Too close for comfort
It was only two weeks ago that the space on the Sunday sports pages of The Starkville Daily News was filled with all kinds of basketball news.
On the college level, Mississippi State defeated Ole Miss 69-44 in the final men's game of the regular season, while the MSU women came from behind to defeat Kentucky 77-59 in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
The most significant story for us during that weekend was the Starkville Yellow Jackets winning another Class 6A State championship in boys basketball by defeating Murrah 58-51. It was the fifth state title for the school and fourth for head coach Greg Carter.
That was certainly a busy weekend for our sports department, but it was only a few days later everything came to a screeching halt.
With the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in a few shorts days since, just about every sporting event known to man has shut down.
It's strange to even think about that if this virus had emerged any earlier than it did, we could be remembering the state tournament ending before trophies were given out. The Yellow Jackets would have no title.
That was too close for comfort.
Instead of SHS celebrating another state title, it could have wondering what might have been as so many other sports are doing right now. It was great to be able to cover the accomplishment of the Jackets lifting another gold ball.
Sporting events may have come to a close, but we are still able to provide our local community news such as any updates from the Southeastern Conference, Mississippi High School Activities Association and Midsouth Association of Independent Schools on any further postponements that may happen. That's why local journalism is so important.
In the last two days, we have been able to reveal the High School Basketball All-area Teams. Congratulations goes to players of the year in Starkville High School's Forte Prater and Amaya Ford along with coaches of the year Carter and Jon Ginn of East Webster.
There are more important things to consider than sports at this time because of the situation our world, our country, our state and our area finds itself in, but if we can provide a little bit of a positive by putting a player on an All-area team, then we have accomplished our mission.
Updates on the coronavirus will continue to come through the news and those are necessary, but if there are any feel good stories about sports teams and players in our coverage area, we would still like to know about them. Please email any tips to sports@starkvilledailynews.com and they will certainly be considered.
Reporting sports is what Joel Coleman, Robbie Faulk and myself are committed to do. There may be times where we'll need to branch out and serve our newspaper in other ways.
Teamwork, being smart and doing what is asked will be the only way we get through these tough times. We are all in this together and we will get through this.