Day-by-Day**

(** Class schedule is subject to change at discretion of instructor)

WEEK I: INTRODUCTION

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No. 1 — No Cheering in the Press Box.

Sept. 9: Review syllabus. Introductions/review syllabus/semester overview. Team assignments: We’ll review your assignments.

Assignment: Write a 1-page analysis of the good and bad in Sports Journalism. DEADLINE:  Please e-mail me your analysis by 5 p.m., Sunday.

ASSIGNMENT: Study AP stylebook on sports guidelines.

CLASS BLOG DISCUSSION:  Please discuss the state of sports broadcast journalism. To help you, please watch Thursday’s opener (Patriots vs. Steelers) as well as any Sunday games (Giants vs. Cowboys is a good option.) Listen to the broadcasters during the games. Is there anything relevant? How much  football analysis happens? Is there any insight from sideline reporters? Any major stumbles? DEADLINE:  Weigh in with your thoughts before the start of next class. Please respond to comments from your classmates.

READINGS:

* Ch. 1-3  in Sports Journalism.

* “On Stephen A. Smith, provocation, and interpreting the NFL message,” Sally Jenkins

* “How Twitter Is Part Of The ‘Fabric’ Of Sports In 2014,” Forbes

* “The Rio the World Cup didn’t show,” Wright Thompson

GAME COVERAGE: Please attend one of your games and file at least 4-6 tweets on the game. Please avoid play-by-play coverage. For those on the ice hockey team, please file 4-6 tweets preview the upcoming season or looking back on last season. Please use the #umassjournalism hashtag.

• Sept. 10: UMass Women’s Soccer vs. Bryant, 4 p.m.
• Sept. 11:  UMass Field Hockey vs. UMass- Lowell, 4 p.m.
• Sept. 13:  UMass Field Hockey vs. Dartmouth, 1 p.m.
• Sept. 13:  UMass Men’s Soccer vs. Boston University, 1 p.m.

WEEK 2: The Art of Writing the Game Story.

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No. 2 — It’s better to be second and right than first and wrong.

Sept. 14: Monday Morning Quarterback: Review the action from the weekend.

Lede Basics:  Straight news lede vs. feature lede. What’s a good lede? Score. Highlights. Perspective. Scene. Detail. Background. Quotes. What will make the reader read past the first sentence? Style matters. Spelling counts. IF TIME: Lede-writing exercises.

Assignment: Set up the following accounts by next class:

*  A gmail account (if you don’t have one);

* A Twitter/Storify account (Follow UMass athletics; UMass athletes; Boston Globe Sports; MassLive Sports; Daily Hampshire Gazette Sports.)

READINGS:

* Ch. 4  in Sports Journalism

* “Lying to sportswriters: Should one give a darn?” Poynter

* “Twitter: Sports Media’s Useful, Entertaining and Unhealthy Obsession,” The Big Lead

* “Derrick Gordon finds his freedom,” SB Nation

Sept. 16:  WORKSHOP: WRITING LEDES. Review guidelines; lede-writing exercises.

CLASS BLOG DISCUSSION: Is “The Legacy of Wes Leonard” sports journalism? Why? Why Not? Is it effective? Why? Why not? DEADLINE: Start of next class.

ASSIGNMENT: Study AP stylebook on sports guidelines.

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT #1: Please attend one of your games and file a lede and supporting paragraph after the game. (no quotes needed for this assignment.)  Your work must be e-mailed to me within two hours after the game ends to receive credit.  You may fact-check your statistics against the UMass official Web site after the game but do not rewrite press releases or look at any other coverage.

For those on the ice hockey team, you have the option of covering the UMass football game or the Patriots vs. Bills game (via television) Sunday.

SCHEDULE:

• Sept. 19: UMass Football vs. Temple, 3 p.m., Gillette Stadium
• Sept. 17: UMass Women’s Soccer vs. Brown, 4 p.m.
• Sept. 20:  UMass Women’s Soccer vs. Harvard, 1 p.m.
• Sept. 18:  UMass Field Hockey vs. St. Joseph’s, 2 p.m.
• Sept. 20:  UMass Field Hockey vs. Richmond, noon
• Sept. 16: UMass Men’s Soccer vs. Hartford, 4 p.m.

 

WEEK 3: Writing, Part 1.

