fewer people (relatively speaking; I realize the number of people who called in sick Friday rose exponentially) know the result the next morning. In that instance I'd make sure that gamer is out front the next morning.

 

I kind of doubt this was a design decision--I would think the sports editor made the call.
I used to come down pretty strongly on the side of the gamer HAS to be out there, but not anymore. Especially in a situation such as this, where you have a separate section with an opportunity for really good photo display on the cover. Every Dolphins fan saw the game, and many had probably seen highlights ad naseum postgame. What can you offer the reader that's going to be new to them at 7 a.m.? It's not as if the game story isn't there; it's just inside.
And no, I am not a designer or layout person. And I'm not a newbie either (though I do play one on this message board!). You could say I've been around the block several times ...

 

I think it's a sharply done production.

 

Death to gamers.

I'll happily preside over the funeral.

 

Henry: Death to poorly written, "rehash" gamers with no perspective and no forward thinking. I agree 100 percent with that. But I still want to read a game report.

 

This is the way the Sun-Sentinel is going to handle Dolphins coverage all season. Column and reefers and large photo or two out front. "Gamer" inside.

Not traditional. But not unheard of, either.

Tabloids don't put any stories on their fronts (or backs). Just a large photo and headline. Even though they COULD squeeze some type out there, they choose to tell the reader, "This is what happened . . . read about it inside." And that's fine. We're used to it, so we're not taken aback when we see it.

And the example in this discussion is basically the broadsheet equivalent of that argument. Why squeeze a second story out there if 80 percent of it is going to jump anyway?