The first story I listened to was titled “We’re Just Big Guys Dancing”. After looking at the stories that appeared on the home screen on Story Corps and seeing the variety that was available I thought to myself “I wonder if there is any stories about sports or people related to sports” so thats exactly what I found. This story is about the Dallas Mavericks ManiAACs, a dance team that performs in the arena during NBA games. Although the story starts of light-hearted and cheery as the speakers Rob Maiden and Daniel Jacob talk about what led them to start bringing smiles to thousands during the NBA season. Rob talked about how he grew so much in middle school that his dad wished he forced him to do football, instead of doing dancing now. However after numerous attempts to get his dad to come to a game, Rob’s father finally did and in seeing the reaction of the fans and interaction with them his father told him that this was exactly what he was “born to do.” Rob went on to say that he doesn’t ever want to force his family into doing thing they don’t want to do, rather he wants his family to find what they love and peruse to eh highest degree. This story really hit home to me as my dad was just like Rob’s in that he questioned my dreams and aspirations and it wasn’t until he saw me succeeded and seeing the results of my hard work that he accepted it.
The second story I listened too took me into the stands of one of the best atmospheres in professional sports. Clancy Haskett a beer vendor for the Baltimore Orioles has been bringing smiles and joy to the fans of the MLB. Clancy talks about how he uses rhymes and catchy sayings to get fans to purchase an ice cold beverage from him every inning of every game. This feel good story made me think about how much the vendors are apart of the organization just as much as the players are, because it takes a smiling face to make someones day that much better and Clancy has been doing that for the Orioles for over 30 years. After listening to his story I understood even more that when you have a passion for work and you come to a job smiling every single day you won’t ever feel like you are working a day in your life and Clancy emphasized that.