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Cameron Smith, Nick Keppler, Molly Menapace, Jlon Flippens

ENGL 297
23 April 2018

STUDY OF A SPORTS JOURNALIST IN THE DMV

Introduction

Journalism has become the primary source of how people in today’s world stay informed. It can
cover anything from popular music, to sports, to politics. There is no singular method for
creating efficient and successful pieces of journalism, because it is such an expansive genre in
the professional writing world. However, there are many shared methods across this field. To
discover these methods, we chose to focus our research on a specific area: sports journalism.
University of Maryland student, and sports journalist, Sammi Silber aided us in not only
recognizing the characteristics of sports journalism, but much more as well.

This study works to determine every aspect that goes into becoming a sports journalist, such as:
distinguishing what it takes to prepare to write a piece, the methods needed to collect information
for the piece, the writing style of a sports journalist, and the commitment needed. Our study was
conducted by analyzing Sammi Silber’s articles, staging an interview with her, and observing her
writing processes. Our goal was not only to explore the processes and characteristics of what it
means to be a sports journalist, but to observe Sammi Silber’s professional writing career. We
wanted to know what it takes for a college student to become a thriving journalist as she is.

Subject

Sammi Silber is a junior undergraduate student at University of Maryland studying multiplatform

journalism. When not focusing on her education, she spends much of her time writing articles
and creating content for other forms of media. Sammi’s primary focus is on ice hockey:
reporting for Sporting News Canada and for The Hockey Writers. Within which, she writes
articles on the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals. Starting her professional writing
career in high school, she has written and published four books and written articles for various
news sites such as USA TODAY College, and the Huffington Post. Outside of writing, Sammi is
a DJ at WMUC-FM 88.1 and works for the campus student programming board, Student
Entertainment Events.
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Data Collection Methods

Interview

Before observing Sammi’s writing processes and style, we conducted a 40-minute interview with
her in the Student Entertainment Events (SEE) office in the Adele H. Stamp Student Union at the
University of Maryland. The purpose of this interview was to learn more about Sammi’s
background, and her views and emotions on her experience as a sports journalist. The interview
had an informal tone, taking place after having lunch with her to ease into asking questions. This
helped in recording Sammi’s unfiltered experiences and thoughts about her history and sports
journalism.

On-site observations

As a reporter covering the Washington Capitals, Sammi has the opportunity to attend weekly
team practices, observe players, and interview them afterwards. Initially, we had hoped to attend
these practices with her to observe her in what would be the best way possible, but due to last
minute scheduling conflicts, we were not able to do so. However, we decided to improvise and
observe Sammi as she wrote her articles.

While observing her as she attended practice would have given us the most true, in-depth,
understanding of her job and what she does, being with her while she wrote created a casual,
more dialogue-friendly environment. When we met with her, Sammi was writing in the SEE
office in the Stamp Student Union. The office was extremely laid back, as was she. She was
listening to something on her phone with one earphone in and looking back and forth from her
phone to her laptop while typing. She mentioned that “blasting her music” helps her “get in the
zone.”

During the time of our observation, she was transcribing her notes, as well as referencing
statistical information online. We learned that she uses these statistics to find trends and relay
them to her audience. She was writing by herself although there were other people in the room,
and mentioned that she usually does not write while she is at practice or a game as it is more
chaotic and swarmed with journalists running around. When we asked her observational
questions, e.g. “How do you obtain your information from the players?”, “Do you work with any
other writers to obtain this information?”, “Do you usually write in the SEE office?”, she was
more than eager to respond and very passionate about the subject.

One of the most important topics that we wanted to cover in conversation with Sammi, was what
really happens while she is at the practice arena observing players. She told us that she attends
practice almost twice a week, and goes by herself as she is the only Capitals writer in her
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publication. She also explained that during the practices, the Capitals work out as a team on the
ice, then journalists are given the chance to talk with the players and ask questions when they are
finished.

Sammi explained that it is usually hard to talk to big-name players like, right winger and
Capital’s star, T.J. Oshie, so she talks one on one to smaller-named players more often. Even
though they might not be the most popular, they usually give her really good quotes for her to
use in her writing. Further, Sammi explained that she is able to build a relationship with the
players by attending practices and talking with them. She said she is drawn to the players who
are more like her and described such players as “introverted, yet loud and humorous.”

Sammi also attends games on occasion. We wanted to learn more about what this is like in order
for us to understand what she really does. At the game, she is given game notes and observes as
the game progresses. She notes when something worth mentioning happens, such as a goal or a
player getting injured. At the game’s conclusion, the players and journalists go to the locker
room where the floor is open for a question and answer session. Sammi finds it very hard to fit in
a question as the media surrounds the players so she focuses on recording what the players say to
transcribe later. Sammis mentioned that it’s hard to fit in a question due to the nature of
professional sports and the amount of demand for the team from fans all over the DMV area and
beyond. She typically does not write recaps of the games, but focuses on trends that are occuring
throughout the the NHL. Writing about these trends, makes her stand out and allows her to write
pieces that are not only exciting and unique for her, but for the Capitals fanbase as well.

Although she’s been a Capitals fan all of her life, her first big job as a sports journalist was with
the Edmonton Oilers. Sammi explained to us that she loves her job and thinks it is awesome that
she is able to talk to the players. It is truly an experience unlike any other and a career that any
sports fan would be lucky to be a part of.

Approaching Sports Journalism

Analysis of Silber’s Articles

When evaluating Sammi’s writing, we were careful to analyze her stylistic and tonal approaches,
and her authority within the genre of ice hockey.

