Pitchin With Pritch: Strange times we’re living in right now

What a difference a few days makes in one’s plans. The coronavirus has made a giant change in everything from if you work, if you go to school, visit friends or visit family.

It has changed a bunch of things and we are lucky so far to have minimum contact with it here in Nebraska. 

But I think we are just in the first quarter of this game and there is a lot of game to be played. 

Some of the things that we as people are missing are not that big of a deal, but some of them are things that will be hard to replace.

 There are more important things than sports, but tell that to a senior in high school getting ready for their last season in a spring sport. 

Tell it to the university athlete that had a dream of getting to the NCAA basketball tournament and they never got a chance to even play in one playoff game. 

I heard people say, “Oh well, those players will just go to the pros and never miss anything.” Check the stats—not that many players make it to the pros. 

Nebraska high school kids at least had the chance to play in a state tournament and win a state championship for their school. I think the NSAA did a great job in going ahead with the tournament and limiting the crowd but giving the players a chance to play. 

Was it the same experience, probably not, but in many cases the players block all the outside stuff when playing.   They know there are people, bands, cheerleaders, but you can’t take all that in when you are playing. 

It certainly helps to have the support etc., but the teams can still play well if there are no extras around. 

In some of the college conference tournaments, the games got called off at half-time. Not sure what to think about that kind of decision-making but then they didn’t call and ask what I thought.

Missed out on Omaha

I was looking forward to being in Omaha last week and watching the first round games that would be held there. It would have been two games on Friday and one on Sunday and there was a really good chance that one of the teams would have been Kansas. 

There is something about the NCAA tournament that’s special, even if you just watch it on TV. 

Many times, the first few days of the tournament I have been the host for some friends to come over and watch games. It is a few days of solid basketball watching. 

Only one time in my life I was lucky enough to go to the Final Four. I have that on my bucket list to do one more time. 

My son Travis and I went to Minneapolis in the early 90’s and had a great time. 

I got the tickets via the lottery system, which means from where we were sitting in the Metrodome in Minneapolis the game was almost just a rumor—we were back away from the floor just a bit. But it was fun. 

Michigan, Duke, Cincinnati and Indiana made the Final Four and Duke and Michigan played in the finals. It was a great three or four days even if you were in Minnesota in the winter. 

Nobody got that thrill this year. Not a single fan, not a single player, not a single coach, and not one official!

Spring Sports

This year we don’t know what is going to happen with the high school spring sports. Right now nothing is happening as they try to bring the health concerns to a safe level. It is strange time. 

I am just a couple years younger than dirt and I have never experienced anything like this. It isn’t like a snow storm where the roads get cleared, the sun comes out and turns the snow to moisture. 

We don’t know when it is going to be the time to do what is normal for Spring. Everyone has adjusted.  The school, the teachers, the students, all the people that work there have adjusted. 

It goes further than that. The business places in town have also made adjustments. Sometimes when things like this happen, it is nice to live in a place like Grant. 

I know that people don’t always agree, but differences get put aside and places like Hatch’s will make all kinds of adjustments to make it easier and safer to get food. 

They are not the only place. As I told my Mother in 1964, “Mom, there isn’t much up here that will hold me, I will be back in Kansas in a couple years and get a teaching job there.” Apparently there was more here than I was seeing.