Sports Style Exam Prep Notes

In sports reporting, always use figures for yardage when referring to distances in football or other yard-based sports. This applies to specific lines on the field, distances covered, or gains/losses.
- Examples:
  - The ball was at the $5$ -yard line, setting up a crucial play.
  - Zach Calzada masterfully threw a $12$ -yard pass to Kendrick Law, converting a third-down situation.
  - Dante Dowdell plunged in from the $2$ -yard line for a game-winning touchdown.
  - The team advanced the ball $8$ yards on the ground.
  - The penalty resulted in a loss of $10$ yards.
Heights are expressed using figures and a hyphenated format to clearly indicate feet and inches.
- Examples:
  - The $6\text{-}foot\text{-}2$ quarterback surveyed the field with confidence.
  - The nimble $5\text{-}foot\text{-}1$ gymnast executed a flawless routine.
  - A $6\text{-}8$ forward dominated the paint during the basketball game.

Scores and More: Use numbers exclusively for all scores. A hyphen is always placed between the winning and losing scores. The winning score almost always goes first, even if the reference is to the losing team's perspective.
- Example (Final Score): Kentucky slid past Florida $27\text{-}21$ on Saturday in a thrilling contest.
- Example (Current Score/Halftime): The Cougars led the Wildcats $14\text{-}7$ at halftime.
- Games Played/Won: When referring to the count of games won or played, use numerals.
  - The Cats won their $4^{\text{th}}$ game in $11$ starts, improving their season record.
Records: Sporting records are presented with figures for wins and losses, separated by a hyphen. Conference records are typically included in parentheses, also using figures and hyphens.
- Example: The Racers finished the season $3\text{-}7$ $(2\text{-}4 \text{ OVC})$ , indicating $3$ wins and $7$ losses overall, and $2$ wins and $4$ losses in OVC conference play.
- Example: The team improved its record to $15\text{-}3$ for the season.

Pronoun Agreement for Team Names:
- When referring to an entity like KENTUCKY (the university/state as a singular entity that represents the team), use the singular possessive its and singular verbs.
- When referring to WILDCATS or CATS (the team members or the collective group), use the plural possessive their and plural verbs.
- Example (KENTUCKY): Kentucky is gearing up for its biggest game of the season. Its fans are eagerly anticipating the matchup.
- Example (WILDCATS/CATS): The Wildcats are feeling confident after their recent victory. The Cats showed great teamwork in their last outing.
Exceptions & AP Style Guideline: Be aware that some team names may have unusual grammatical agreement. For instance, Oklahoma City Thunder or Stanford Cardinal or Miami Heat, despite ending in what looks like a singular form, often take plural verbs in general AP style because they represent a group of athletes. (Always follow your company’s specific style guide for these exceptions if it differs).
- The general AP style is that team or group names with no plural form still take a plural verb (e.g., The Miami Heat are playing well).

Contextual Pronoun Usage (Example Clarification): The choice of pronoun (its vs. their) depends on whether the reference is to the university/entity (singular) or the team/players (plural).
- Original Example (Incorrect usage for Kentucky): Tshiebwe spoke at length about the Cats needing more fight moving forward. They’ll get plenty from the teams they play, starting with a trip to No. $5$ Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.
  - Correction Rationale: In this context, if referring to Kentucky (the university/program), the pronoun should be singular.
- Revised Example (Corrected usage): Tshiebwe spoke at length about Kentucky needing more fight moving forward. It will get plenty from the teams it plays, starting with a trip to No. $5$ Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.
  - Note: If the previous sentence had explicitly referred to