How rapidly our world can change. It’s human nature for the reaction to greet it with fear, anxiety, pensiveness instead of forthrightness, courage and determination.
The RJB didn’t really go out looking for this week’s selection. It found the RJB. While driving around on errands on Friday, a song popped on to the radio that spoke to optimism, happiness and a better outlook.
We turn to the late Jamaican legend Bob Marley. He’s been gone since 1981, but his music lives on.
And this one is a good one to play. In his classical Jamaican reggae upbeat rhythm, it brings some peace.
Who knew that the RJB would ever go there with Bob Marley. But that’s what makes the RJB the RJB.
****
When we played sports as youngsters and teen-agers (some of us into our 20s if we were good enough to play in college), we would hear our coaches tell us two things:
>Sports are a microcosm of life.
>It’s not what happens when adversity strikes but how you respond to it.
This past week, we were given a serious dose of reality of the global coronavirus pandemic. Wednesday was the day everything caved in if you will. The NBA wound up suspending its season, Oscar Winner Tom Hanks announced he and his wife Rita Wilson were diagnosed with it – the pandemic now had a face on it – the college basketball postseason was reduced to restricted visitors.
By the end of the week, March Madness was canceled and every college spring sport was done. On-site football recruiting is shelved. Spring football’s chance to begin in April hangs by a thread.
As abrupt as everything happened, there is that saying that an ounce of prevention means a pound of cure. Why borrow trouble of the risk of this super flu spreading if you don’t have to.
We’re all going to go through emotional highs and lows through this period. The antsy feelings are connected to trying to know when the outcome will occur. No one knows. Instant world or not, you have to take it day by day. And prayer wouldn’t be a bad thing either.
Indeed, this would have been a March for all Baylor basketball fans to covet. The men’s and women’s teams likely were headed to No. 1 seeds with visions of playing in Final Fours in Atlanta and New Orleans. This was Scott Drew’s best team. This was Kim Mulkey’s opportunity to pursue consecutive titles.
Now, it’s a season where both teams finished losing their regular season finales. And that’s it.
Steve Rodriguez’s baseball team also finished 10-6. Softball’s comeback season doesn’t have the complete story.
Everybody understands the big picture. You have to make some sacrifices for the common good.
We all love our sports. They give us a release. They allow us to slip to that place where we forget the everyday frustrations and struggles.
Now, we don’t have them. And forgive me for saying this…but I’m OK with that for a while. We’re in a period where you just learn to do without.
Maybe one of the lessons from something like this is to push the reset button and really determine what’s important to us.
To go biblical, there is the story of where Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and fasted, was tempted by Satan and pretty much told him to beat it. Even Moses fasted for 40 days before he delivered the 10 commandments. We marvel at what they did. We now have our own version of 40 days. This is our journey.
This kind of site is designed for the hard core fans. There is a place to track it. There is no place to become consumed it and let your day’s emotions be 100 percent dictated if the Bears won or lost. I’m not saying you can’t be disappointed or fired up. I’m just saying a period like this could offer some introspection if those feelings were taken too far or not.
When I broke into this business at age 21 – I actually started writing stories for the Las Vegas Sun and Las Vegas Review-Journal when I was a junior in high school – full core, I was the typical young sports reporter who couldn’t wait for the game, couldn’t wait to talk to the coaches and players doing research on whatever.
But that was years ago. With two girls in college, now an empty nester and looking a little more about my life in the next 20 years, if the game is played cool. If the game isn’t played, OK fine. What’s next?
I don’t want this to be misinterpreted. I always like talking to recruits and hearing their stories because you never know what they’re going to say about anything. Perfect example was this past week’s story about Alvin Shadow Creek 2022 Trent McGaughey’s visit to Baylor and learning that his father and Dave Aranda coached at Houston and that he’s know Aranda pretty much his entire life. I get excited for the kids who sign their national letters of intent because I appreciate their journey from where it first started to where it culminated in the opportunity to play in college sports.
I had a blast writing the stories about Baylor’s Big 12-record 23-game winning streak, watching the Allen Field House losing streak end and speculating whether this team was really ready to make a run in the NCAA tournament.
I enjoy sitting down on Sunday nights and writing this. The fire still burns in the challenge of what am I going to discuss this week and hopefully keep it interesting.
****
OK, I have to put the old NCAA tournament theme in here just because.
****
I think what you can call it is putting it in the right perspective and making sure angles were covered and so on. It’s also called growing up. Ha. Ha.
There’s no point in belaboring the virus on this board from my end. I’ll keep you up to date on any news from the NCAA, the Big 12 and Baylor.
However, I wanted to let the week pass from this jolt. Recruiting really wasn’t on our minds. I think we’re starting to emerge from the shock of last week and now adjusting to the new normal.
I will get back into some recruiting stories, talk to those who were offered and see what they’re thinking about Baylor. Despite all this, coaches and players can still talk electronically. Relationships still have to be formed. Maybe virtual tours of the school are now part of the plan. Necessity is the mother of invention. Heck, we still could get commitments.
