Why is most sportswriting so bad?

They are looking at the robots because they are cheaper.

 

Yeah, but what the geniuses don't realize is that anyone (anything?) could write a couple grafs off a Little League or high school linescore.

But actually getting the information in the first place and making sure it's timely, reasonably accurate and complete takes human beings.

I don't think many corporate types worked on the sports desk on football Friday nights.

 

The execs think that coaches or parents would be willing to input that info on their own. Anyone who thinks that way has no business running a newspaper.

 

Ace, in the immortal words of Michael Joseph Jackson, "They don't really care about us!!!"

 

That's a given, but when the headline says A-C-B is easy as 2-1-3, they might change their tune.

 

Naw. All they'll say to readers is "Oh baby give me one more chance....."

 

Bob, et al:

I've been online one month short of 13 years.

We care a lot about SEO.

We have never told one single sports writer one single time to ever, ever write a story based on SEO principles and keywords, and we have never, not one time, edited that way, either. And while we're moving toward a system where every story has two sets of headlines (one "editorial" headline on the story, one SEO-friendly headline for the browser title), we have never written a single headline simply because of SEO principles -- or rejected one because of SEO deficiencies.

And I don't think Dan Wetzel or anybody at any other site is writing based on SEO, either. If somebody wants to point out where I'm wrong, I'd appreciate it (seriously, not being sarcastic).

There might be reasons for the demise of sports writing, if in fact it is dying. But SEO CAN be "left out" as a reason, at least in my experience.

 

You describe a good work-around. It really is about the headline, and developing an alternate hed is a good play.

 

Wilco tours, doesn't it? A novelist, if he or she does it for a living, spend much of their time answering mundane questions and giving minor readings on tour.

Seriously - a game story and a notebook is not a hard day. It can be a real time crunch if the game doesn't start until 8:00, yes. I'll grant you that. That'll cut into one's craft, no question. But if you're covering an event that starts at 3:30, shoot - ace that.