ESPN: Word play for web hits

At the US Open, a 17-year-old, Melanie Oudin, beat the consensus sexiest player in women's tennis, Maria Sharapova. Selling the plain faced Oudin who looked even worse than the original Punky Brewer was one option. Oudin wore off color blues, big wraps on her left thigh and left wrist and pink and yellow shoes was one lackluster option ESPN could have chose. Or ESPN could find a way to sell the loser (even one that double faulted 21 times) and knock it out of the park. Thus the headline 'Oudin, 17, toples Sharapova.'

Who would not want to see a topless Sharapova? Undoubtedly thousands of readers who are either semi-literate or just misread the headline as 'topless' were disapointed to simply see a spazzy looking Oudin celebrating her victory. Some readers may have even clicked on the link in the extreme hopes that the web editor misspelled 'topless.' Topples and topless are only spelled differently. But the meanings are worlds apart.

Sneakily, 'topples' was only the quick headline header to the link. But it is the lead header that draws in the reader and thus is the most important title. The actual title of the article is much less important. Thus the title of the article, 'Oudin's run continues in Flushing' does not mention 'topples' or even Sharapova.


One could blame the wording of the lead header on happenstance. However, as a former newspaper journalist that dealt with editors, I can tell you that editors thrive on maximizing readership. The web editor was undoubtedly giving himself a pat on the back reminiscient of Anthony Michael Hall giving himself a pat on the back (for his writing) at the of the movie, 'The Breakfast Club.'






Picture 1: Melanie Oudin celebrates her victory against Maria Sharapova at the 2009 U.S. Open.

Picture 2: Maria Sharapova poses for a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Picture 3: Maria Sharapova extracts nutrients from a banana in between sets of an undetermined match.

Picture 4: Anthony Michael Hall's character 'Brian Johnson' in the movie, 'The Breakfast Club' deals with boredom while serving a Saturday high school detention.

Video: Maria Sharapova poses for a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.