For years, the media have been dropping the ball when it comes to covering sports. But in many places homerism has been replaced by hard-hitting investigations and stories that cover sports as a business thanks to CAR. This issue of Uplink examines how some news operations are tackling sports' issues. NICAR's Kara Morrison analyzes how the Associated Press created its own database to compare the salaries of Texas high school football coaches with classroom teachers.

Greg Reeves of the Kansas City Star explains the computer-assisted reporting work that helped produce the Star's latest series on the NCAA. Griffin Palmer diagrams how The Daily Oklahoman uses CAR on a weekly basis to rank local teams. NICAR's Sarah Cohen explains how statistics can help sports' staffers, and columnist Nora Paul shares what is available on the Internet for sports lovers and writers.