Everything you need to know about Bleacher Report's stylistic standards, because analness is next to godliness in the online publishing world...
Contents
- 1. Presentation of Numbers and Statistics
2. Spelling and Spell Check
3. HTML Linking
4. Punctuation: Dashes — Colons — Ellipses — Comma Lists
5. Miscellaneous: Italics — Quotation Marks — Superscript
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1. Presentation of Numbers and Statistics
Numbers and statistics pose special stylistic problems for sportswriters and sportswriting—and so it’s especially important that you be mindful of the following points in the course of your editing work.
As a general rule, the numbers zero through nine are spelled out, while the numbers 10 and above are presented in digit form.
The same logic applies to ordinal numbers: "First" through "ninth" are spelled out; "10th" and above are presented in digit form.
Exceptions to that rule include single digits presented as part of a stat line (e.g. “9 PTS 3 REB 4 AST”), and multiple-digit numbers that an author intentionally spells out for rhetorical effect (e.g. “a one in a million chance”).
Another exception: "Ten" and above should be spelled out at the beginning of a sentence.
And another: Bleacher Report uses the construction "No. 1" (or No. 2 or No. 23) instead of of "#1" or "number one."
And another: For football downs and yardage, Bleacher Report uses the construction "4th-and-5" (or "2nd-and-7" or "3rd-and-3") instead of "fourth and five." (Note the use of hyphens; "4th and 5" is incorrect.)
And another: For baseball hits and at-bats, Bleacher Report uses the construction "2-for-3" (or "1-for-4" or "4-for-5") instead of "two for three" or "2-3." (Note the use of hyphens; "2 for 3" is incorrect.)
Numbers that include a decimal place are always presented digitally (e.g. “9.3 points per game”). Any fractions should be spelled out and properly hyphenated (e.g. “two-and-a-half years” instead of “2 1/2 years”).
Dollar figures should be presented in digits and with dollar signs ("a $5 million contract").
Team records should be presented in digits ("8-1" on the season).
Heights should be listed with single and double quotation marks to denote feet and inches, respectively ("the 6'1" point guard").
“Percent” should always be spelled out, except when presented as part of stat line (e.g. “18.3 PPG 52% FG 78% FT”).
The numbers of specific games within a series should be spelled out ("Game One").
Bleacher Report uses the designation “RBI” as opposed to “RBIs.” (“RBI” stands for “runS batted in”—so the trailing “s” is nonsensical.)
"Three-pointer" is the accepted construction, not "3-pointer."
Dates should be presented using digits and standard monthly abbreviations ("Jan. 1").
When abbreviating a year using the last two digits, note that the apostrophe should go before, not after, the numbers (i.e. ‘07 is a correct abbreviation of 2007; 07’ is not).
Always use an independent spell-checker (e.g. via Microsoft Word or other word-processing applications) when editing an article.
Also be mindful of the fact that sports jargon is full of “correct” words that don’t pass a standard spell-checker test. It’s your responsibility to verify accepted spellings of sports terms via an Internet search (ESPN.com is generally a reliable authority).
An incomplete list of single words that are often misspelled as two-word or hyphenated phrases: postseason, preseason, midseason, backcourt, frontcourt, showdown, matchup, doubleheader, fanbase, fastball, curveball, backup, and breakout.
Some two-word phrases, on the other hand, are frequently misspelled as single words: home run, running back, front runner.
Also be wary of common sports homophones—e.g. “fare” instead of “fair” (“How will the Giants fare this season?”) and “berth” instead of “birth” (“They will land a playoff berth”).
Check out the Bleacher Report blog for a more extensive list of "Commonly Misspelled Sports Terms."
3. HTML Linking
All HTML links should be attached to specific words in the body of an article by using the Link button in the editing toolbar (i.e. you should NOT paste the entire URL into the text). Be judicious in choosing where to apply a link—try to pick key words instead of entire sentences, as the latter option interrupts the flow of the text.
For example: “Barry Bonds' career stats speak for themselves, but that only tells half the story.”
4. Punctuation
General questions on punctuation and style should be referred to the Chicago Manual. The points delineated below are intended as supplemental clarifications of issues specifically pertinent to Bleacher Report.
a. Dashes
Bleacher Report uses the em-dash (the longest dash) in all its articles. No spaces should appear on either side of this dash. En-dashes, hyphens, and double-hyphens should never be used in place of em-dashes.
This—is correct.
This-is not. Neither is--this. (Note the difference in length between an em-dash and a hyphen: — v. -)
Remember — no spaces.
(On a Mac, the em-dash is produced by holding down SHIFT and OPTION, then pressing the dash button. On a PC, hold down ALT and then press 0-1-5-1 on the numeric keypad. If you're working on a PC without a numeric keypad, you'll have to copy and paste em-dashes as necessary. Here's one to get you started: —)
b. Colons
The first word following a colon should be capitalized if that word begins an independent clause (i.e. a clause that can stand by itself as a complete sentence).
An example: This post-colon clause requires capitalization, because it can stand by itself as a sentence.
When the phrase following a colon does not constitute a complete sentence, no capitalization is required: like this.
c. Ellipses
When you use an ellipsis (“...”), there should be no spaces before or after it...like this.
Also note that Bleacher Report editing module doesn’t supply the automatic ellipsis created in Microsoft Word documents—you have to manually enter three periods. When editing an article, be sure that all the ellipses are presented in the same style (i.e. be sure that your manually-added ellipses don’t clash with any automatic ellipses already in the text).
d. Comma Lists
Any list of three or more objects requires a comma after each object—including the word that precedes the “and.”
To clarify: “Barry Bonds, Barry Zito, and Omar Vizquel are my favorite Giants” is correct. “Barry Bonds, Barry Zito and Omar Vizquel are my favorite Giants” is not.
5. Miscellaneous
a. Italics
Bleacher Report (unlike many other online publications) abides by conventional rules for italicizing words and phrases. Anything that would get italicized in a scholarly paper (newspaper and magazine titles, books, movies, TV shows, etc.) gets italicized in Bleacher Report articles.
b. Quotation Marks
Bleacher Report also abides by conventional rules for quotes and quotation marks. Single quotation marks (‘...’) should only be used to set off a quote within a quote. Also note that all punctuation (excluding dashes and parentheses) should go “inside,” and not “outside”, the “quotation marks.” (“Got it?”)
c. Superscript
Bleacher Report does not use the automatic superscripts (e.g. for “1st” and “2nd”) applied by Microsoft Word. When submitting or editing an article, be sure that all such suffixes are presented in a standard format (e.g “1st” and “2nd”).
If you have any questions or comments about the Style Appendix, please email Managing Editor Ryan Alberti at ralberti@bleacherreport.com.
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