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No. 3 — Always prepare and background before a game or interview.

Sept. 21:  Last day to Add or Drop with no record

Sept. 21:  Discussion — Monday Morning Quarterback: Review the action from the weekend.

Style Quiz #1.

REVIEW/REVISE: Lede assignments. Also: In-class lede-writing assignments.

READINGS:

* Ch. 5  in Sports Journalism.

* “How to find details that make a powerful story,” Poynter

* “Chicago Bears new media coverage rules: don’t report on us,” Poynter

*  “World Cup final breaks Facebook and Twitter records,” Guardian

*  “How do sports reporters at newspapers adapt to the Internet? Often, grudgingly,” Nieman Journalism Lab

Sept. 23: Red Sox Journalism Night! The “Lucky 9” meet up at 3 p.m.

Sept. 23: Writing the Advancer. Before the Game Story, there is the Advancer/Preview Story. What makes for a good preview?

Think about it:  Before you find out what happened at the game, you want to know what could happen at the game.  “Could” — that, in essence is what the advance story is about, answering the questions about what “could” happen.

So, how do you put the advancer together? In-class writing assignment.

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT #2: Please write a 500-750 word preview of Saturday’s UMass football game at. Notre Dame.  Please include two quotes in your story — you may listen to audio/video interviews on the UMass Athletics site to obtain your quotes.  You may fact-check your statistics against the UMass official Web site but do not rewrite press releases or lift any quotes from the site. DEADLINE:  Send me your preview via e-mail by 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25.

CLASS BLOG DISCUSSION: Please read Slate’s “The Fake Girlfriend Experience,” and analyze how journalists could have handled the story differently. DEADLINE: Start of next class.

Sept. 25:  1-on-1 meetings. Initial brainstorm about your final projects.

GAME SCHEDULE: Please attend one of your games and file at least 4-6 tweets on the game. Please avoid play-by-play coverage. For those on the ice hockey team, please file 4-6 tweets preview the upcoming season or looking back on last season. Please use the #umassjournalism hashtag.

• Sept. 26: UMass Football at Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m., Gillette Stadium
• Sept. 27: UMass Field Hockey vs. Stanford, noon.
• Sept. 25:  UMass Men’s Soccer vs. Vermont, 4 p.m.

WEEK 4: Interviewing, Part 1.

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No. 4 — Always take notebooks/pens to an assignment.

Sept. 28: Discussion — Monday Morning Quarterback: Review the action from the weekend.  We’ll look at some of the live blog coverage on ESPN.com over the weekend.

Style Quiz #2.

Review/Revise: Previews.  Did they work?

Interviewing: Sports writers conduct interviews on deadline in locker rooms, in hallways, in restaurants in off-days — many places at many times.  Each situation is different: We’ll go through some basics of interviewing. How do you get players and coaches to talk after a game? How do you approach players/coaches in a locker room. Is it Ok to used canned quotes? When is the best time to interview?  Are there questions you shouldn’t ask?  Should I record?  Should I go off-the-record?

In-Class Group Exercise: Develop 10 questions for Tom Brady. 

READINGS:

*  Ch. 6  in Sports Journalism.

* “Top 10 Awkward Sports Interviews” | “Top 10 sports most heated interviews”

* “Interviewing Principles,” Columbia University

* “Six Ways to Ask Better Questions in Interviews, Joe Bunting

*  “The Zen of Interviewing,” Poynter

Sept. 30: INTERVIEWING WORKSHOP. In-Class Interview Scenario: Interview your professor playing the part of Tom Brady (take notes.) Please write a 500 word blog entry based on the interview. Deadline:  E-mail me your story by the end of class.

Oct. 1: GUEST SPEAKER: ESPN’s Kate Fagan will make a special visit to UMass journalism to talk about her career and about her experiences writing Split Image. Attendance is mandatory and extra credit is available.

Your  Extra Credit Assignment (0-2 points available to your final grade): Attend and file 5-8 tweets at #umassjournalism. Afterwards, collect the tweets and tell the story of her talk in a Storify.

DEADLINE: Please e-mail me your Storify by noon on Friday.

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT #3: Please cover the following games and write a 500-750 word story with a feature lede (in other words, not a straight news lede.) Please include interview quotes from at least two people.

