Taking notes is essential to finding trends, pointing out key plays and making assessments in games. To help with that, I’ve included several scorecards and forms that will assist in these tasks. You can find them on the right side of this page, under ‘Scorecards.’
In descending order, forms and scorecards are offered for baseball, basketball, bowling and football. In addition, these forms are annotated in the Field Guide To Covering Sports, which explains short-hand used in scoring and offers the best ways to take notes. You can pre-order a copy by clicking here.
In the meantime, feel free to use these blank scorecards, printing them before heading out to games you’re assigned to cover.
And check out some previous posts that includes tips for keeping score and taking notes.
- Keeping score is a joy
- Some pointers for writing game stories.
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 