COLUMN: All hands on deck at tournament time

February is one of the most exciting months in Iowa high school sports.

It’s postseason tournament time in all of them. When I was working full-time in sports, this is the time I’d say to Deb, “See you in March.”

Most weeknights, and every Saturday were spent on the tournament trail in either basketball or wrestling for Creston and the area schools. Sundays were devoted to writing everything that was covered on Friday night and Saturday. Deb was very understanding, because I don’t know if we ever spent Valentine’s Day together, to be honest.

It’s invigorating and draining all at the same time. For the teams you’re covering, every night is win or go home. You can feel the excitement in the gym as soon as you walk in.

However, this is the first time in my 39 years in Creston that the News Advertiser is without a sports writer during the February tournament stretch. We haven’t had a writer devoted strictly to sports since last September.

Fortunately, both Cheyenne Roche and John Van Nostrand have stepped up and filled some of the gaps. I’ve tried to do what I can while retaining some semblance of retirement, while also being immersed in coaching middle school basketball in January and February.

Cheyenne has especially stepped up in the sport of wrestling, which is a passion of Creston as well as one of hers from her high school days in Wisconsin. We’re lucky in that regard, because as much as I’ve loved covering Panther wrestling over the years, I haven’t been in a position to help much this year beyond one home dual and the Panther Invitational.

Between Deb’s retirement party and having two granddaughters with February birthdays and the parties that go with that, and a grandson playing basketball, my attention has on more family-related things in February than being at wrestling tournaments. That’s a promise I made when retiring in December 2020, and I plan to keep it.

When Cheyenne was busy in Coralville last weekend at girls state wrestling and the boys state dual tournament, it reminded me of the days of going to Cedar Rapids for state duals after the three-day grind of individual state wrestling in Des Moines. One time it was postponed to Monday night and considering the distance of that trip, to get the report in Tuesday’s paper it was an all-nighter in the CNA office.

It was exhilarating and fun doing it then. Now, at 65, I just couldn’t pull it.

Cheyenne and John have a multitude of news responsibilities on top of helping in sports, plus working on the giant Progress Edition coming out in a few weeks. I’m trying to be the retired guy helping out when I can, like the late Max Sandeman did for me when I moved to Creston.

So, this is a plea for some patience and understanding that we’re in a difficult spot. Your continued support is appreciated, because it’s the only way we have a chance of restoring ourselves to past staffing levels and the depth of product that you’re used to seeing.

In the meantime, between all of us pitching in and a wide network of freelancers willing to send us photos from various locations, I think you’re still getting a pretty good daily mix of the latest sports news.

But if you know anyone who might thrive in that role full-time, please contact one of us! I certainly don’t regret that I spent a large part of my adult life covering the excitement of high school and college sports. Sports is the greatest reality show there is, because the next dramatic moment could be right around the corner. No other job I’ve had has been as interesting, day to day.

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Contact the writer:

Email: malachy.lp@gmail.com

Twitter: @larrypeterson