Your stories should include a word count at the end and e-mail/phone numbers of the people you interviewed. (You should definitely interview fans at the game.) If you get the quotes from the UMass site, include that in your attribution.

Ice Hockey Team: Please cover the opener vs. Dalhousie Saturday night. DEADLINE: Please e-mail me your stories by midnight Saturday.

Women’s Soccer Team: Please cover Sunday’s game vs. Richmond. DEADLINE: Please e-mail me your stories by 6 p.m. Sunday.

Other teams: Please attend and cover Saturday’s football game vs. Florida International at McGuirk Stadium.  DEADLINE:  Please e-mail me your stories by 10 p.m. Saturday.

 

WEEK 5: Social Media & Sports Coverage, Part 1.

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No. 5 — Technology demands redundancy.  Take notes even if you’re taping.  Always have extra batteries, tapes, SD cards.

Oct. 5:  DISCUSSION — Monday Morning Quarterback: Review the action from the weekend.  We’ll look at some of the live blog coverage on ESPN.com over the weekend.  Style Quiz #3.

Review/Revise:  We’ll have a peer-editing exercise on coverage from the weekend’s games.

Review “Fox’s Social Media Guidelines.”  We’ll talk about Twitter and reporting and how to use social media in a responsible, journalistic way.

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT #4:  Watch tonight’s Monday Night Football game and file 5-8 tweets during the game. Please avoid play-by-play coverage. Please use the #umassjournalism hashtag. DEADLINE:  End of the game.

READINGS:

* Ch. 10  in Sports Journalism.

* “Social media is a double-edged sword in sports world,” ESPN

* “J.J. Watt warns high school athletes on dangers of social media,” ESPN

* “2014 Boston Marathon Coverage,” Maria Uminski

Oct. 7:  SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP:  It’s hard to be a sports writer and not use social media.  If you’re covering a sports beat, it’s not just likely but required to be blogging and tweeting. There are many advantages to social media, including timeliness and audience reach. Downsides include sports writers (and editors) overwhelming desire to be first with information and the risk of being wrong in the quest to be first. What makes a blog a blog?

Also, review Twitter assignment from Monday night. In-class exercise:  We’ll have a discussion about Storify and the way it can tell a story then students will create a storify from Monday’s Twitter assignment.

DISCUSSION, If time: More on interviewing.  What’s working?  What isn’t working?   

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT #5:  Pick an NFL game to follow this week and file at least 6-10 tweets and/or retweets by Sunday morning previewing the game. Then tweet/retweet (at least 8-10 tweets) during the game (no play-by-play: commentary and analysis please.)  Take your tweets and create a Storify.  Use the hashtag: #umasssportsjournalism

DEADLINE:  Please send me the link to your Storify by 10 a.m. Monday.

Oct. 9:  1-on-1 meetings to discuss Final Project.

GAME SCHEDULE: Please attend one of your games and file at least 4-6 tweets on the game. Please avoid play-by-play coverage. Please use the #umasssportsjournalism hashtag.

• Oct. 7: UMass Men’s Soccer vs. Rhode Island, 4 p.m.
• Oct. 10: UMass Men’s Soccer vs. St. Louis, 1 p.m.

WEEK 6: Writing, Blogging, Features

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No. 6 — Act professionally in how you dress and how you act.

Oct. 12:  Holiday — Columbus Day. NO CLASS.

ASSIGNMENT: Please develop your five questions for our guest speaker Wednesday. DEADLINE: Start of class, Tuesday.

Oct. 13: Monday Class Schedule will be followed.

Style Quiz #4.

WRITING WORKSHOP: We’ll start working through writing exercises in Ch. 8.

READINGS:

* Ch. 8 in Sports Journalism.

* “Blog Like a Journalist,” Dan Kennedy

* “An Open Letter to a Young Sports Blogger Looking to Get Paid,” VICE Sports

* “Dave Duerson: The Ferocious Life and Tragic Death of a Super Bowl Star,” Men’s Journal

Oct. 14:  GUEST SPEAKER: Kevin Koczwara. Here’s a sample of Kevin’s work: “The World’s Most Terrifying Race.”

ASSIGNMENT: Come prepared with a set of at least five questions. Take notes during Kevin’s presentation and asking questions. Write a 500-750 word blog entry (with a headline) on Kevin’s presentation. DEADLINE: Friday, 6 p.m.

