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The Extra Point

We’ll still be there

Chris Siers
Posted 8/20/20

Typically, by the time the calendar flips from late July to early August, the excitement is at a fever pitch while everyone prepares for the opening football kickoffs. From the Pop Warner leagues, to high school, college and the NFL, excitement is buzzing around here...

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The Extra Point

We’ll still be there

Posted

Typically, by the time the calendar flips from late July to early August, the excitement is at a fever pitch while everyone prepares for the opening football kickoffs.

From the Pop Warner leagues, to high school, college and the NFL, excitement is buzzing around here.

People are itching for the cool fall nights and to see the action back on the gridiron.

This year feels so different.

Maybe it’s the unknown of how long we can stay the course with the plans in place to carry out our seasons.

Walking the sidelines under the lights on Friday nights is arguably my favorite part of my job—nothing else compares.

For years, I have a set schedule.

I’ll cover middle school football on Thursday nights, follow with my high school games on Friday nights.

I’ll come home, listen to the radio talk shows, catch up on all the scores from around the state and start compiling my stats.

Saturday mornings though, that’s where it all ties together.

I’ll wake up bright and early and plop myself down in front of the TV, put on College Gameday Live, and finish up my high school game story.

From there, it’s 12-plus hours of college football.

Once the Saturday excitement is over, I shift gears, focus on my fantasy football roster, and turn my attention to the NFL.

Saying I enjoy football could be the understatement of the century.

I love everything about it.

But this year just feels...different.

The ongoing pandemic has affected us all in so many ways.

Many of us have been impacted by the illness itself, while others have seen their livelihoods impacted.

I love sports and everything associated with it.

For better or worse, my personal identity is closely intertwined with sports.

That’s how I make my living.

I understand how greatly this pandemic has affected society, but for nearly six months now, I’ve felt my identity has been stripped with the lack of sports to personally cover and lack of sports to personally enjoy.

Slowly, I’ve felt the flame of excitement flicker and seen society creep back to live sports.

I’m excited to see football teams hit the field and return to action.

Football in particular has such an important place in society.

It’s one of those rare entities that is able to pull people of different backgrounds, creeds and walks of life under a single banner—that’s something that has been sorely missed for the better part of 2020.

I don’t know how long we’ll be able to enjoy sports as cases do continue to crop up and various teams have to enter quarantine.

I don’t know how long this will go on.

What I do know is as long as we’re able to do it, we’ll be walking those sidelines on Friday nights, tuning in on Saturdays, and checking our fantasy football rosters on Sundays.

• Chris Siers is sports editor of the Times-Gazette. Email him at sports@t-g.com.

Chris Siers is sports editor of the Times-Gazette.