Alan Goldenbach from the Washington Post visited class on Thursday and offered some sound tips on covering sports games. He also discussed why he likes covering high school sports over professional sports.

The biggest reason Alan likes covering high school sports is because he can better connect with the players and coaches than at the professional level. For example, with the Redskins, he would

This is why Alan Goldenbach doesn't like covering professional sports.

packed in a room with other reporters for a short time to ask Mike Shanahan questions. And as he noted, you would be lucky to get your question in. With high school sports, you get more one-on-one chances with the players and coaches to ask questions, which can lead to better quotes as you get more familiar with that person.

In terms of writing game stories, Alan provided these tips:

1. The biggest goal when at a game is to be able to tell the readers something they didn’t know about when they were watching the game. If the reader was at the game and you tell them just a straight recap of the game, they’re not going to want to read the article. But if you focus in on something they didn’t know about, they will want to read your article and continue reading your writing.
2. When interviewing someone at first, find their interest. Get to know them better so that they will open up to provide better quotes.
3. Be confident with who you’re talking to. If you act confident with whom you’re asking questions, they’ll be confident in answering your questions.
4. If you’re interviewing someone and they are speaking too fast, ask them to slow down and repeat what they said. It’s good to reassure the person you’re quoting that you want to get their quote accurately. It shows you care about what they’re saying and if they notice that, they will be more receptive to speaking to you.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 20th, 2011 at 4:20 pm and is filed under Guest Speakers.  Tagged Alan Goldenbach, High school sports, Washington Post You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.