Writing a Pre-Game Question Sheet Instead of a Generic Checklist
Most readers who say they use a checklist are really holding a list of general reminders: check the source, consider the date, think about bias. Those reminders are sound, but they are easy to skip because nothing on them asks for a specific answer. A question sheet works differently. Each line demands a written response tied to the particular event, source, or topic in front of you, and a blank answer is visible in a way that a vague reminder never is. This article explains how to build one, what to include, and how to keep it short enough to use.
Why generic checklists get ignored
A checklist that reads Verify the information, consider context, and review your sources can be checked off without anyone having verified, considered, or reviewed anything. The format invites a glance rather than a thought. The fix is to replace each reminder with a question that has a concrete answer: Where did this specific claim originate? When was it last updated? What would change my mind about it?
Specific questions also reveal when you do not know something. If you cannot answer where a figure came from, that is useful information, and it is information a reminder would have hidden.
Choosing the questions that matter for your use
Start by writing down the last three times you relied on sports information and then changed your mind, or wished you had waited. Those cases show the failure points that matter to you. You might find that you usually miss dates, or that you accept single sources too easily, or that you forget to distinguish reporting from opinion.
Build four to six questions aimed at those failure points. Keep the set small. A sheet with twenty questions will be skipped under pressure, while a sheet of five gets completed.
A sample structure you can adapt
One workable structure has three parts. The first records the item: what it claims, where you found it, and the date you saw it. The second asks about the source: who produced it, whether that producer has a stake in the outcome, and whether you can reach the original material it refers to. The third asks about the decision: what you will do with this information, how much depends on it, and what you would need to see to reverse course.
Write answers in full sentences where you can. A phrase like source unclear is a valid answer, and it is more useful than a checkmark, because it tells you exactly what to investigate next.
Keeping the sheet in use
Store the sheet somewhere you open before the moments that matter, not somewhere you must go looking for. A pinned note, a template you duplicate, or a single page in whatever tool you already use all work. Review the questions once a month and remove any that you always answer the same way without thinking, since those are not doing work anymore.
Compare two versions of the same decision if you can. If your filled-in sheet for one event looks almost identical to the one for another, the questions may be too generic. If the answers differ in ways that point to real differences in reliability, the sheet is doing its job.
A short comparison to test your draft
Read your draft and ask whether each line could apply to any sports topic equally well. If it could, sharpen it. Compare the line Check the source against the line Name the original document this claim cites and state whether you have read it. The second is harder to skip and easier to finish honestly. Keep lines of the second kind and rewrite the rest until every question forces a specific, visible answer.