In Sammi’s article, “Capitals Reflect as Ovechkin Approaches 50 Goals,” she bases her article
off an interview of the talented hockey player, Alex Ovechkin. Sammi provides a quick and
concise introduction to provide background information for readers unfamiliar with the sport,
and then dives into the topic at hand. She uses one quote from his interview to capture the
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reader’s attention, “Forty is nice, but 50 is better.” As readers, we are drawn to wonder how
Ovechkin was able to get 40 goals in the season so far, and when he will reach his 50 goal
milestone. She provides a picture in the beginning, paired with statistics, to explain and display
the progress he has made from previous seasons. To specify the information ahead, Silber uses
large, bold text to separate the future information from the previous section.

Tone and Style

Silber’s tone and approach to this particular article appears casual. The information is straight to
the point, but contains enough depth to fully relay the article's point. This particular article
mostly contains an interview she has with the hockey star and his teammates. She doesn’t show
the questions she posed. Instead, the quotes are related to the excerpt she wrote. Overall, the
article highlights his strengths as a player and a teammate. She stays focused on one topic, her
article is organized, and is an easy read. Sammi inserted multiple pictures of the player, including
Ovechkin with the game puck. Observing other articles, it seems to be a trend to have multiple
photos of the highlight player. The article on Ovechkin’s 40 goal milestone was short enough to
keep the reader’s attention while providing sufficient information about the player.

Sammi Silber’s work demonstrates the casualty and informal attitude necessary to have for a
sports journalist. Based off this specific article and others like it, her approach to being casual
seems to work, and makes the interview sound like a conversation. It makes the players more
relaxed, which creates an easier environment for them to answer the questions fully. In all her
articles, she supplies an adequate amount of background information of the subject or the event.
Sammi does a great job entertaining the reader while informing the reader with her research.

Genre

In her article, Sammi relies on her audience’s familiarity with ice hockey. Throughout many of
her articles reporting hockey news, Sammi uses this fact to her advantage. This allows her to use
hockey and sports terminology such as “winger” and “generate chances.” Additionally, her use
of other player names from the team supports her ethos and connects the readers to her writing.
Sammi is able to accomplish this because she knows her primary audience. Some examples of
other player names that she mentioned are T.J. Oshie and Braden Holtby. Using methods such as
these, supports Sammi’s control and authority in the genre. To further expand her knowledge and
usage of the genre, Sammi includes sections in which she uses descriptive language and creative
wording to illustrate scenes. Some examples include her description of a player scoring a goal or
the final moments of a game. This is an effect of her authority and ethos on the topic of ice
hockey.
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Research Answers and Other Findings

After interviewing Sammi, observing her work and preparation, and closely reading her past
articles, we were able to answer three primary questions we had approaching this study: how to
define sports journalism?, what are the processes behind sports journalism?, and what are the
things to consider when writing?

First, we asked ourselves, are there specific aspects of sports journalism that directly define the
profession? And how does sports journalism separate itself from other forms of professional
writing? Before conducting our research, we assumed that the only defining characteristic was
the affiliation with and focus on sports. Our findings tell us that sports journalism contains far
more than that. One aspect that Sammi emphasized in our interview with her is how “fast-paced”
sports journalism can be. As a reporter for an NHL team, and considering each NHL team plays
82 regular season games, Sammi finds herself having to quickly write her articles and rush to
publish them the night she attends a game or practice. A contributing element to this fact is,
Sammi includes that, as a sports journalist “you are telling a story that other people will witness,
but can’t put into words.” Sports journalists, according to Sammi, must be able to produce the
untold narratives that lie within a single game on such short notice.

The second topic we strove to explore was what methods a sports journalist utilizes to collect
data and compile it into an article or piece. Prior to our findings, it was our team’s popular
assumption that the research needed for sports journalism and reporting was similar to the
ethnographic research done for this study: including background research, field site observations,
and interviews. We assumed that a sports journalist such as Sammi would use these methods to
complete tasks such as recapping plays from a hockey game, or sharing a player’s thoughts on
occurrences in the league. However, although recapping, interviewing, and prior research is
involved in the writing process, we discovered that it is more extensive than that. Sammi
explained that in conjunction with forming a narrative to each article she writes, she includes
relevant information to aspects of the story such as popular trends. In the article we analyzed,
Sammi does this by connecting her interview with Ovechkin and his quest, closer to the 50 goal
milestone during the 2017-2018 NHL season.

Finally, we analyzed Sammi’s articles’ stylistic and tonal characteristics in her written pieces.
During our interview with Sammi, she distinguished sports journalism from other forms of
professional writing, such as political journalism. She concluded that sports journalism is often
written as a narrative piece. Because of this, she justifies using descriptive imagery and creative
writing in a “professional setting,” whereas in political and business writing, Sammi said writing
is straightforward and not too descriptive. As we mentioned above in our evaluation of her
writing, she uses a casual and informal tone to deliver a scene or describe her interactions with a
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player she interviews. Considering her audience, this is a useful strategy that immerses her
readers into the games and practices of which she attends and creates a connection to the players
whom she interviews.

Conclusion

This study revealed many attributes about sport journalism as a craft, profession, and rhetorical
method. We were able to receive an avid and successful participant’s personal thoughts and
processes behind sports journalism, learning the steps to prepare and begin writing for the field.
Not only does a professional writer have to be dedicated to his or her craft and genre, but they
must also be creative in the delivery process, taking note of style, tone and ethos.

By conducting this study, we hope to give valuable advice to not only future sports journalists,
but also those who wish to explore journalism and the professional writing world. While the
focus of this study was to explore what it means and what it takes to be a sports journalist, there
are points that we took from the experience that we did not expect. Sammi was extremely helpful
in presenting to us that there is no clear-cut definition for and style of professional writing, and
that writing really does rely heavily on creativity, passion, and knowledge more than anything
else.