The year of 2020 was unlike any other

What a year, right?

I think we’re all ready for 2020 to hit the road after what we’ve been through. Some have had it much worse than others with the death of loved ones, dealing with the illness themselves or watching those that they love go through it, losing jobs and more. For those people, my heart goes out to you this holiday season and I pray for your comfort.

I hope that you all have found some sort of relief in the work that we’ve been able to bring you during this year.

I can tell you that it hasn’t been easy at the Starkville Daily News. We lost one of our sports writers in Joel Coleman in the middle of the pandemic as well as our executive editor and that meant double duty for Danny P. Smith, myself and everyone at our paper. With no sports for a few months during the spring and the summer, I can tell you it was indeed a chore for all of us.

I’m thankful that sports indeed returned for the fall. I haven’t taken a single game for granted that I’ve been able to cover since that time from Starkville Academy softball to our football and basketball teams around the area. I’ve always enjoyed covering our athletes and coaches in this area since I arrived in 2015, but this year it’s felt a little more special.

We started the year 2020 without much of a thought of all of this happening. I was in the middle of the Southeastern Conference men’s basketball tournament when it all came crashing down. While in Nashville getting set to cover the Bulldogs at Bridgestone Arena, we went from the locker rooms being off limits for media to no fans to a total cancellation in a 24-hour period. Pretty soon, the entire sports world was shut down until later in the summer.

Since then, there’s been restrictions of course, but it’s been a joy to see the kids, coaches and fans get to participate again. It brings back a semblance of normalcy during an incredibly difficult time and reminds us that life must go on for us. I encourage everyone to continue to stay safe and follow guidelines while you’re doing it.

A big thanks again to all of our loyal readers for supporting local journalism. We’ve tried incredibly hard to make it worth your while during this crazy year and we appreciate your business. We hope to bring you many more great stories and moments down the road.

The calendar is about to turn to 2021 and chances are that the start is not significantly better than the end of this year, but I have a feeling we’ll have a better year. There’s only up to go.