Donaldson: Making Of A Sports Moment And Why They Matter

SALT LAKE CITY – In the spring of 1998, the University of Utah men’s basketball team played for its first National Championship game in 54 years.

They lost.

It was heartbreaking.

But it was also so magical, that I did something I’d never done before – or since. I made congratulatory posters with my then 4-year-old daughter, and we stood in a crowd of fans along the streets of downtown Salt Lake City to cheer for our second-place team. I remember her wearing her favorite Utah t-shirt and her white fringed cowboy boots. She screamed and yelled and we had so much fun just celebrating someone else’s accomplishment, it’s always stayed with me.

I thought about this moment a lot as I was following Real Salt Lake’s 2021 playoff run. I never planned to do more than just a short podcast about an unlikely playoff run. But once I started talking to those involved, I felt that connectedness that comes from a team’s success all over again.

So why does being a fan include feeling like what a team does – or doesn’t do – belongs to you? It’s a question that I thought about often in my 20-year sports writing career. When my daughter and I joined in the parade for the Utah men’s basketball team, I was just hoping to give her an experience she’d remember.

I’ve done it quite a few times.

It’s the reason we bought tickets to an Olympic hockey game in 2002. And may I add, the very top row of the Maverick Center is still a great seat! It’s the reason we sat in the frigid weather for hours just to catch a glimpse of the Olympic torch relay in 2002.

It’s the reason I took her to the Taylorsville City Hall in 2000 where she got to meet Olympic gold medalist Natalie Williams. It’s the reason I took her to gymnastics championships, bought season tickets to the WNBA and made sure she got the chance to see an Ohio State – Michigan game in person.

All of these outings were my attempt to give her a connection to a collective experience. If there is one thing I’ve learned as a journalist, it’s that there are sports moments that transcend a game.

Something about them – their hope, their possibility, their joy – extends far beyond the lines of a field, the walls of a stadium, and even the experience of those die-hard fans.

My children didn’t love sports like I did. For me, the games were a reprieve, a teacher, a reason for doing everything I hated. It was my own sports experiences, mostly the failures, that made one question central to almost every big story I covered.

What is it about some people that when they fail, when they’re rejected, when they have their hearts broken, they double down on their dreams?

I found so many valuable lessons in sports, but maybe the most important one is that disappointment doesn’t last. To be honest, neither does success.

That’s the gift – and the cruelty.

The games just take one of life’s toughest realities and distill it in a way that feels hopeful. The games don’t stop for your broken heart – and neither does life.

So savor the good stuff, shake off the pain and keep showing up. And maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll find yourself, like Real Salt Lake in 2021, living in a moment that isn’t just magical for the team.

It’s magical for anyone who takes a minute to stop and watch. Somehow a game connects us to both a harsh reality and a hopeful truth.

You may not get to decide how they come to you, but you get to decide how you show up. And when I saw how that 2021 team showed up in Seattle, I had to try and tell their story. That’s how Making of a Moment began. And the more I talked about that playoff run and the season that led up to it, I realized I had another question nagging me. What if we understood more about what led up to these moments – the messy, complicated realities? Would it change what they meant to us? Would it make them more magical – or less?

These questions are the reason I pushed to make this podcast for nearly three years. I am not sure if the answers will be the same for everyone. But I do think there is value in not reducing our favorite sports moments to cliches.

Besides euphoria or a gut punch, these moments can also provide us some valuable lessons about ourselves.

Making of a Moment: The RSL Story officially launches Oct. 23, 2024. You can follow the show now so you don’t miss a single episode, including at our website makingofamomentpod.com.

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