It is good to be back

Thank you.

This is the 20th day in my second stint as sports editor.

And it’s been rather overwhelming.

No, it’s not overwhelming in a bad sense. There haven’t been any big changes. It’s not my first 20 days ever in this position (now those were overwhelming).

There’s nothing wrong.

It honestly feels like I was gone for only a few days instead of a few months.

Jumping into the swing of things again took little to no time. There was no need to get acclimated to the coaches and players because I hadn’t been gone long. I just have a story to tell now about my return.

What’s been overwhelming, however, is the number of members of the community who have reached out to me welcoming me back to the place that forged me as a professional.

Thank you.

It took signing my name on the media pass list for the Feb. 8 wrestling regional tournament at Jay County High School to hear it a first time.

It didn’t stop the rest of the day.

At the JCHS boys basketball game the following Monday, it was even more of the same.

Smiles. Handshakes. Shoulder pats.

“Welcome back.”

“Glad to have you back.”

Thank you. I’m glad to be back.

It’s humbling, really.

I wrote in this space in October it was the people who made it hard to leave. The people have undoubtedly made the return much easier, and made me realize perhaps I should have never left in the first place.

But I did. And I’m sorry.

I’m sorry that, in my absence, editor Ray Cooney had to stretch himself thin — almost surely sacrificing sleep in the process — handling both his usual duties as well as mine while I was away.

I’m sorry that, with Ray doing so much, some sports didn’t get the coverage they deserved. In my first day back, I heard wrestlers lamenting about how little was written about their Allen County Athletic Conference championship.

I’m sorry that I missed the entirety of the Jay County girls basketball season and the chance to watch the freshman season of a young lady who could potentially be the greatest Patriot girls basketball player.

I didn't get to see the Patriot girls swim team clinch another sectional title. I only covered the sectional preliminaries of the boys’ season. I’ll only get to see the gymnasts during their tournament run (sectional is noon Saturday at Fort Wayne Concordia).

And I missed all but a handful of Jay boys basketball games.

But I did get to witness the final three weekends of the best wrestler to ever come through Jay County.

For the record, Ray was right in his Feb. 6 column; I chose Feb. 8 as my return date, the same day as wrestling regional, so I didn’t have to miss any more of Mason Winner’s run to the state finals. I had been with him all along, and wanted to see his career play out.

So thank you:

•To Jack Ronald and Ray for having patience in finding a replacement, and fortunately being unable to do so before I decided I wanted to return.

•And to you, the readers, for all the kind words when I left, and the even kinder ones when upon my return.

I’m glad to be back.