Sports Talk: Full cycle on the Casey County sports circuit

As a correspondent sports writer for The Casey County News, I write an weekly editorial column for the publication. Published Dec. 5, 2012.

Technically the end of January will mark the end of my first year of returning as a sports correspondent with The Casey County News, but with the beginning of boys and girls basketball season, I feel like I’ve finally come full circle.

And I couldn’t be happier about that!

There a multiple reasons for this.

First, while my full-time job keeps me actively writing marketing content, I have been away from my journalistic tone since my 2008 Bellarmine graduation. It’s good to be brushing up.

Second, it’s been a great way to reconnect with the county. With my job being in Louisville and making that trip two days of the week, if it were not for my sports writing duties, I would likely not very proactive about attending the local sporting events; therefore I would not have the opportunity to run into so many familiar faces on a regular basis.

Third, I can finally feel like I know a thing or two about our sports team! By beginning my writing mid-basketball season last year, I often times felt very lost as to what was going on with our teams and players. Having been away from the area for seven years, I was completely disconnected from the teams and athletes, minus the occasional glance through my parent’s copies of The Casey County News when visiting home.

Who were our top athletes? What kinds of records did we see in recent seasons? What coaches were new? What kinds of injuries or records had athletes experienced? How did we fair in the district? What teams are in our district??

I got used to covering college sports where a simple Google search or visit to a school’s website could give you all of the athletic information you can imagine. Rosters, game states, school records, season records, and, oftentimes, a press release regarding every individual game.

High school sports are not necessarily like this. Way to go Casey County for having our online edition of the newspaper with complete high school sports coverage. You might be surprised how difficult it can be to find out information on many of the state’s other teams both before and after games.

Finally, a year has passed and I’ve been through one season with all of our sports teams. I know names and faces and, sometimes even preferred jersey numbers.

It adds a new level of excitement to be covering a team I actually feel like I have a history with and know the troubles and triumphs of last year and the hopes and expectations of a fresh season.

I can remember, from my days as an athlete, the bittersweet end to any season—good or bad. The long months of the off season ahead were a blessing in that it was a time for improvement, but a curse in that you had such a long wait until a chance to out-do yourself again. If only there was just another week or another month or another game… If only you could get the next season started sooner rather than later.

I’m excited to now be able to share in the anticipation and hopes our teams have as new seasons begin and ensue.

Congrats Rebels and Lady Rebels on great starts. Two wins right off the bat for the boys and, what good news to hear Jasmine Johnson has not been sentenced to a senior season riding the bench after the knee scare! I feel like I can legitimately call myself a true Rebel fan once again.