|
Suggest a Site for Review Our Top 10 Sites THE BUSINESS Best Job Sites Sell Your Articles Pay Scales Tax Strategies Legal Resources THE ART Style Guides Web Writing Skills Reference Sites NETWORKING E-mail skills Queries and Resumes Conferences Writer/Editor Orgs Specific Genres E-Sportswriting GADGETS PDAs Cell Phones Wireless Modems Fast Internet Access Keyboards Monitors Office Chairs Digital Cameras Truly Unique and Useful Devices SOFTWARE Word Processing Graphics Some Desktop Clutter-Busters Voice-Activated Programs Meet our Writers Back To Home Page |
OuterNotes Newsletter
Vol. 2, Issue 3
January 12, 2001
Sports Sites That Score With Writers With the Super Bowl fast approaching, we thought we'd pass along a quick read on the best sites and resources for aspiring and accomplished sports writers, editors and producers on the Web. Although Internet sports media revenues are expected to hit $8.2 billion by 2004, sports sites haven't dodged the dot-com shakeout. We kick off with a review of the perils and pitfalls they still face, followed by reviews of six sites that provide information, instruction, syndication possibilities, advocacy and networking resources. As an extra point, our we review a gadget of special utility to sports writers: a wireless modem that can eliminate worries over securing expensive pressbox phone connections. This week's OuterPoll asks you about your career plans for the coming year: Is it time to make a goal-line stand in dot-com land, return to traditional media and/or freelance/consulting work, or drop back and punt out of the content business? If you wish to subscribe, send feedback, or suggest a site for us to review, just e-mail gtrotta@outerforce.com. If you're a recent subscriber, you can view our issue archive at http://www.trottamedia.com/outernotes/ -- Gian Trotta, OuterNotes Editor
http://www.business2.com/content/channels/investing/2000/12/28/23989 Total Internet sports media revenues averaged $665 million in 1999, jumped to $1.5 billion in 2000, and are projected to reach $8.2 billion in 2004. But according to writer Susan L. Thomas, it's still "fourth-and-long" for many online sports sites struggling with downturns in advertising revenue and limited enthusiasm for new IPOs. She offers an incisive look at why powerhouses like Sportsline.com, ESPN.com, ABC/Disney and AOL/Time Warner are best-positioned to grad the strongest slices of this exploding market, and why the pressure is on smaller sites to be bought out by the behemoths. --Mariateresa Thiery 2. How To Break Into the Sports Writing Game http://www.ehow.com/eHow/eHow/0,1053,15414,FF.html Veteran sportswriter and author Joe Jares, whose publishing credits include Sports Illustrated and the Los Angeles Times, offers a simple but useful primer for anyone who's thinking of hitting a sports beat. Among his recommendations: read broadly (good sports writing entails a wide knowledge of other subjects; major in liberal arts with a journalism major), flex your metaphorical muscles in writing exercises and try to break in by covering high school sports. Some plain talk on hostile players and coaches, the low pay and constant travel, and the continued resentment against women sportswriters add a bracing dose of reality to a predominately upbeat article. --Mariateresa Thiery 3. Sportseditor.com Tackles the Tough Issues... http://www.sportseditor.com An uncluttered design, thoughtful columns on Internet sportswriting and business development, some good links and job listings make this site founded in 1998 by Terra Sports Managing Editor Mike Emmett and former USATODAY.com Sports Editor Steve Klein a must-visit for anyone involved in sports on the Web. They're especially active in covering and advocating the issue of accredation for Internet journalists, and the deep database of hundreds of online sports writers, producers and editors make it as good a networking base as informational resource. Online sports professionals are welcome to submit monthly "Sound Off" columns on issues affecting their work. --Karin Call 4. ...And AP's Sports Editor Site Has More Resources http://apse.dallasnews.com/ Sportswriters can read current news, access a job board listing positions across the U.S., and read winning entries in the categories of column writing, enterprise reporting, feature writing, game story, and news before submitting their own. Editors can apply to join the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) organization, browse the organization's future plans, conference information, officer contacts, and committee chairperson contacts, fill out the monthly survey and subscribe to a free monthly e-mail newsletter. --Karin Call 5. Top Writers Flock to Sportspages.com http://www.sportspages.com From broadcast sites to bookmakers, Sportspages.com provides a handy map to the vast territory of sports reporting. Launched in 1997, Rich Johnson's site already ranks as a veteran in the field of online sports resources and attracts a wide variety of established sports professionals, to judge by the very active message boards. Links