I get asked this question almost every day. “Do you think football will be played in the fall?”
For those wondering, yes, I do. As I have said on the podcast, there is too much money at stake in the college football world, and I think high school football will be able to manage health guidelines successfully. I think the season will start, but whether or not we see it finish is a different story.
Nonetheless, recently I was getting breakfast with a friend who asked me the question, but it was phrased quite differently. ‘With the world ending, you really think they’ll play sports in the fall?’ Yes, it was a sarcastic question light-hearted question, but I responded saying, “Isn’t that more of a reason to play? If it’s the end of the world, then let’s go out doing what we love to do.”
We can all agree that 2020 has been a fairly horrible year. Just for the sake of recapping, Australia had its horrific fires, the nation mourned over Kobe Bryant’s death, then the pandemic which is now somehow tied in with the social unrest across the country and no sports.
Honestly, I’m tired of everyone buying into the loom and gloom and not trying to look at this from a more positive perspective. So, where am I going with this? Quite simply, I think we need to try and change our state of mind. Hear me out.
As you read on the front page, I had to write about Gus Sandifer’s passing this week. It’s the second story death-related story I’ve had to write since taking this job back in January. Earlier in the year, I wrote about Forrest Philips. However, sadly enough, Gus’s death is not the first I wrote about that impacted the Lumberton community. Last summer, I wrote about Zach Jones’ dad, Jeff, who was killed in a car accident.
Oddly, enough each of those three stories shares two things in common. The first is that they all were deeply loved and the second is that they lived their lives to the fullest. Jones’ dad had thousands of people show up to his funeral,
Forrest Philips was a just an MHSAA official who umpired and refereed high school games. Yet, people from all over the state and Southeast went to his funeral because he was a man that showed he cared.
I know Gus will have similar support.
I suggest you can go back and read about all these stories on the website and see what I’m talking about.
From talking to all of their friends and teammates, you could genuinely tell that each of them left an everlasting and unique impact.
My point is that each of these guys lived life to the fullest and whether they knew it or not were positive impacts on the people around them, and you can tell that each one cherished and lived life to their fullest way. It’s why each of them was so beloved because it makes other people feel good to see that and be around someone like that.
When I interviewed people for each story, yes, people were upset, but they couldn’t help laughing and smiling when remembering them. I know that sounds common, but it was a different type of mourning.
When you see people like them leave this earth, you really have to cherish your loved ones and the life you have. It doesn’t matter how bad things look and get. What I learned is that you make life how you want it to be.
I know for a fact there is without a doubt at least 1,000 people who would love to see Gus, Forrest, or Jeff back for just one hour.
Not only do I hope that whenever I go that I left that much of an impact on people, but I hope I can live life the way they did.
We all really need to stop and just look around and appreciate what we have.
As I said, 2020 hasn’t exactly been the greatest year to remember, but maybe its an opportunity to learn how to appreciate who is in our lives and what we have and not take it all for granted and develop some patience.
If anyone is a sports fan well, then you know what I’m talking about. Just looking at my thought from a sports perspective and I can easily say that I would love for some of the sports that I have no love for to make a comeback.
I know we are tired of being cooped up and want to get out of the house to get away from the people who have been driving us crazy during the pandemic. I know we are all tired of opening our phones and seeing some type of hatred towards one another.
For me, 2020 will be a year that I learned about myself on what it is I cherish and truly care about and, most importantly, to remember to hold on the things and people I love while I can.
We’re in the second half in 2020, so maybe we need to try and have that late rally or that second-half comeback win. Let’s have a mid-year resolution since the New Year ones didn’t quite work out.
How you do that is up to you. Maybe we can do something special for someone we care about or be as simple as doing a good deed. The ideas are endless.
Then again, what do I know? I’m just the guy who was eating a bagel and drinking coffee and had this all hit my train of thought during breakfast. Maybe I have been thinking too much, or it’s just where my mind wanders with no real sports being played.
Regardless, this year is far from over, and the current circumstances probably won’t change anytime soon, but I think how we approach them would be the difference.
Stay confident my friends; maybe we’ll have renewed hope when football gets started.
