Stories From Spokane

In yesterday's blog post, I talked about the stories that if they were told, more people would be interested in and follow figure skating. There are stories all around me this week, as I sit in the stands and ride the shuttles and watch the skaters.

Each person in the stands has a story--why they're there and why they're into the sport enough to buy tickets. My seat mate, for example, is an African American woman in her fifties who's a counselor at a middle school here in Spokane. How is that a black lady is interested in figure skating? As I said back in '07, the demographic for this event is middle aged white women. A few seats away is a couple who seem really into it, and who are even more knowledgeable about the sport than I am. How did that happen?

Last night, I rode the shuttle, and met Justin Gaumond, a beginning senior pairs skater who was sitting with his sister. He seemed a little down, especially when Keegan Messing, who did very well his first time as a senior at Nationals, got on the bus to female squeals. Justin admitted that he and his partner, Lisa Moore, didn't do as well as they would've liked due to the deep field here this year, and his sister told me that he was tired. That's a great story there.

Justin's sister also said that their mom was in Spokane this week. I commented about the great amount of support, encouragement, and cheers from the skaters' family members and friends. My section is next to a group of young skaters from a skating club, and it's been fun to witness the support. Each skater has that kind of story--his or her family, support system, what it took to get here, no matter what level they're at.

I'm looking for these stories, not necessarily because I want to write them down, but because I'm looking at the world like a writer now. I also think, as I've stated before, that if more people knew these stories, and if they were presented in an interesting and inspiring way by someone with the skills to do that kind of thing, more people would be interested in figure skating.

Maybe someone like me?