Seventh Paragraph.—This paragraph usually begins the running account of the game.
N-th Paragraph.—This space at the end of the entire report is given to the line-ups and tabulated results of the game.
This arrangement may of course be varied, and any of the foregoing factors of the game may be of sufficient importance to be placed earlier in the story. Never, however, should the various factors be mixed together heterogeneously and written in a confused mass. Each element must be taken up separately and occupy a paragraph by itself.
The running account of the game, which follows the introduction, requires little rhetorical skill. Each play is described in its proper place and order and should be so clear that a reader could make a diagram of the game from it. It must also be accurate in names and distances as well as in plays.
Probably every individual sporting correspondent has a different way of distinguishing the players and the plays and of writing his running account. It is not an easy matter to watch a game from the press stand far up in the bleachers and be able to tell who has the ball in each play and how many yards were gained or lost. Familiarity with the teams and the individual players makes the task easier but few reporters are so favored by circumstances. They must get the names from the cheering or from other reporters about them unless they have some method of their own.
There is one method that may be followed with some success. Before the game the reporter equips himself with a table of the players showing them in their respective places as the two teams line up. It is usually impossible to tell who has the ball during any single play because the eye cannot follow the rapid passing, but it is always possible to tell who has the ball when it is downed. At the end of each play as the players line up, the reporter keeps his eye on the man who had the ball when it was downed and watches to see the position he takes in the new line-up. Then a glance at the table will tell him the man's name.
The running account is written as simply and briefly as possible. It follows each play, telling what play was made, who had the ball, and what the result was. It keeps a record of all the time taken out, the changes in players, the injuries, etc. A typical running account reads something like this:
Siwash advanced the ball two yards by a line plunge. Kelley carried the ball around left end for five yards to the Tigers' 50-yard line. The Tigers gained the ball on a fumble after a fake punt and lined up on their own 45-yard line. Time called. Score at end of first half, 0 to 0.
At the end of the running account are tables, usually set in smaller type, giving the line-up of the two teams and the tabulated results of the game. Some papers arrange the tables as follows: