Words That Sportswriters Use That Make Me Cringe

Ashland (Ky.) Blazer has the Tomcats and the Kittens.

Laramie (Wyo.) High School has the Plainsmen and the Lady Plainsmen.

 

The point is there are multiple typographical tools, as well as HTML/CSS online, to delineate which sport the story is about.

In print, there could be small text above the headline - some shops call it a kicker or a shoulder - with the sport named. This is especially helpful if it's a roundup.

Worst case scenario, drop the reference in the headline and use it early in the story/roundup. Readers will follow.

 

With more unisex names, the article doesn’t always tell the story. I’ve seen roundup items that read: Taylor Adams had 18 points and Jordan Evans added 12 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 17 Purdue past Iowa, 62-48.

No idea if it’s men’s or women’s, but I guess those who care would know.

 

One high school with the nickname of "Stallions" called its girls teams "Lady Stallions." That would be a mare.

I can understand why parents of girls players at a school with the Bulldogs nickname wouldn't want their daughters called "bullbitches."

 

Back in the day, our policy was one nickname per school. There was one exception, which I never understood or had it explained. One high school (Wildcats) had a powerful girls basketball team that we called the LadyCats. That was the only one.

Our desk boss even got into an argument with the Long Beach State SID, who insisted the baseball team had official NCAA recognition to be call Dirtbags. He said one nickname per school. If you start calling the women's gymnastics team Dirtbags, then we well change.

I think those rules are gone now.

Long Beach State recently changed from 49ers to The Beach or Beach, but it still uses Dirtbags for baseball.

 

Forty years ago, when I was sports editor of our college paper, our faculty adviser -- a grizzled, hard-drinking, chain-smoking, old-fashioned tough editor -- chewed me out in front of the entire newsroom for writing, "XYZ is 5-3 on the season" in a game story. That was embarrassing, and my initial instinct was to walk right out of the newsroom and head to the nearest bar, but I understood where he was coming from (I respected the hell out of the guy then and still consider him one of my top all-time mentors). That was the last time I wrote "on the season," and I've always rewritten it as a copy editor. Still bugs me if I see it in print or hear it during a broadcast.

 

On the season .... in the game ....
Those drove me nuts. I told many of our writers, of course it was in the game. If he did it during batting practice, nobody would care.

A good J-School advisor story. Our guy was highly respected and I learned more in his class than any other. He marked up the paper every day and posted it on the bulletin board. Somebody's story mentioned the "University of Oxford." That made the board circled in red ink with the notation: Oxford University.
The news editor (a student) challenged the advisor, who checked and apologized. It is, indeed, the University of Oxford and is usually used incorrectly.

 

Again, there are numerous typographical labels and tools you can use online and in print.

 

Brent: "You are looking live at Lambeau Stadium."
Would I be looking if I was dead?

 

On our NFL team, the coaches call it the "big end," or the guy who has to box his side and hold the edge. The other guy is the "speed end," who's allowed to rush with impunity.

 

But there's actually, from a style standpoint, no such thing as "10 straight points." Are there ever "10 crooked points?"

 

You could make a case that the Lady Plainsmen are gender-fluid.