When word came out April 21 that the WIAA officially canceled the spring prep sports season, it didn’t come as a surprise to me.
That’s not to say I wasn’t disappointed.
The thing I have always loved about prep sports is the personal growth it can give a young athlete, and the opportunities for their future.
I’m not just talking about the handful of kids with talent to play at the next level in college, but literally to have a future. When I was in school, I considered myself an athlete first, a snarky, half-way responsible teenager ready to live and love life second, and somewhere around 1,138, a student.
If it wasn’t for grade requirements to play sports, I honestly don’t know if I would have completed high school. While I hope I am the only person in history that had that mindset and attitude, I doubt that’s the case.
My brain always functioned differently; my focus hard to keep in one place at a time.
“There’s a bug on the wall; re-read that MLK quote on the wall for the 17th time this period; why would my teacher ever think that shirt was a good choice?; that bug is still flying around; what excuse do I have to make to see my girlfriend tonight after dinner?; I can’t wait to face No. 30 in the game tonight; haha, the bug just landed in Denise’s hair again.”
That is a short clip of an average 10-20 second span of any class I’ve ever had. I couldn’t focus on schoolwork. My brain moved too fast.
Sports, though, were different. I can still walk you down individual days at the golf course, remembering distinctly shot-for-shot my glorious 1-over-par day at Monroe Country Club in 2004. I remember entire at-bats, pitch for pitch with thoughts from the moment, from freshman year of high school through junior college and Home Talent League. I remember entire booklets of our scouting reports in high school football. I wasn’t a starter on the gridiron, but I took my role seriously on the scout team. I took my role seriously in the stands at basketball, cheering on my classmates and friends, while still being goofy and snarky enough to keep the kids standing beside me in the “stoody” entertained when the game wasn’t.
I loved sports so much I actually left college early when a small bi-weekly in northern Wisconsin gave me a chance to be their sports reporter. More than a dozen years later, I’m still at it. I found my passion in the world of sports.
What the kids across the country, let alone our state and county have had to go through this spring, is nothing more than heartbreaking.
The seniors especially have been hit hard. No more late bus rides; no more trying to get a smile from a girl in the crowd at an opposing school. No more Kangaroo Courts to be held. No more team huddles, with a playful diss at a disgruntled coach.
Yet, I fear this will go deeper. When they called the basketball season back in March, I let it be known to other reporters and radio friends that the spring season was in jeopardy. Following the movement of the virus, the deadliness (20% of closed cases globally have ended in death, and nearly 44% in the U.S.) and how slow a vaccine is coming (estimated spring 2021).
Biting my tongue in angst, I don’t believe any sport, at any level (prep, college, pro) will complete a full season before this same date next year. Leagues may try, but I don’t think it happens. Neutral sites, no fans in attendance — doesn’t matter. I think we’ve got another 12 solid months of watching classic games on ESPN and waiting for the next Tiger King documentary to take our minds away from it.
It’s an awful thought. A depressing thought. A mind-numbing thought. But it’s probably the most realistic prediction.
My heart is with you, the senior class of 2020. Please remember, your best days are well ahead of you. Life doesn’t end with high school sports — it begins.
— Adam Krebs is a reporter for the Times and can be reached at akrebs@themonroetimes.net.