Oct. 16: 1-on-1 meetings.  Please bring an outline of interviews needed for Final Project.

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT #6: Please attend the UMass vs. Kent State Football game Saturday and the Homecoming events preceding it.  I want you to find an interesting feature story in the parking lots outside the game and write a 500-750 word feature/blog entry. Your story should have at least three voices in it and should include some details from the game. I’m not looking for interviews with three drunk roomates who graduated two years ago — search for stories of substance (no it’s not easy.) We’ll talk more about this in class.

DEADLINE: Start of class Monday.

GAME SCHEDULE: Please attend one of your games for background and interviews to go with your final project.

• Oct. 17: UMass Football vs. Kent State (Homecoming,) 3:30 p.m.
• Oct. 16: UMass Ice Hockey vs. Sacred Heart, 4 p.m.
• Oct. 15: UMass Women’s Soccer vs. Davidson, 4 p.m.
• Oct. 18: UMass Women’s Soccer vs. Rhode Island, 1 p.m.
• Oct. 16: UMass Field Hockey vs. VCU, 3 p.m.
• Oct. 18: UMass Field Hockey vs. Boston College, 3 p.m.

WEEK 7:  Blogging, Multimedia Journalism

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No. 7 –No one cares what you think; write what others think.

Oct. 19: Last day to Drop with a ‘W’

Oct. 19:  Monday Morning Quarterback: Review the action from the weekend.

Style Quiz #5.

WRITING WORKSHOP: We’ll work through some of the exercises in Ch. 8 and then  peer-edit the homecoming assignment. The edits you receive will be included in a rewrite of your assignment. DEADLINE: E-mail me your revision by Tuesday, noon.

READINGS:

* Ch. 7 in Sports Journalism.

* “Ray of Hope,” ESPN

* “The Jockey,” The New York Times

* “The Mystery of the Vanishing Screwball,” The New York Times

Oct. 21: WRITING DISCUSSION: We’ll work through some more on Ch. 8 and look ahead to Friday night’s assignment. What do you need for a good scene/feature story?

Also, Sports on the Web: What works? Combining audio, video/photos, text. Creating packages for the Web. What makes for good visuals? What makes for good audio? How do you tell the story through multiple platforms without repeating? There is text and there is text plus. What makes for a good feature story? These days, visuals and sound count as much for good writing.

Oct. 23: 1-on-1 meetings: Updates on Final Project.

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT #7: Please attend Friday night’s Ice Hockey game vs. New Hampshire and file a 500-750 word blog entry on the crowd/scene at the game. I want at least three voices in this piece as well — remember, details matter.

DEADLINE: E-mail to me by Sunday, 5 p.m.

GAME SCHEDULE:

• Oct. 16: UMass Field Hockey vs. VCU, 3 p.m.
• Oct. 18: UMass Field Hockey vs. Boston College, 3 p.m.
• Oct. 18: UMass Women’s Soccer vs. Rhode Island, 1 p.m.
• Oct. 23: UMass Field Hockey vs. LaSalle, 3 p.m.
• Oct. 23: UMass Ice Hockey vs. New Hampshire, 7 p.m.
• Oct. 24: UMass Football vs. Toledo (Gillette Stadium,) TBD.

WEEK 8: Writing, Multimedia, Part 2

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No. 8– Ask the obvious.

Oct. 26:  Monday Morning Quarterback: Review the action from the weekend.

WRITING WORKSHOP: We’ll peer-edit the ice hockey feature assignment. The edits you receive will be included in a rewrite of your assignment. DEADLINE: E-mail me your revision by Tuesday, noon.

READINGS:

* Ch. 9 in Sports Journalism.

* “Welcome to the Far Eastern Conference,” GQ

* “In a League of Her Own,” E:60

* “How Mariano Rivera Dominates Hitters,” New York Times

Oct. 28: Style Quiz #6.

Discussion:  What makes for a good multimedia package? We’ll watch the multimedia package put together by the New York Times: “Punched Out: The Life and Death of a Hockey Enforcer.” We’ll look at several other packages and examine what makes these packages so good.

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT #8: Find a strong sports multimedia package and write a 500-750 word blog entry analyzing why it is/isn’t a strong package. For this assignment, do not use ESPN projects.  Please be prepared to do 5-minute presentations in class on your selections. DEADLINE: Sunday, 6 p.m.

