One way to avoid trouble about game facts is to keep statistics of the event. Let us watch Hands cover a high school football game:

When she arrives at the field, she checks the program to make sure the numbers on the players' jerseys are the same as those on the program. Then she sets up her scoring sheet.

"Every sportswriter has developed his or her own method of keeping a play-by-play and statistics, and of course, each sport lends itself to a different method," she says. "It's a good idea for a beginner to check with his or her editors or other sportswriters and to try a few out on radio or TV games before trying the first one at a game. It's necessary because you can't count on being able to remember the sequence of plays, and you'd better not count on anybody else keeping statistics.

"You have to keep all the statistics you can because you can never tell what's going to be important. The game may be decided by punting. It may be decided by return yardage (which is not included in total offense). The key to the game may be one player's ability to set up tackles.

"If you can bring along a friend to spot tackles while you keep offense, that's great. Sometimes you can trade off with another sportswriter in the press box. I've never seen anybody who can keep offense and defense at the same time, but I'm told there are a couple.

"Use halftime to tally up. Sometimes it is surprising to see what the statistics reveal. They don't always match the appearances."

Hands says she does not mind doing most press-box chores herself. "That way, I'm never at the mercy of PR men. I'm glad to have them help me, but I don't have to count on it," she says.

Reporters hang on to these statistics, their recollections and their score cards. Nothing beats having that one vital encounter, that one vital number close at hand. When Ben Johnson's use of steroids cost him the Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, it was important to remember that Johnson's chief rival, Carl Lewis, had implied Johnson used the illicit drug after losing to him a year earlier at a race in Rome. Johnson had set the world record at that meet and Lewis' remarks had been widely ridiculed as sour grapes. Johnson's time, his victory over Lewis and Lewis' vindication were all important parts of the Johnson-steroid story.