Easterbrook, Gregg. “Two Misconceptions in College Sports.” Page 2 – ESPN. ESPN, 15 Dec. 2009. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. <http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/091215&sportCat=nfl>.

Summarizing an ESPN Article
Your task:
• Write a brief summary of “Two Misconceptions in College Sports” by Gregg
Easterbrook (Available on Angel)
• You will not be producing an opinion piece, an appreciation or a review. This is simply a
distillation—work to get the longer article into less space.
For once, I’m putting a very specific upper limit on the length, so don’t waste space with wordiness,
endless reminders that you’re writing this paper, or any of the other classic student fillers.
More to this assignment than meets the eye.
Most of the work you do in college depends on careful reading, yet many students have never done
much. Twitter, Facebook, and phone text all work against the idea of careful reading; many of your
high school teachers would simply tell you what the text said after assigning it.
You cannot do a good job of summarizing a text unless you understand the main point it’s making and
the structure of its argument. A line-by-line (or word-by-word) translation is a poor summary, and
obviously students who do not take the trouble to figure out the text will never produce a good
summary.

Easterbrook, Gregg. “Two Misconceptions in College Sports.” Page 2 – ESPN. ESPN, 15 Dec. 2009. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. <http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/091215&sportCat=nfl>.

Summarizing an ESPN Article
Your task:
• Write a brief summary of “Two Misconceptions in College Sports” by Gregg
Easterbrook (Available on Angel)
• You will not be producing an opinion piece, an appreciation or a review. This is simply a
distillation—work to get the longer article into less space.
For once, I’m putting a very specific upper limit on the length, so don’t waste space with wordiness,
endless reminders that you’re writing this paper, or any of the other classic student fillers.
More to this assignment than meets the eye.
Most of the work you do in college depends on careful reading, yet many students have never done
much. Twitter, Facebook, and phone text all work against the idea of careful reading; many of your
high school teachers would simply tell you what the text said after assigning it.
You cannot do a good job of summarizing a text unless you understand the main point it’s making and
the structure of its argument. A line-by-line (or word-by-word) translation is a poor summary, and
obviously students who do not take the trouble to figure out the text will never produce a good
summary.