Focus on the newspaper sports

Analyzing Types of Sports Articles; Studying Sports Vocabulary

Who won the Derby? What team will be the strongest in the next World Cup soccer tournament? Currently who is the world’s fastest human? Most newspapers have sports pages or a sports section that appears daily to answer questions like these.

Contents of Sports Articles

Much of the information on the sports pages is transitory: it is of interest for the current day and may be of little interest the following day. It includes the results of yesterday’s games and the prospects for tomorrow’s games. But sports feature articles to tackle larger issues, such the role of business and politics in sports. Other feature articles give insight into the sport itself or into the people who play the sport.

Exercise 1. Who’s the Winner?

Choose two or three articles from the sports pages or the sports section and analyze their contents.

Analysis of a Sports Article

1. What is the sport?

2. What’s the headline? What key words helped you predict the contents of the article?

3. Is there a photo accompanying the article? If so, what does it show?

4. What is the purpose of the article? Does it report the results of a contest or analyze one about to take place? Or is it a feature article?

For Articles on Sports Results

1. What is the contest?

2. Where and when did the event take place?

3. Was there a key play or player?

4. Is the event discussed in strict chronological order or by highlighting the major events?

For Articles on Future Sports Events

1. What is the contest?

2. Where and when will the event take place?

3. What are the predictions of the outcome?

4. What is the importance of the contest?

For Sports Feature Articles

1. What is the topic of the article?

2. Does the article address the issues other than sports? (for example, finances, health, etc.) If so, which ones?

For Profiles of Sports Figures

1. Why did the newspaper run a feature on this person or team at this time?

2. Did the article portray this person or team with interest / humiliation/ displeasure? Why is it so?

3. What sentences gave you the best clues?

4. Did the article make you wish to read more about the subject? Why, or why not?

Exercise 2. The Language of Sports

Each sport has its own terminology. Pick a sport that you like or know. Look at several newspaper articles reporting the sport. Make a list of basic terms relating to the sport. Here are some categories into which you can arrange the terms. Add any necessary ones you find.

Positions on the field
Plays
Action words/ verbs related to the sport
Slang related to the sport
Other