As I write these words, the first real snow accumulation sits quietly on the ground, nature reminding us that there are seasons and, well, ours change regardless of what the calendar might tell us.
Yet it’s also a portent to seeing most high school sports move indoors for the winter. From courts to rinks to mats, everyone hopes for a full campaign after last winter’s long delay and compressed schedule.
It was in these exact circumstances where I first took this job half a lifetime ago – and 23 years later, I’m just as keyed up for a new season. Maybe more so.
Part of the reason is professional. Basketball, ice hockey and bowling have missed out on two winters of state championships.
As a result, some tremendous teams – think Lowville boys hoops, South Jefferson girls hoops and Skaneateles hockey – were denied chances at ultimate glory that, for most of them, represented their sports pinnacle, leading to a lifetime of what-if questions.
This alone was sufficient to feel good about having winter sports placed in its usual time slot. But there’s also a personal aspect.
Ever since the fall and broken humerus suffered in mid-October and already chronicled in this space, the eagerness to reconnect with the local sports scene has only grown on my part.
That excitement is mixed with sadness, though, at all the big events and moments I’ve missed in person. It causes a real sense of detachment, isolation and loneliness, as if the world carried on and no one even noticed your absence.
Well, within a week or so the arm might finally be out of the sling and I’ll be allowed to drive again. Never will slick, icy, snow-covered and salt-treated roads seem so attractive and welcome.
Better yet will be the atmospheres. It could be the cozy, intimate Buckley Gym at Cazenovia or the new palace they’ve built at Liverpool, or the old-school noise generated on hockey night at Shove Park.
Take it further into winter, and you get the sweaty excitement of a sectional boys swim meet at Nottingham, or the expansive setting of SRC Arena where wrestling and indoor track titles are on the line, or the crowded corridor of Strike-N-Spare Lanes that hosts the state bowling championships.
By themselves, each one of these places, and each of these events, is special. Put them together, and you’ve got a sports scene that, while expansive and exhausting, is also quite fun to follow.
In short, the same kind of intrigue, mystery and wonder I felt as a young man starting out on this journey is still here now. All I want is to, once more, be a small part of it.
