Finding inspiration from Pluto
Girard smiling again at big dance
The Front Page
Morning Briefing
Monday, March 22, 2021
By Ken Tingley
The last time I saw Terry Pluto was nearly 20 years ago. Like so many things, it is shocking how many pages on the calendar have turned.
Pluto, a sports columnist at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, made a connection with Post-Star sports editor Greg Brownell short after I became editor.
Terry offered to help Greg with his young writers with a critique of their writing and some one on one tutoring.
So with the world crumbling around us on Sept. 11, there was Terry Pluto at my office door that morning. I had forgotten about the seminar scheduled for that day. Terry asked me instead for a desk to write at.
That’s why I remember the last time I saw Terry. It was 9/11.
Later that night before Pluto left, he talked to me in my office.
All commercial air traffic was grounded and Terry said he would rent a car and drive back to Cleveland the next day.
But then he stopped and shared something with me that I would never forget. We were all still in shock and not sure what Sept. 12 would bring. We were still putting the final touches on the newspaper, but Terry wanted me to know what he saw in our newsroom that day, what he saw with our staff.
“The atmosphere in the newsroom today was one of people with a purpose. There was no panic,” he said.
He let the words hang in the air. An observation, but coming from him it make a lot. Maybe not then, but later.
You also should know that Terry Pluto is a big deal in Cleveland. He is “Mr. Sports,” has written dozens of books and is a personal friend of LeBron. He is also a pretty nice guy.
Soon afterward, Terry talked to me again and explained that he wrote a column on spirituality for the Plain-Dealer’s religion page.
He offered to let us run it in our paper without a fee. I’m not sure how long we ran the column, but it eventually was a casualty, probably when we discontinued to the religion section. I don’t remember getting a lot of feedback about it, but I liked to read it.
I recently connected with Terry again. I was looking for advice on how to get a book published because I knew he had been there before.
After talking to him, I made sure to follow him on social media to see what he was doing.
On Sunday morning, my Facebook newsfeed had a Terry Pluto column titled: “Alone in the wilderness, then a windmill, then feeling lost ... and found.”
It was Terry Pluto’s “Faith and You” column that he was still writing.
I’m not terrible religious these days, but I started reading about Terry and his wife hiking in the Kofa Wilderness in Arizona. He was at spring training, but the Indians had a day off, but writers don’t take days off.
It was vintage Terry Pluto. It was the kind of writing that feeds your soul. It’s the kind of writing few of us read anymore and you rarely see it on Facebook and Twitter.
After I finished reading, I went back into Facebook and shared it on my page and wrote, “If you are going to read anything this Sunday, read this.”
It’s a reminder that we all need a little spirituality, a little soul searching, some introspection while hiking through life and trying to find the right path.
I’ve copied the link here for you too. If you are going to read anything this week, read this.
Thank you Terry there is more to newspapers than just news.
Girard smiling again
Joe Girard III hit his first 3-pointer just two minutes into the game, then a second 3-pointer three minutes later and when the camera zoomed in on him at the other end of the court we saw something we hadn’t seen it awhile - he was smiling.
Girard kept Syracuse in the game in the first half with four 3-pointers, including a bomb reminiscent of his Glens Falls days as Syracuse defeated second-seeded West Virginia, 75-72 Sunday evening.
“We had a lot of guys up and down. Joe was up and down a lot this year,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said at his post game press conference. “I mean, he was key in the first half tonight. He was really good.”
Girard’s 12-point effort included six rebounds and seven assists in 29 minutes of action while hitting 4 of 8 shots from long range. Syracuse led by just 6 at the half and held off WVU down the stretch. Syracuse will play next Saturday against third-seeded Houston as one of 16 teams left in the tournament.
Quote of the Day
“It was devastating. It was heartbreaking, no dry eyes. This is what you dream of as a college player and a coach, and to get it taken away like this is just a heartbreaking moment in their young lives.”
- Virginia Commonwealth coach Mike Rhodes after his team was forced to pull out of NCAA Tournament after a positive covid test.
Tweet of the Day - Endless Girards
