Hockey -- Avoid Empty Grafs

It's important that every graf actually says something newsworthy: what happened, what somebody thinks, why the matter in this story, ect. This graf does not do that:

Jacob Stevens is a senior at Okemos High School and played on the team last year.

While we aim to have no more than one main idea, thought or supporting fact in each graf, the minimum is also one. This one has attribution, but no idea. It's something I call an "empty graf;" that is, a graf with no main point being made.

This was the graf that followed:

"I enjoy playing the game and I haven't had any of the other female players on the team complain about my being there," Stevens said.

The quote indicates that the reason Stevens is noteworthy is because of what he has to say disputing the need for such a policy. So, ideally, you'd want to expand the first graf to make a point that sets up the quote, like this:

Jacob Stevens, a senior at Okemos High School and played on the team last year, said he didn't see the necessity of such a rule.

See how that better sets up the quote by saying something tangible? See how it helps make the transition from the attribution to the core point being made that much more seamless?

Watch out for empty grafs. They are your enemy.