to sports stories are organized for easy access; they specialize in links to local stories about major franchises, such as this year's NFL playoff teams. The best part of this site is the journalism section; it lists major columnists, media critics, and major information outlets. --Christopher Stamper 6. E-Sports.com Serves Up a Syndication Model http://www.e-sports.com If you're an established or aspiring sportswriter who'd like to tap a new syndication market, e-sports.com is accepting applications to join their 180-strong stable of columnists and help create "a unique approach to sports journalism while maintaining the highest level of journalistic standards." Applicants must submit an unpublished writing sample and pass a quick (and effective) online grammar test; accepted writers who are accepted are eligible for a share of their syndication sales (specific payment rates are not given) or can opt for additional (again unspecified) compensation by becoming editing coaches for other writers. Editors looking for sports content can choose from hundreds of topical (and generally well-written articles) such as "NCAA: Can Notre Dame Fans Expect National Championships Every Year?" and "The Football Fan's Guide to Golf"; there are also many articles on less-covered niches like extreme sports, pro wrestling and youth sports. Even if you're not in the market for articles or need to market yourself, the clean design, snippets of sports trivia interspersed throughout the site make it a pleasant visit. --Peggy LeTrent 7. AWSM Backs Women in Sports Media http://users.southeast.net/~awsm/ The Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) was established in 1987 for women who work in the sports media and men who support them in their work. This site includes an extremely valuable directory of members, complete with full contact information. There is a quarterly newsletter with news, notes, and columns (for instance, "Athletes and Privacy," by Karen E. Wall Bush). The job bank currently lists 17 positions, although most of the postings are two to three months old). There's also information on the criteria for entering AWSM's annual scholarship program for female college students who plan to pursue careers in sports writing, sports copy editing, sports public relations or sports broadcasting. --Karin Call 8. SABR: A Serious Site for Baseball Research http://www.sabr.org/ The non-profit Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) was formed in 1971 in (where else?) Cooperstown, N.Y, in order to "coordinate and facilitate the dissemination of baseball research information." Baseball writers and fans will enjoy the strong links to research, resource, and analytical site. From the numerous superb research links (http://www.sabr.org/research-links.shtml) I was able to quickly access a broad range of statistical information sources and pertinent, out-of-the-ordinary (but not out in left field) analyses. Baseball-reference.com offered the insightful "Pythagorean Winning Percentage" developed by renowned statistician Bill James, which estimates a team's season total of wins given their total runs scored and runs allowed. You can infer from this stat whether the manager added to or subtracted from his team's performance, and from James’ statistics, Yankees skipper Joe Torre appears to have performed an admirable job with the eventual World Champs in 2000. --Michael O'Brien 9. The Ricochet Modem Hits a Sweet Spot http://www.metricom.com It's about the size of a PDA, weighs under a pound, and connects to laptops to offer mobile users a 128kps wireless connection to the Internet. The manufacturers claim a dependability as well as speed advantage over current cellular modems, saying that you can connect even connect when "traveling at speeds up to 70 miles per hour-while taking a taxi, on a commuter train home, or other mass transit." Flat-rate monthly service (rates average approximately $100.00 per month) is available from WorldCom, Juno Online Services, Inc., SkyTel, UUNet, Wireless WebConnect!, GoAmerica and Aether Systems in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Minneapolis St. Paul, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego, Seattle, Washington D.C. and 15 airports nationwide. --Mariateresa Thiery 10. OuterPoll: Time To Punt on Content? On Thursday, CNN became the latest large publisher to announce layoffs in its online division, with NBC following suit today. Are you now rethinking your commitment to online content, or to the content field in general? You can cast your vote -- and enter your always welcome optional comments -- at: http://www.outerforce.net/submit/illillyyisopppw.asp. --Gian Trotta OuterNotes is produced using the OuterForce Platform, which allows publishers to easily recruit and manage remote and freelance content creation and export it into their publishing platform of choice. For more information, see http://www.outerforce.com. Copyright 2001 by OuterNotes. All rights reserved. OuterNotes is a trademark of OuterForce Systems, Inc. Return to Main Archive Page |