Sports writer looking for Grammar help

[cjericho]

The above scenario reminded me of what some editors call "marrying your phrase," "don't break up your phrase," or the more common, "don't split prepositions."

"Smith turned the ball over ..." is technically incorrect, because you're splitting the preposition by separating "turned" and "over."

"Smith turned over the ball ..."

Editor at my old shop used to get his panties in a bunch over, "broke the game open."
He would always make it broke open the game.

If it has to be, "broke open the game," shouldn't it be "broke open it."

 

[HandsomeHarley]

Grammatically, your second sentence will be stronger with "ingrained."

Bloody heck, mate. You look at a word and look at a word, and contemplate looking it up but think, "Nah, I'm in a hurry," and I'll be damned.

 

[HandsomeHarley]

Editor at my old shop used to get his panties in a bunch over, "broke the game open."
He would always make it broke open the game.

If it has to be, "broke open the game," shouldn't it be "broke open it."

Probably. But then again, it should be RsBI, too, so there is that.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Here's one more for the SIDs, or writers who came up with a radio background.

If you write, "Podunk knocked off Anysville 14-8 last night from Soldiers Field," I am going to cringe and scream. You don't play from somewhere. You play at somewhere.

 

[CD Boogie]

Here's one more for the SIDs, or writers who came up with a radio background.

If you write, "Podunk knocked off Anysville 14-8 last night from Soldiers Field," I am going to cringe and scream. You don't play from somewhere. You play at somewhere.

Was the team literally knocked from the field? Otherwise, yeah, that's awful.

 

[HandsomeHarley]

The term "knocked off" implies that the losing team was ahead of the winning team in some sort, be it rankings, standings or whatever.

"Knocked off" should not be used as a synonym for "defeated."

I've been doing this for 19 years now, and learned this about a year ago. It makes sense, though.

 

[HandsomeHarley]

Probably a thread jack, but the new local radio play-by-play guy drives me nuts. When we're wrong, we have to run a correction. Not these nimwits.

First of all, there is a difference between a false start and an illegal procedure. A false start is a dead-ball penalty. Get it frickin' right.

Second, if it has already happened, for the love of God, stop saying, "... gonna be ..." Does every play-by-play guy do this!?

Third, he is wrong nine times out of 10 when calling the action.

He: "Smith carries it to the 19 for a first down."

Me (under my breath): "18."

He: And it's third-and-1 from the 18.

He: "Jones drops back to pass ... he's gonna complete it to Brown for a 22-yard pass play to the Podunk 38."

Me: "23 yards ... to the 37."

Had a radio guy at a D-II school proudly announce to the crowd that Podunk State had a 29-10 lead at halftime. Found out later that Podunk State lost 55-24. He had the teams backward.

 

[inthesuburbs]

Grounds crew, two words, not groundscrew. Otherwise it looks like ground screw.

 

[inthesuburbs]

But then again, it should be RsBI, too, so there is that.

No, it shouldn't be. An acronym is treated like a word. The plural of a word gets an S, so it's RBIs.
Attorney general = singular. Attorneys general = plural. AG = singular. AGs = plural.
Run batted in = singular. Runs batted in = plural. RBI = singular. RBIs = plural.

And it's "versus," not "verse."

 

[BujuBanton]

I don't have an editor and use grammarly. It seems to catch the major stuff and I haven't had any English teachers call to rip me.

 

[Dog8Cats]

I have mentioned this in another thread (at least I hope it was another thread).

If the Rams beat the Cowboys, it will be incorrect to say, "Sean McVay won his first playoff game."

McVay lost his first playoff game, last season to the Falcons.

If the Rams beat the Cowboys, it will be correct to say, "Sean McVay earned his first playoff victory."

 

[Doom and gloom]

Rule No. 1: "advise" is a verb. "Advice" is a noun.

The first thing to do is get an AP style guide and read it cover to cover. That way, you'll know how not to write.

There are many, many little rules -- in sports and news writing -- that are not followed. Some can be a real pet peeve for "professional" journalists. A few:

* Always write the final score in the lede of your story.
* Never write any other score before the final score. "Podunk came back from a 20-point deficit ..." rather than "... a 40-20 deficit ...".
* Write in past tense. I don't care what anyone else says. (See what I did there?)
* Never put the losing score first. Ever. Eeeeeeever.
* Time, date, place. In that order.
* Never put two nouns back to back ("the game is in Dallas Friday.") Remember time, date, place.
* "towards" is not a word.
* Alternate between the town name and the nickname. Try to avoid singularizing the town name and pluralizing the nickname.
Examples: "Dallas missed its star player... " "The Royals' Mike Moustakas ..."
* Team names are plural, I don't give a damn if they end in "s." "The Magic are ..." "The Thunder are ..."
* There is no mound in softball.
* When using stats, if it's a noun, no hyphens. If it's an adjective, use hyphens. "Smith went 3 for 4 ..." "Smith was 3-of-4 shooting ..."
* Omit redundant words. Keep your stories clutter free. "Smith finished with six strikeouts in five innings pitched."
* "... Smith said." Not "... said Smith." Nobody talks like that.
* Do not ever, eeeeeeeeever use the passive tense with "would." I will hunt you down and choke you. "Smith would finish with 20 points..." No, mothertrucker, he DID finish with 20 points.

There are about a million more, but that's a start.