Interesting stories we've done

I guess one of my most memorable interviews came at a high school football state championship game about 3 or 4 years ago. A woman - a huge fan and former teacher at the school - had a horrible disease and for the life of me I can't remember what it was, but she was confined to a wheel chair and could not talk.

I would ask her questions, and she would use a pointer to spell out the answers. I guess the amazing thing to me was that this woman was smiling the entire time. She had been dealt a horrific situation and she just beamed. I could not get over her attitude, and to my amazement she began e-mailing me after the story appeared. It was her only form of communication, and she loved to receive e-mails, so we wrote back and forth for a bit.

Although there were times she had a son on the football team, there were times she didn't, like the year I interviewed her. But she still attended every game and even went as far as to attend the weekly meetings the parents had with the coaches called the Tight End Club.

Unfortunately, she passed away in October of 2005, but in my more than 25 years in this business, I can say that maybe my most memorable interview came with a person who could not talk.

 

This past football season I wrote about a high school player - who ended up being our county's defensive player of the year - who was shot in the arm the day before Thanksgiving then played in his team's playoff game on Saturday.

The main premise of the story, which also was a big deal because I got him to talk about what it's like to be shot, is that he never lost confidence or changed his demeanor. Quote from his father, "It's like he took a bullet every day."

 

No, but my guy raced at Cayuga at that time.

 

I did a story on a mutant pig that died at birth. Man, that was a fun day, first trying to find the dude in the middle of nowhere, then getting the story and writing it.

Also did one on a 5-legged cow in Jamaica. A few weeks later I did a follow-up on a cow with 3 ears. The shepherd's name was Coco.

Lots of other cool, strange ones over the years.

 

Did you work for the Weekly World News?

Have you ever met Bat Boy?

 

Four stand out for me. First, this past wrestling season did a story on a kid who was bitten by a snake and was in the hospital two weeks, leg swelled up and he was paralyzed on one side of his body for a while. He came back five months later to win the state title in his weight class.

Second, did a story on a softball shortstop who was diabetic, had a heart mummer and asthma. Her school did not want her to play, but her family signed a waiver stating the school would not be sued if their child died during a game. That was her senior year. She had a terrific final season, hitting over .400 and making All-State.

Third, a girls volleyball team was not having success and several players quit. They finally got down to only six players, no reserves at all. The team voted to go on and not cancel the rest of the season (they were about halfway through at that point). The team finished 0-21. I did the story the day after they slipped to 0-19 and expected to see some heartbroken girls. It was one of the most upbeat teams I've ever been around. I asked the only senior left why they kept going after so many teammates had quit and would she do it over again if she had to. To my surprise, her answer was, "This was great fun. We didn't win as much as we liked, but it was great to be part of a team. I do it again in a minute." The six who were left were obviously eternal optimists.

Fourth, did a story on lighting stirking two assistant football coaches on a tower (they school they coached at did not have the money to enclose the structure as a coaching box, so it was just a tower) during a high school football game. Did the story on the one-year anniversary of the strike. To my horror they both had health problems that forced them to leave coaching. One had developed ulcers and would go into a severe panic attack every time he heard the sound of thunder, he was so bad, he told me he would fall to the floor and begin sobbing when he heard thunder strike. The other coach had developed a dizziness problem and migraine headaches that would last for days. Very sad story. I'll never forget those two interviews.

 

Did a story on a swimmer who nearly lost his foot from an injury at a football kicking camp, but he came back from that summer incident to do well for the swim team.

Also did a story on a soccer player who was severely injured in a car crash before the season began but he came back to be a key player on his team.

 

Should I be crying right now? I don't know if I should, but I am. Damn you Double Down.

These are great...I can only hope to do these when I (hopefully, finally, amazingly - take your pick) get a full-time job...

 

One time, at band camp...

 

Last year I wrote a story about what goes on in the dugout during a high school baseball game. All of the little jobs, pranks, ways the benchwarmers kill time, etc. It was a lot of fun, and kind of a tribute to scrubs everywhere.
For one part of the story, I talked to some seniors who had rode the pine for four years and had no chance in hell of seeing significant playing time anytime soon. It was kind of refreshing to see how most of them stayed upbeat and accepted their role. Even though they knew they weren't going to play more than a couple games a season, they stuck with it because it was just plain fun for them to hang out in the dugout with their friends.
One of, if not the most, fun stories I've ever done.

 

When I was 27, I did a first-person magazine piece about being a bullpen catcher for two weeks in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Spent two weeks catching guys like Eric Milton, Scott Strickland (former Met and Expo) and Kris Wilson (ex-Royal and Yankee). Learning how to do it, the first three days were some of the most terrifying time of my life. (I caught in high school, but I was absolutely awful at it.) But in the end, I learned a ton--the great experiences made it an astoundingly easy story to write. I sat in the dugout and bullpen, talked to players and coaches. Never got a chance to hit in an actual game--although my manager tried to make it happen--but it was an amazing experience. I learned so friggin' much about the game. And I still have the catchers mitt I used.