Sports Field Guide

How best to turn yourself from sports fan to professional sports journalist? Quickly moving beyond general guidance about sports writing, Joe Gisondi focuses on the nitty-gritty, with hands-on, practical advice on covering 20 specific sports. From auto racing to wrestling, you’ll find tips on the seemingly straightforward—where to stand on the sideline and how to identify a key player—along with the more specialized—figuring out shot selection in lacrosse and understanding a coxswain’s call for a harder stroke in rowing. Preparing you for just about any game, match, meet, race, regatta or tournament you’re likely to cover, Field Guide to Covering Sports is the ideal go-to resource to have on hand as you master the beat. You can click here to learn more about the book or to order a copy.

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Baseball scorecard

Basketball play-by-play sheet

Bowling scorecard

Football play-by-play sheet

Football stats sheet

CLICK HERE to read OnSports, the precursor to this website. The blog retains three years' worth of advice, tips and suggestions. NewsU, CyberJournalist.net, and the American Press Institute are among the journalism organizations that recognized the blog.