And Stephen will still have his depth chart series starting this week. We’ll do what we can to get through this together.
Let’s close with another cliché we learned from our coaches: adversity doesn’t built character. It reveals it.
****
One thing I learned over the last couple of days is that my Razorback and Crimson Tide are home just like your college age kids. They can’t stand it.
But as a parent, you should come away with a little fist pump because you know they have found their groove, like their new way of life, being self-sufficient and learning how to do things for themselves.
The Razorback is a little more along. But the Crimson Tide has picked up on it and did so this semester than from the first.
This is what every parent wants, right?
I drove my mother in law home to Fayetteville Saturday – that’s a long story of what she went through the last couple of weeks travel wise – then followed the Razorback home Sunday.
So we get home and talk to both of them and tell them that I’m their RA, and here are the rules about friends in your room after a certain hour, loud music and fights with roommates and how to handle them.
I was first greeted with a response that I might as well have been a member of ISIS.
Then I was told that that was “Dad Joke”. I try so hard to avoid that because Dad jokes/humor are really bad. You try to sound like you’re with it and you’re really not. So that response stung.
****
One thing that really ticked me off was on the drive back from Fayetteville. In this time where personal hygiene is being emphasized to near overkill, there’s a reason it’s being emphasized to near overkill.
I’m at pit stop in Oklahoma. After getting gas, you do what you have to do. One guy in there does what he has do, blows right past the sink and soap, ignores the hand sanitizer next to the door and walks out.
I don’t get it. Maybe the problem is he still doesn’t get it.
****
Best guess on how the men’s basketball team would have done: I think they would have made it to the second weekend of the tournament because the draws for No. 1 seeds are usually a certainty they would get there. I don’t think they would have made it to Atlanta because of their front court issues and teams attacking them like West Virginia did.
Best guess on how the women’s basketball team would have done: I think they would have gone to the Final Four. I don’t know if they would have won it because of the way South Carolina had been playing.
Best guess on the softball team: Probably would have returned to the NCAA tournament.
Best guess on the baseball team: It would have been an up-and-down season but the Bears would have done enough to return to the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive season.
Best guess on spring football: I don’t think we’re having it after the Big 12 re-evaluates everything either at or before March 29. But keep in mind the Bears are in the same position as everyone. What I could see happen is that when our society is ready to return to a normal way of doing things, I could see some kind of “spring football season” awarded in June leading up to fall camp in August.
****
This journey continues. Take it day by day. You can never say I love you enough.
The RJB didn’t really go out looking for this week’s selection. It found the RJB. While driving around on errands on Friday, a song popped on to the radio that spoke to optimism, happiness and a better outlook.
We turn to the late Jamaican legend Bob Marley. He’s been gone since 1981, but his music lives on.
And this one is a good one to play. In his classical Jamaican reggae upbeat rhythm, it brings some peace.
Who knew that the RJB would ever go there with Bob Marley. But that’s what makes the RJB the RJB.
****
When we played sports as youngsters and teen-agers (some of us into our 20s if we were good enough to play in college), we would hear our coaches tell us two things:
>Sports are a microcosm of life.
>It’s not what happens when adversity strikes but how you respond to it.
This past week, we were given a serious dose of reality of the global coronavirus pandemic. Wednesday was the day everything caved in if you will. The NBA wound up suspending its season, Oscar Winner Tom Hanks announced he and his wife Rita Wilson were diagnosed with it – the pandemic now had a face on it – the college basketball postseason was reduced to restricted visitors.
By the end of the week, March Madness was canceled and every college spring sport was done. On-site football recruiting is shelved. Spring football’s chance to begin in April hangs by a thread.
As abrupt as everything happened, there is that saying that an ounce of prevention means a pound of cure. Why borrow trouble of the risk of this super flu spreading if you don’t have to.
We’re all going to go through emotional highs and lows through this period. The antsy feelings are connected to trying to know when the outcome will occur. No one knows. Instant world or not, you have to take it day by day. And prayer wouldn’t be a bad thing either.
Indeed, this would have been a March for all Baylor basketball fans to covet. The men’s and women’s teams likely were headed to No. 1 seeds with visions of playing in Final Fours in Atlanta and New Orleans. This was Scott Drew’s best team. This was Kim Mulkey’s opportunity to pursue consecutive titles.
Now, it’s a season where both teams finished losing their regular season finales. And that’s it.
Steve Rodriguez’s baseball team also finished 10-6. Softball’s comeback season doesn’t have the complete story.
Everybody understands the big picture. You have to make some sacrifices for the common good.
We all love our sports. They give us a release. They allow us to slip to that place where we forget the everyday frustrations and struggles.
Now, we don’t have them. And forgive me for saying this…but I’m OK with that for a while. We’re in a period where you just learn to do without.
Maybe one of the lessons from something like this is to push the reset button and really determine what’s important to us.
