Details bring a story to life.
It's not what journalists call the "nut graph" of a story — the paragraph way up high that summarizes the main point — that gets me. It's all the little bits in between.
Sports perfectly encapsulates this. It's not just the final score in the game that gets us, it's all the bits in between, the details of the competition, the story of the competitors. Where did they come from? Who do they represent? What did they overcome to get here? Who do they hate? Who taught them to be great?
Sports is unique because we don't just take in the stories, we are invested in them. We take part in these stories.
Books put a story on pages. Movies put a story on a screen. You remember the story itself, but do you remember experiencing it? Would you be able to recall the theater, the drive there, the other people in the audience? I don't.
Sporting events are different. It's not just the story on the screen or in the book. It's the story unfolding on the field and the story of your experience in the stands.
That's what inspired the new series I'm working on for Ideastream's "Sound of Us" series. I'm looking for people to share their vivid memories of sports moments in Northeast Ohio — the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Your memories could make the lineup for a series of stories airing on WKSU, published on our web site, ideastream.org, and posted to our social media channels.
You may have a memory of every inning and every pitch of your favorite game ever, but it's not only about the competition. It could be that you were barely watching a classic game because your head spun as you met your future spouse in the stands.
Sharing sports stories — the event and how we experience it — keeps the memory alive. For example, I know folks who can have instant recall of the 2016 Cavaliers NBA championship, right down to the 20 lead changes in Game 7, though they might have no idea what they had for lunch yesterday. The story has been told so many times, the memory is now a permanent fixture, as indelible as Bob Feller's statue outside Progressive Field.
But when you don't share, the story can fade. I was living in San Francisco in 2007 when the Golden State Warriors got into the Western Conference playoffs as a long-shot eighth seed, the lowest ranking team in the bracket, against a first-seeded Dallas Mavericks team. I was there on the night of May 3, 2007, when the Warriors beat the Mavericks by 25 points for a resounding finish to the series and the most improbable upset in playoffs history. I remember how it felt like the arena was shaking from the furious power of the fans' joy.
But that's really all I remember. I was a Cavs fan then, and I didn't share my Warriors story like Cavs fans share memories of the team's only NBA championship. I haven't spent time in Bay Area pubs slapping backs with other Warriors fans and starting my stories with, "I was there when..."
With the Cavs now on a bold quest to create another story to be told for years in Cleveland-area pubs, it's the perfect time to share some great classic sports memories and ensure their legacy.
Ideastream's "Sound of Us" series, part of our engaged journalism effort, seeks to put microphones in people's hands to tell their own stories. In my experience, some of the best and most colorful stories come when people are telling a classic sports tale.
Perhaps we'll hear about the infamous ten cent beer night at Municipal Stadium or the riot at Cleveland Arena at a wrestling show, both in 1974, from someone who was actually there.
Maybe it's the "Miracle at Richfield," or the time Carlos Baerga hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same inning of an Indians game (I was there for that one).
I'd also love to hear from someone who was lucky enough to attend more vintage Northeast Ohio sports events. Anyone out there who remembers going to an Indians World Series game in 1948? Or any Browns games from their AAFL championship season the same year? Or perhaps you actually have memories of the long defunct Cleveland Pipers or Stokers, two teams with incredible stories that are mostly lost to history.
I see this as more than just talking sports. I am hoping this will give voice to the storytellers and serve as a way to keep their memories sharp and fresh in their minds, guiding us all in the important act of cherishing the past.
This is what my rabbi would call the mitzvah of engaged journalism.
I hope you'll help me practice the art of storytelling and keeping memories vivid. I would be honored to help tell your story. Reach out to me at ykaufman@ideastream.org to reminisce.
"The Cut" is featured in Ideastream Public Media's weekly newsletter, The Frequency Week in Review. To get The Frequency Week in Review, The Daily Frequency or any of our newsletters, sign up on Ideastream's newsletter subscription page.
