Cultivating a new way of sports journalism while cocooning
I enjoyed somewhat of a luxury in Lockdown.
Deprived of the luxury of attending the office on a daily basis, or coverage of my beloved G.A.A. along with Circuit Courts, I still enjoyed the unique distinction of been in a position of carrying out my daily work from the office of my home, despite cocooning.
I was locked down in my home days before An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar made that historic announcement to the people of Ireland. I was left with little choice, being one of the many thousands of cocooners throughour Ireland. I had to buy into it, amd although difficult at first, the situation grew on me as the days passed by.
There was always the longing for the coverage of outdoor games, attending to my daily circuit court reporting routine, but it did present an opportunity to take so much more on board, much of which had been put on the long finger for so long. here were sports pages still to be filled so it presented an opportunity to delve into my archives, which in itself helped present so many interesting stories over the past weeks, as one recalled the stories behind so many individuals and of games past.
Before the shutdown I was looking forward to the closing stages of the Allianz National Hurling and Football leagues, the club championship month of April, in the build-up to what one hoped would be a long bright summer of hurling and football action.
This was all quickly wiped away on that famous night of An Taoiseach’s announcement, as Ireland was sent into lockdown. The dreaded coronavirus had impacted our country, so instead of looking up the weekly G.A.A. fixtures and other sporting assignments I became embellished in the evening news bulletins. These bulletins suddenly ushered in a new way of thinking. You could not argue with what you were hearing, as each bulletin with a current update of deaths and the spread of the virus, sent out a clear message that sport would be many months down the road.
But, then again, unlike thousands of coocooners, I was in the privileged position of been able to continue on my sporting journey. Setting about to look back down the years, having put more than 50 years of journalism behind me, I began recalling the good, and not so good days, of Wexford hurling and football, along with rugby and general sports.
During a hectic playing season one is overwhelmed with coverage of games, player details, previews, but coocooning gave me an opportunity to reflect, leading to a new approach – player interviews, sporting activities back in time, much of which brought back such fond memories.
As regards the home office, I’m lucky that I had always created a space for myself by way of a separate room, with desk, computer equipment, and presses of books, papers going back many years, such books many of which would be difficult to find available at present time.
And yet despite this privilege you could imagine the remaining detail to put in place, suddenly realising that I would be cocooned at home for a considerable length of time. Like anyone working from home I suddenly became perfectly content in my now permanent surrounds. And it was not just me for lockdown for, truth be told, I had also to allow space for the good wife, Irene.
It was a tricky time as the good wife set in motion the delivery of supplies for visits to supermarkets, but garden centres, were a ‘no go’. It’s hardly surprising that people have changed their shopping habits. Our weekly supply of groceries were delivered promptly from Pettitt’s Super-Valu, our milkman Richie Hore maintained his delivery service, that also included a special delivery of The People Newspaper each Tuesday morning, Boggan’s Service Station on the Newtown Road provided a daily newspaper delivery coupled with weekend grocery list, while Padraig Murphy (Haven Pharmacy) looked after the much needed medical supplies for a now relaxed Cocoonor, while my butcher Doyles on Clonard road, also embraced the weekly delivery service. Davy Fitzgerald should embrace those steaks for the hurlers. I will vouch for them any day.
Yes, you could become accustomed to this style of living.
It’s hardly surprising that people are gardening their way through this crisis. Weeding, planting and cultivating, made for the considerable outdoor space to feel less claustrophobic that the inside space. Gardening soothes the soul, calms anxiety and eases stress, tending to a garden is a simple and wholesome pursuit as the evenings continue to stretch.
Each morning as the day was planned out, there were the routine and not so routine telephone calls. The trouble is, given the time we are in there are so many calls to make before one finds their intended target. There’s the usual small talk which brought some light relief. It helped encourage the person to relax and make everything seem less challenging.
The unwinding of the story began. One reopened avenues for discussion. Although to be fair each and everyone was open to offering their piece on the subject required. Sports people, in particular, feeling the effects of lockdown and tight restrictions, exerted themselves from the terrible disappointment of no games, of having to wait a little longer, were now just content to buy into a whole new regime. Those Monday morning calls with Davy are still as exciting and enjoyable as ever despite his lack of opportunity for those sideline antics. There are also the routine calls catching up on the sports and news of the previous 24 hours. Being in lockdown it was uplifting just to hear a voice at the other end of the phone.
Many years ago as the weekly paper was sent to print, the then editor’s famous slogan was something like this ‘another baby put to bed’. We heard this so often but then there was the terrible disappointment of being told ‘now let’s prepare for next week’. Those were the old hot metal days of printing.
So having accepted cocooning, I had to look for more discipline, strike a work rota for each day so as not to run over deadlines. I had a system of early morning starts with my only mid-morning concern being the fresh odour of home cooking which diverted my attention for the one too many cups of coffee Perhaps a mask was needed to reduce eating rather than concern about the virus!
Meanwhile, as the afternoon drew to a close, work completed for another day, the evening was finished off with a Facetime from our two granddaughters, Jessica and Rebecca, in Bray.
It’s working. Remote working will remain in place for weeks to come but lets not finish this way.
The good days will come again, promised Leo, as I took my first break from the surrounds of the house on Tuesday morning last, for that long awaited walk, after more than six weeks of cocooning.