To go biblical, there is the story of where Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and fasted, was tempted by Satan and pretty much told him to beat it. Even Moses fasted for 40 days before he delivered the 10 commandments. We marvel at what they did. We now have our own version of 40 days. This is our journey.
This kind of site is designed for the hard core fans. There is a place to track it. There is no place to become consumed it and let your day’s emotions be 100 percent dictated if the Bears won or lost. I’m not saying you can’t be disappointed or fired up. I’m just saying a period like this could offer some introspection if those feelings were taken too far or not.
When I broke into this business at age 21 – I actually started writing stories for the Las Vegas Sun and Las Vegas Review-Journal when I was a junior in high school – full core, I was the typical young sports reporter who couldn’t wait for the game, couldn’t wait to talk to the coaches and players doing research on whatever.
But that was years ago. With two girls in college, now an empty nester and looking a little more about my life in the next 20 years, if the game is played cool. If the game isn’t played, OK fine. What’s next?
I don’t want this to be misinterpreted. I always like talking to recruits and hearing their stories because you never know what they’re going to say about anything. Perfect example was this past week’s story about Alvin Shadow Creek 2022 Trent McGaughey’s visit to Baylor and learning that his father and Dave Aranda coached at Houston and that he’s know Aranda pretty much his entire life. I get excited for the kids who sign their national letters of intent because I appreciate their journey from where it first started to where it culminated in the opportunity to play in college sports.
I had a blast writing the stories about Baylor’s Big 12-record 23-game winning streak, watching the Allen Field House losing streak end and speculating whether this team was really ready to make a run in the NCAA tournament.
I enjoy sitting down on Sunday nights and writing this. The fire still burns in the challenge of what am I going to discuss this week and hopefully keep it interesting.
****
OK, I have to put the old NCAA tournament theme in here just because.
****
I think what you can call it is putting it in the right perspective and making sure angles were covered and so on. It’s also called growing up. Ha. Ha.
There’s no point in belaboring the virus on this board from my end. I’ll keep you up to date on any news from the NCAA, the Big 12 and Baylor.
However, I wanted to let the week pass from this jolt. Recruiting really wasn’t on our minds. I think we’re starting to emerge from the shock of last week and now adjusting to the new normal.
I will get back into some recruiting stories, talk to those who were offered and see what they’re thinking about Baylor. Despite all this, coaches and players can still talk electronically. Relationships still have to be formed. Maybe virtual tours of the school are now part of the plan. Necessity is the mother of invention. Heck, we still could get commitments.
And Stephen will still have his depth chart series starting this week. We’ll do what we can to get through this together.
Let’s close with another cliché we learned from our coaches: adversity doesn’t built character. It reveals it.
****
One thing I learned over the last couple of days is that my Razorback and Crimson Tide are home just like your college age kids. They can’t stand it.
But as a parent, you should come away with a little fist pump because you know they have found their groove, like their new way of life, being self-sufficient and learning how to do things for themselves.
The Razorback is a little more along. But the Crimson Tide has picked up on it and did so this semester than from the first.
This is what every parent wants, right?
I drove my mother in law home to Fayetteville Saturday – that’s a long story of what she went through the last couple of weeks travel wise – then followed the Razorback home Sunday.
So we get home and talk to both of them and tell them that I’m their RA, and here are the rules about friends in your room after a certain hour, loud music and fights with roommates and how to handle them.
I was first greeted with a response that I might as well have been a member of ISIS.
Then I was told that that was “Dad Joke”. I try so hard to avoid that because Dad jokes/humor are really bad. You try to sound like you’re with it and you’re really not. So that response stung.
****
One thing that really ticked me off was on the drive back from Fayetteville. In this time where personal hygiene is being emphasized to near overkill, there’s a reason it’s being emphasized to near overkill.
I’m at pit stop in Oklahoma. After getting gas, you do what you have to do. One guy in there does what he has do, blows right past the sink and soap, ignores the hand sanitizer next to the door and walks out.
I don’t get it. Maybe the problem is he still doesn’t get it.
****
Best guess on how the men’s basketball team would have done: I think they would have made it to the second weekend of the tournament because the draws for No. 1 seeds are usually a certainty they would get there. I don’t think they would have made it to Atlanta because of their front court issues and teams attacking them like West Virginia did.
Best guess on how the women’s basketball team would have done: I think they would have gone to the Final Four. I don’t know if they would have won it because of the way South Carolina had been playing.
Best guess on the softball team: Probably would have returned to the NCAA tournament.
Best guess on the baseball team: It would have been an up-and-down season but the Bears would have done enough to return to the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive season.
Best guess on spring football: I don’t think we’re having it after the Big 12 re-evaluates everything either at or before March 29. But keep in mind the Bears are in the same position as everyone. What I could see happen is that when our society is ready to return to a normal way of doing things, I could see some kind of “spring football season” awarded in June leading up to fall camp in August.
****
This journey continues. Take it day by day. You can never say I love you enough.
