Seeing as Chris Ballard is coming to class on Monday March 9 -- so cool! -- I want to use this week's post as a forum for posting questions for him. Do make sure you read what others have asked and try not to repeat. It'll pay to post early. You can ask Chris anything about the book, the process, his life as a sports writer.
Please post 3 questions about the text and 1-2 questions about anything else.
Here's his bio, if you're interested.
1) What was your greatest challenge converting the perspectives of the actual people to creating the story and a cohesive book?
ReplyDelete2) Since One Shot at Forever is more focused on characters like Shartzer and Sweet, do you their points of view had a strong impact on the overall story within your book?
3) Your descriptions of the characters, specifically the baseball team, are so in depth and intriguing. Do you have a favorite character? Or a favorite character to describe and bring to life in your book?
4) Out of all your books and articles, what was the hardest to research, write, or work on?
-Chloë
1) Were there any stories you heard from the team that you chose to leave out of the book? What where they, and why didn’t you include them?
ReplyDelete2) Why did you choose to include the narrative about McClard’s change of heart in terms of his relationship with the Macon baseball team?
3) What intrigued you about this story in particular to write a book on?
4) In what ways do you feel the Macon boy’s story represents, if at all, the typical small-town-American lifestyle?
5) Spanning your career, which stories have inspired you the most?
Ally
1) When you interviewed all the players and Sweet, you presumably fell upon different stories and ways people recalled each moment. How did you determine what and which to believe/include in your book?
ReplyDelete2) When interviewing Shartzer, did he seem to understand and recognize that he was different than the rest of his teammates?
3) The books makes it appear as if, even after the big loss to Waukegan, the team was satisfied for they fulfilled their dreams. When interviewing them, how did this belief play into their recollection of the loss?
4) How did you first hear of the Macon journey? and when you heard the story of the Macon team did you immediately gain interest?
Samantha
1) Can you speak about the role of memories in the book? What greater message are you saying about memories?
ReplyDelete2) Because you were essentially retelling a story, what themes or ideas were you trying to highlight and emphasize?
3) The way you describe Macon's wins often make it sound like magic; did you get this impression from the players?
4) What led you to become a sports journalist? Was it driven by an initial love for sports or writing? How do the two match up?
1. Can you address the role of masculinity in the characters and how that may have effected any differences between their characterization in the book and themselves in real life?
ReplyDelete2. What was your intention in writing this book? Do you think there are some negative consequences surrounding the themes you focused on in this book?
3. In what way was your personal bias a factor in the research and writing of this story?
4. Why were female characters not given emphasis? Did you mean to focus so heavily on how these players constructed their "masculine identity"?
1. What were your reasons for focussing mainly on Shartzer and Heneberry during the final two games?
ReplyDelete2. Why was the chapter after the loss so short and do you regret not adding more or do you think it puts a perfect touch to your meaning of the loss?
3. How was it writing a book that was based off of interviews and recounts of the season? did you ever find yourself wanting to add or change anything from the information you got for the story?
4. What would you say was the most memorable part of this story that stuff with you or changed the way you look at things?
1. In the book some games are included in detail while others were just mentioned or completely left out. Why? (They didn't remember, no official records, to many ideas of what happened).
ReplyDelete2. Did your choice to put more detail into the Lane Tech game over the Waukegan game have to do with your sources or was it a conscious decision? If you made that decision (had the resources but decided to leave out the details), why?
3. Were there parts that you were specifically asked to in/exclude that you wanted to ex/include?
4. What do you like better, writing and publishing books or writing for magazines?
5. Who all did you interview? Do you stay in contact? What was their reaction to the book (or even just the idea of there being a book about them)?
-Bri
1. What led you to pursue the story of the Macon Ironmen?
ReplyDelete2. Were there specific details or moments that you felt were missing from the story that you felt would have improved the reader's experience? If so what were they?
3. Did you ever receive conflicting accounts from different interviewees regarding the same event? How do you distinguish myth from reality?
4. What creates the best sports story? Have you found that readers tend to resonate with certain accounts more than others?
1. Throughout the entire book, there had been foreshadowing to the matchup between Macon High and Lane Tech; had the Iron men beaten Waukegan, would you have built the story up for that matchup instead?
ReplyDelete2. Was the Father-Son relationship an important theme in One Shot at Forever, and did Sweet and Shartzer embody this relationship?
3. Was the absence of women an important part of the story, or was it because Sweet and Shartzer never mentioned them in their interviews?
4. When you approached the Iron men and told them that you wanted to write a book about their story, what was their reaction?
