quickly on the field. In baseball games the reporter must be able to keep a complete score from which to write his story and make his summary score. Quickness and accuracy of observation are essential in getting the facts correctly in any sporting event.
Reporting a Football Game. A football game affords a good opportunity for the student reporter to get excellent practice in covering an athletic contest. In preparing to report a game, he should get from the coach or the captain the correct line-up of each team and the names of the officials. If the line-up is written on a piece of cardboard and arranged so that the exact position of each player can be seen at a glance, the writer can refer to it constantly in reporting the plays. The way to arrange the line-up is shown below:
Chicago Wisconsin
Williams—L.E. | R.E.—Halpin
McDonald—L.H.B. Frean—L.T. | R.T.—Muldon R.H.B.—Lynch
Johnson—L.G. | R.G.—Peake
Smith—F.B. Pinch—Q.B Hool—C. | C.—Du Plain Q.B.—Keeler F.B.—Holt
Skillub—R.G | L.G.—O'Neil
Kidder—R.H.B Dillon—R.T | L.T.—Minton L.H.B.—Dye
Reisen—R.E. | L.E.—Schmidt
The reporter watches both teams carefully to see which men make each play, and as soon as the teams line up again, he notes the position that each of these men takes, so that he may identify them from his line-up card. As the game progresses he is able to recognize some of the players who repeatedly take prominent parts, and he need not refer to the line-up so frequently. The reporter may take notes on the plays as they are made, or, if it is necessary to mail or telegraph the story very soon after the game is over, he may write a running account as the game progresses, adding the lead after it is over.
In the choice and the arrangement of details, the story of a football game is not unlike other news stories. In the lead are placed the essential facts, which are
