Exploring the stories, records and moments through our pages of sports history

FARGO — Sports are all about history and tradition, the fabric that creates the support and passion for the teams and athletes on their stage of play.

Today’s games soon become yesterday’s lore. Statistics will be remembered and moments will be cherished.

We all have that “remember when” moment. It’ll be my job to help you relive them.

I had the fortune of starting my career at The Forum in January 1991. A wide-eyed college junior who was majoring in elementary education and dabbling in writing for The Advocate at then Moorhead State, I learned the ropes of journalism from Mark Hvidsten, Mike McFeely, the Kolpack brothers, Jay Osmundson, Kevin Schnepf and sports editor Dennis Doeden, among others.

From there, a new career path was born: print journalism — my third college major.

In my more than 30 years with Forum Communications, I’ve had a front-row seat to hundreds of unique storylines. Whether I was cleverly writing (hopefully) a 78-point headline for the front page of The Forum sports section, being at the Fargodome writing about Jim Kleinsasser’s turn-on-the-jets touchdown run against North Dakota State or editing a co-worker’s story on a moment that will be remembered for a lifetime, I’ve seen or read a lot.

The Vault

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Dec 19, 2024

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By  Rob Beer

I’ve done a lot, too, having now held more than a dozen roles with Forum Communications.

But my career has spanned less than one-fifth of the history of our newspapers. I can’t wait to unlock the rest for readers throughout the company's multi-state footprint, which includes more than 20 publication titles — including this one — with deep ties in their communities.

And that’s where we’ll dive in.

In upcoming articles called Sports Time Machine, I’ll take a look back at legendary games, unique record-holders, memorable moments, forgotten venues and celebrated sports personalities. We’ll debate the best sports teams, wrangle over the best athletes, examine team histories and recall memories through the archived pages of our newspapers.

If you have story suggestions or feedback, I’d welcome the opportunity to listen and run with your ideas.

You can reach me at rbeer@forumcomm.com .