[One Christmas when H.L. Mencken was a boy, he] received a printing press, and spent the morning reproducing cards with his new pen name, "H. L. Mencken." Filching wrapping paper from the kitchen drawer, he printed his own weekly newspaper in imitation of the Ellicott City Times. At age sixteen, after the handpress had been relegated to a corner of the closet, he spent an afternoon in the bleachers of a stadium, scratching out a play-by-play report of a game between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Giants. Afterward, while reading a late edition of the Baltimore [Maryland] News, he experienced the thrill of discovering its account of the game matched his own.

[FROM The Impossible H. L. Mencken, introduction, xxxviii. Used with permission of the author Marion Rodgers.]

A student who is interested in sports writing could be asked to follow Mencken's example. Either attend the games of school teams or listen to the radio or television coverage of a team's games.

Write a sports article for each game and compare it with that published in local or national newspapers.

• Compare and contrast the lead
• Compare and contrast actions highlighted
• Did the professional writer get the interviews the student wanted?
• Compare and contrast the ending paragraphs

After the student has attended four or more games and written articles for each, have the student write a sports column.

• What has she or he come to know about the team, its players, its coach?
• What can he or she say about the particular sport and its support within the school or greater community?
• What additional research about the team or players is needed?