Game Time: A Live Sports Storytelling Event
How are former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, my first trip to New York, former Japanese baseball player Hideki Irabu, and the movie “Hoosiers” related to each other? That’s what the audience was wondering last weekend when I took the stage during a sports-themed storytelling event in Iowa City. I was asked to contribute a story, in the style of those told on The Moth Podcast/Radio Hour, from my years with the Yankees to a fun evening that benefited a good cause and was organized and run by students as a class project.
The evening was extra special because I was able to share the storytelling stage with Jeremy Mims, a student in my graduate program who is also a dear friend, and Mitch Kelly, a University of Iowa faculty colleague who has become a friend through our shared service to the UI Presidential Committee on Athletics. Moreover, my wife and parents were there, as well as some of my other graduate students and a couple friends from the community that I did not expect to see.
The event was presented by Iowa Watch, a nonprofit news organization, and organized by UI students in an Event Management course taught by colleague and friend Heather Spangler. Proceeds were donated to Iowa Watch, and Iowa Public Radio personality Charity Nebbe hosted the event, which was recorded by IPR.
Check out the video (credit to my wife, Bridget) below if you want to hear the story behind the Yankees’ quest to sign Irabu, and how the movie “Hoosiers” saved me from Steinbrenner’s fury during my first trip to New York. Thanks to everyone involved for inviting me to be part of the event – I had a blast!