SOURCES OF SPORTS INFORMATION

A problem for many beginning sportswriters is knowing where to gather the needed information. Consider the following sources and note that officials are omitted from the list because they are seldom, if ever, a source of information:

Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) for the ins and outs of recreation, intramural and youth programs, including rules, schedules and official scorebooks.

JO1 Jim Bryant

Figure 3-5. - The Navy Journalist will write about many types of accidents, such as this automobile vs. motorcycle mishap.

Coaches and managers for details about team members, lineups and rosters, game plans, quotes and information about a contest, especially a contest you did not cover yourself.

Team members for accounts of what happened in the game. Be cautious. Many losing teams tend to blame the loss on the officiating, whether they lost by one point or 30 points.

Official scorers for game statistics and scorebooks. If you run a box score of the game, be sure your stats match those of the official scorer.

Fans for color and sidelight information, where appropriate. Often used in sidebar stories, fan reactions can help tell the story of a team's success or misfortune.

Officials are impartial and usually refuse to comment. If an official's call is vital to the story, do not expect him to explain or justify it unless it is a matter of rule interpretation. Never ask an official about judgment calls (balls and strikes, close calls on the bases, whether a receiver was in or out of bounds when he caught a pass, whether a basketball player traveled, etc.). Officials are, however, legitimate subjects for personality and rules clinic features.

Additional sports coverage guidelines (including help on compiling statistics) maybe found in the latest edition of The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.