From: Claire Asbury
To: Michael Kruse
Subject: The quest for specificity
November 15, 2009
Based on several conversations I've had recently, in person and via email, I think we need to try and draft a more specific project description. I think that folks certainly understand, appreciate, and celebrate how Davidson basketball is such a wonderful communal space and how it seeps into our lives beyond sports, and given the size of the Facebook group there seems to be an interest. I've talked to people (mainly students and recent alums) who would like to write something, but I'm getting the vibe that it's hard to know where to start. And it's also hard for me to try and tell them how definitively -- "Yes, write about basketball, but not just -- but also --"
I'm not sure if a specific, detailed description can truly exist; after all, the original pieces should be just that, and the topics and memories that people choose to write about should be personally significant and not explicitly "assigned" by us. It's not meant to box people in. But I think somehow we need at least a few words to... push it forward. Make it less abstract. And at the moment, I'm not sure how to do that.
We should also set a precise deadline for submissions/contributions. I've had several students tell me they would like to contribute, but most likely won't get around to writing until winter break, which makes sense given the dwindling number of weeks (3!) that remain before exams. I know we've talked about January/February, and I think that's good. Don't know where we want to fall within that, but an exact date might provide more focus.
Just throwin' all of it out there.
I've moved!
9 years ago
There's a story to be told... not sure exactly what that story looks like, but as Kruse has said, it's not EXACTLY Davidson basketball. It's community, connectedness, personified by Davidson basketball. It's like a massive puzzle (think exam time at the Library), and we all have a piece of it in our hand. We just need to know and understand where our puzzle piece fits. A story, a theme, an emotion. Think something like the Bro and Tripp story. It doesn't even have to be a non fiction thread (try to breath Michael). I can imagine a historical fiction piece of sorts with a main character formed by our collective stories. Or maybe it's like Kruse's book... the Davidson Basketball Moment. But not moment, Moments. We all have a Davidson basketball moment in our mind that was special for some reason or in some way. Maybe it was a game, a play, or a car ride on the way to game. And the story is about those moments. Yes, there is still THE Davidson basketball moment, but I'm supposing the story, like in your book, was really told long before THE moment ever occurred. Maybe just request an all call for all Davidson basketball moments. Then piece it all together.
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