How do I define a winning year
In sports, everyone loves a winner. When you have a team that is winning, and expected to make a deep run in the playoffs, maybe even win it all, there’s almost an electricity that fills the air when that sort of team takes the field, the court or the baseball diamond.
People travel to see those kinds of teams, the media is at every game, and it’s a writer’s dream to have that kind of season. I’ve been lucky enough to cover many teams like that over the past four years since I became your sports reporter.
I’ve seen the Colby Hornets football team hoist a state title back in Novmeber. I’ve gotten to see the Abbotsford Falcons football team win numerous conference titles and make deep runs to state semifinals.
The Abbotsford Falcons volleyball team is always in the mix for conference titles and regional championships, and the Colby girls basketball team won back to back conference titles and a trip to state during my tenure.
Those are great seasons, and I am happy to have covered them, and I’ll remember those moments for as long as I draw breath.
Everyone loves a winner. And then there’s those teams that don’t win, or seem perpetually downtrodden. Just ask a Detroit Lions football fan, or Cincinnati Bengals fan. I can’t even remember the last time either of those teams won a playoff game, it’s been so long.
This winter sports season has been a strange one. On the one hand, I’ve been blessed with some great wrestlers. I feel confident in saying Carter Grewe and Tanner Halopka are going to get back to the state tournament.
My Colby boys basketball team is just one game back from the Neillsville Warriors and Columbus Catholic Dons in the Eastern Cloverbelt title race. They have a chance to get a quality win later this month when they host the Columbus Catholic Dons on Jan. 18. A win over the Dons makes it a two race for that title.
I think Colby can do even more than that. If they play like I know they can, they should be adding a few numbers to their banners. But as I said, it’s been a strange year, and there’s those teams that are struggling to get wins.
The Abbotsford boys and Colby girls basketball teams are programs in a rebuild phase. They’ve had a hard time getting wins, but that’s because they’re young. I give those players a lot of credit. It’s easy to be part of something special, something that wins.
It’s harder to endure ups and downs, and losing seasons. It takes more effort in many cases to stay with the sport and the team. So I give those student-athletes a lot of credit.
They play because they love the sport. They keep coming to practices and games, and they don’t quit. For that reason alone, in my eyes, that makes each and every one of them winners.
M usings and G rumblings
eporter
