By Sonny Jones
Uh-oh. It’s the dreaded Q word again.
Q as in quarantine because of COVID-19 protocols. Haven’t we been down this road before? Are we headed down this pothole-filled road again?
Let’s hope not, but be prepared for some bumps along the way.
Last season’s fall sports were moved to the spring and shortened because of the pandemic. The winter and spring seasons were shortened and had interruptions because of the virus. Players had to wear masks during games.
This fall, we hoped, would be different. This year’s fall sports teams are expecting to return to their usual schedule with openers in boys’ soccer, volleyball, girls’ tennis and football set this week.
The East Bladen and West Bladen boys’ soccer teams are scheduled to open their seasons today (Monday) with the Eagles at South Columbus and the Knights at West Columbus.
However, at least three of the seven Southeastern 2-A Conference football teams won’t be playing Friday as scheduled. West Bladen was placed under two-week quarantine last Friday and won’t be able to play at South Columbus. St. Pauls and Fairmont had Friday’s openers called off because Purnell Swett and Lumberton, respectively, will be completing two-week quarantines.
It’s not the way any of us want the season to start. But it’s the way the season is going to start whether we like or not.
Hopefully, the athletes will get to participate in their chosen sports. There’s nothing like high school sports and the youngsters will never get back time missed because of a virus.
But the dreaded Q word is out there. And it looks like it’s going to be with us this fall sports season again.
NEWS AND NOTES
• West Robeson, which won the state Dixie Youth Division I tournament in Elizabethtown last month, finished third in the World Series played in Laurel, Mississippi and won the Sportsmanship Award. West Robeson opened with a 7-4 win against Texas, lost to Tennessee 5-4 in seven innings, beat Virginia 5-1, defeated Louisiana 7-1 and lost to South Carolina 2-0. South Carolina beat Tennessee 6-1 in the championship game.
• The Indianapolis Colts beat the Carolina Panthers 21-18 on Sunday in the NFL preseason opener for both teams. Yawn! The Panthers didn’t play any starters. Is there anything less exciting than NFL preseason football? I watched a few plays, then went outside and watched my grass grow.
• For excitement, it was tough to beat the finish to the NASCAR Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. AJ Allmendinger became the 15th different race winner this season, taking the checkered flag in a drawn out overtime finish after Chase Briscoe bumped leader Denny Hamlin on the final restart. Two races remain in the Cup’s regular season.
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com.
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