1. What was your main intent when including the Lane Tech Reunion story in Part 3?
ReplyDelete2. Recently in Macon, it seems as though the story of the Ironmen has become a thing of the past (eg. the trophy is held at a P&V, the trophy case of Meridian has no mention of the Ironmen). When many players seemed to accept that its time had passed, did you ever feel uncomfortable reviving this story or bringing it to a larger audience?
3. Did you ever interact much with the people of Macon? What did they think about your story of the Ironmen?
4. After quick research I learned that you wrote an article covering another small-town team from Williamsport, Maryland. Did you ever writing a book about that team? Was there anything that set them apart from the Ironmen?
-Duncan
1. How clear were the players' memories- was there a wide range or was it mostly the same? Were their days playing for the Ironmen easily recalled, or did you have to prompt with lots of questions to jog their memories?
ReplyDelete2. Jeanne is one of the few women in One Shot at Forever, (which either intentionally or unintentionally highlights her as a character of some importance.) What compelled you to include her?
3. We can extract many different messages and lessons from the Macon boys' experience, but what do you consider to be the #1 most important lesson?
4. Given that you have written on teams and players much more famous than the Macon Ironmen, do you prefer one over the other? How does the process of writing a story about lesser known athletes differ from that of well known athletes?
Joseph Kakkis
ReplyDelete1.Why did you introduce Roger Britton at the beginning of the book if he does not appear to be mentioned at all after the first half? Did he play a significant part beyond hiring Sweet?
2. In what ways is Shartzer indeed a follower instead of a leader as he seems to be perceived?
3. How does Heneberry's willingness to overcome obstacles relate to the struggles of other Macon players?
For all other subjects:
1. Did you play under Popovich while at Pomona?
1. What compelled you to incorporate the prologue part about how the events (and the trophy) seem forgotten, only to follow that up with the story of how the town rallied behind the team as it was, at the time, a very significant series of events?
ReplyDelete2. How much of the book do you believe to be true and how much is based on a falsely altered memory?
3. Do to the fact that Macon is a small unknown town, how much pressure did you feel trying to capture the true image of the town and its people while exposing it to the rest of the country?
4. What is your favorite thing about being a sports journalist?
-Connor Roach
1.) What, to you, is the largest factor that contributes to McClard's change of heart?
ReplyDelete2.) Why did you choose to include the detail of the Lane Tech players crying after their loss to Macon?
3.) Did you make any effort to include the press coverage of Macon's story as it was happening, or did that just happen naturally or because that's where you could get a lot of information that you weren't able to get anywhere else? In other words, does the press play a significant role in the story?
4.) Were there any people that you found yourself really wanting to interview, but were unable to?
5.) Is this story something that could only really what it is as a baseball story? If it was the Macon basketball or football team that went to the state tournament, would it have been the same?
- Sam R.
1) Where did you start your research for the article and book? Did you go straight to interviewing the team or search for more general details (ie. in the news, information about the town of Macon, etc.)
ReplyDelete2) Mark Miller seemed to be an integral part of the team, both on the field and off it. If you were able to interview him, do you think it would have affected your book or your view of the team’s journey in a significant way?
3) When Shartzer spoke about his failure to reach the major leagues, did it seem as if he had moved on from it, or was he as resentful as he was about the championship game?
4) You spoke with Dale Otta much more than his brother Dean. Was Dale more willing to be interviewed or were simply not able to speak as much with Dean? (In other words, was it partly due to a difference in personality?)
5) If you could pick, what was your favorite part of writing this book?
Griff
1. When interviewing people in Macon, did you experience much resistance (people not wanting to be interviewed/share their story)? If so, why do you think that is?
ReplyDelete2. Approximately how many people did you interview throughout the process of writing One Shot at Forever? Of the people you interviewed, who were the most helpful or insightful? Were there any people that you thought wouldn’t be able to make large contributions that ended up being extremely knowledgable?
3. Did you receive any negative feedback on the book from people you had spoken with or interviewed? If so what was it?
4. Did your experience as a high school and college athlete benefit or impair your ability to write about a high school baseball team? Did you find it easier because you had (potentially) experienced some of the same feelings as the Ironmen, or hard to avoid telling the story partially through your own lens as a high school athlete?
-Katarina
ReplyDelete1. How long was the process of finding everyone you wanted to interview for the book?
ReplyDelete2. We're the players excited when you first approached them about writing this book or were they hesitant to talk to you and bring up their experiences?
3. Did any of the players/people you interviewed have negative opinions of the other players, like Steve for example, or did they all have similar perceptions of their former teammates?
4. You have a wide range of sports that you have written about, what is your favorite one to wite about and why?