Sportswriter Vahe Gregorian Focuses on the Human Spirit Driving Athletes

“The Chiefs have been a little more exciting, but what the Royals did in 2014 and 2015 was a little more emotional, because you felt like it was the end of a dismal era for Kansas City, and everything suddenly seemed like it was possible… it just changed the dynamic of the fan experience to things can go our way,” Gregorian said. “The tone changes from ‘will they ever win a playoff game again’ to ‘will they three-peat.’”

Gregorian covers many sports, but his role has seen him cover deeper issues that mean more than just a game to him and the reader.  Gregorian detailed the emotional toll of going to the funeral of Yordano Ventura, who was a starting pitcher for the Royals when they won the World Series in 2015 before dying in a car crash in 2017.

“I went to the Dominican for his [Ventura’s] funeral, and we had to go right away and be embedded with the Royals. That day, I started tweeting from the Royals bus on the way to the funeral and throughout, and I felt like half of Kansas City was following along, and you realize it was so meaningful for Kansas Citians to get to mourn through being in a place they couldn’t be,” Gregorian said.

Gregorian also detailed how he has been thrust into situations he never expected, such as when he covered the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade in February. (One person was killed and dozens injured during the parade when shooters sprayed the crowd with bullets. Two men have been arrested.)

“You didn’t think that day was going to change everything and you would be writing about the day the music died… I was so personally crushed just by the feeling,” Gregorian said.

“I interviewed some people on the scene, a mother brought her daughter from New Hampshire, because the mother had grown up here. Suddenly they had to take cover at Union Station hiding in a hallway by a staircase. They didn’t even see it directly, it was just a ripple. The girl was traumatized afterward, and trembling. I just remember thinking she will always be affected by this. The reason I’m bringing that up is that sports and the real world sometimes merge in uncomfortable and painful ways.”

Going Deeper with History

Gregorian’s status as a sportswriter has moved him up in the media world and even presented him with non-sports opportunities in his articles such as his coverage of the Truman Library, a library and museum dedicated to the life and legacy of the late President Harry S. Truman.

“Got asked to do it, and at first I was a little hesitant because it seemed so out of my comfort zone. However, I realized it was a great privilege to be able to do it, and it was a great change of pace. It has opened my mind up to what Kansas City is about… I love Kansas City, it’s a great place, but now I understand it better,” Gregorian said.

Gregorian grew up around powerful Armenian voices, with his father, the late Dr. Vartan Gregorian, being a notable presence in the Armenian world as an educator, historian and president of the Carnegie Corporation, and before that, president of Brown University, and the president the New York Public Library.

“He was a great man…You start to see things over time, and naturally, as we became adults we came to understand his influence on so many things around him, so many important institutions. It’s breathtaking really to try and understand his legacy,” Gregorian said. “It’s a forever honor to be his son, and I know my brothers feel that way. I still can’t believe he’s gone, and I think we all would say we feel him with us every day.”

While he hasn’t covered many Armenian events or people himself, Vahe Gregorian is an Armenian-American and has paid attention to events around the world such as Artsakh and Genocide recognition that often go uncovered. He explained how more Armenians in the media could potentially help draw attention to these issues.

“It’s one of the reasons when we talk about diversity in newsrooms and diversity in media. It’s not just because that’s good in itself, which it is. But it’s good because people will come to the table with knowledge and a set of perspectives that it may not otherwise,” Gregorian said.

Awards

For his work, Gregorian has been recognized and risen to the ranks as one of the top sportswriters in Missouri. He acknowledged what the recognition meant to him, and the value it has had on his life.

“You wouldn’t say that it’s not great to get an award. Those are touching and feel like an affirmation of your efforts… I won the Associated Press Sports Editors’ number one columnist award in 2018, and that was especially cool because it was in the last couple of months of my mom’s life. So to be able to tell her that as it happened, there was something sweet about that,” Gregorian said.

Despite this, Gregorian doesn’t let the accolades and admiration overshadow the responsibilities of his job.

“These things are based on circumstance, and hopefully if you’re always giving your best and alert to possibilities around you, sometimes it manifests that way,” Gregorian said. “Can get into a bad spot if you go from writing for awards to writing for the audience.”

As someone who has now spent most of his life in the media, Gregorian detailed what advice he would give to aspiring sports journalists.

“Read as much as you can of the writers that move you, whether that’s sports writers or history books. That’s the only way you can really find your own voice is to absorb enough that you feel like you know who you want to be. It would be very hard to want to do this without being interested in people,” Gregorian said.

Gregorian ended by explaining what he hopes he is remembered for when his career is over, and a particular goal of his.

“In the long game, being a good teammate makes you a better writer, because it makes you get outside your own head, and realize it’s about the people you’re doing it with also. Which sounds counterintuitive, but I’m certain that any day of work I have is made better by those who are supporting me too,” Gregorian said. “I hope if there’s one thing I do in this that I give that back to others myself.”