Step up the sports coverage

Dear Editor,

Every week when I pick up an issue of the STAR, I immediately flip to the sports page to see how our team's success and storylines have been butchered and trampled.  I work in the Sports Information office as an assistant and provide the play-by-play for the Seawolves Sports Network, so I consider myself pretty up to date on current Seawolf affairs.

Every time I read a write up of a game, the feeling of déjà vu always hits me.  That's because most of these write ups mirror what gets put up on the athletics web site.  Now, I am not accusing anyone of plagiarism, but rather a lack of creativity in telling the story from the perspective of the writer.  This is only one small but glaring issue I have.

In your latest issue (Iss. 3/Vol. 64) there are two critical errors in the softball write-up.  Samantha Lipperd and Simone Brandalise had their names misspelled (Lipperd, not "Lipper" and Brandalise not "Barndalise").  These two players, as well as others, are key players on the squad.  Misspelling their names is inexcusable and would be the equivalent of misspelling Tim Lincecum or Pablo Sandoval for a reporter covering the Giants.

As a colleague in the sports media industry, I can tell you there are two things you can never get wrong: names and stats.  Especially when print journalism is supposed to go through rigorously edited processes.