OCT 30: FINAL PROJECT: CHECK-INS. 

GAME SCHEDULE:

• Nov. 1: UMass Women’s Soccer vs. Dayton, 1 p.m.

WEEK 9: Sports and Multimedia Journalism, Part II

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No. 9: Don’t interrupt.  Be quiet and let people answer your questions.

Nov. 2: Monday Morning Quarterback: Review the action from the weekend.

Style Quiz #7.

Multimedia presentations.

READINGS:

* Ch. 10 in Sports Journalism.

* “Women need locker room access,” ESPNW

* “Keith Olbermann Torches The NFL For Degrading Every Woman Who Watches,”Deadspin

* John Walsh of ESPN Talks Erin Andrews and Big Ben

Nov. 4: Finish Multimedia Presentations

FINAL PROJECT: OUTLINES DUE. We’ll peer-edit/review in class.

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT #9:  Twitter Scavenger Hunt. Details: TBD

WEEK 10:  Ethics in Sports Journalism

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No.  10: The length of a story is however long it takes.

Nov. 9:  Monday Morning Quarterback: Review the action from the weekend.

Style Quiz #8

CLASS DISCUSSION:  We’ll Watch: “Nine for IX: Locker Room Evolution,” a clip from the ESPN film, “Let Them Wear Towels.”

WORKSHOP: Work on Final Projects.  At this point you should have most of your interviews done.

READINGS:

*  “SI, Drew Brees, and TRX,” CJR

* “Was ESPN sloppy, naive or compromised?” Robert Lipsyte

* “Focusing on corruption takes focus off real problems in athletic system,” Jason Whitlock

*  “ESPN  Stumbles With Penn State Coverage,” Poynter Review Project.

Nov. 11: HOLIDAY: Veteran’s Day. NO CLASS.

Nov. 13:  1-on-1 Meetings for Final Projects: At this point you should be working on First Drafts. 

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT #10: TBD

WEEK 11: Pulling the Narrative Together

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No.  11: Never ask:  “How do you feel?”

Nov. 16: Monday Morning Quarterback: Review the action from the weekend.

Style Quiz #9

DISCUSSION: ESPN and Ethics. If you were to develop a Top 10 List for Sports Journalism Ethics, what would it look like? We’ll divide up into groups and try and begin drafting a Sports Journalism Code of Ethics.

READINGS:

* “Fixing Diane’s Brain,” Runner’s World

*  Football, Grief and Resolve at Iowa High School, NPR

* “For the love of Bryce Harper,” The Washington Post

Nov. 18:  FINAL PROJECT: First Drafts due at the start of class. We’ll spend class peer-editing and receiving feedback from your instructor.

Nov. 20:  1-on-1 meetings: Review Drafts.

NOTE:  All of your preliminary interviews should be completed by this date.  Any follow-up interviews should be completed this week as you enter the final writing stages.

WEEK 12: Writing/Drafting

Fox’s Sports Journalism Rule No.  12: Avoid the pack.  Search for the unusual.

Nov. 23: Monday Morning Quarterback: Review the action from the weekend.   

MOVIE: We’ll Watch the Best Sports Movie Ever! What is it?

READINGS:

*”ESPN Uses ‘Chink in the Armor’ Line Twice,” Forbes.com

*  The ‘Decision’ Dilemma, Don Ohlmeyer, ESPN Ombudsman

*  ESPN Killed That LeBron Story Because Report “Did Not Properly Identify Himself,” Deadspin

Nov. 25:  NO CLASS:  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

WEEK 13: Pulling the Narrative Together, Part II

Nov. 30: Monday Morning Quarterback: Review the action from the weekend.

Style Quiz #10

FINAL PROJECTS: Second drafts/Multimedia due at the start of class. We’ll use class time for peer review and individual editing and feedback.

 Dec. 2:  WORKING CLASS: Final Project writing/editing.

WEEK 14:  The End

Dec. 7:  WORKING CLASS:  Final Project writing/editing.

NOTE:  Any multimedia that needs uploading to a server will happen on Dec. 7.  Don’t wait until Dec. 9.

Dec. 9:  LAST DAY OF CLASS! CLASS PARTY!

FINAL PROJECT DUE DEC. 14, 5 p.m.