Column: Thankful for games in the unknown

As Thanksgiving is suddenly upon us, with our travel restrictions real and imaginary, it’s probably a good time to take stock of 2020.

Or not. This has been a rough one, though not without the occasional box store bag of good stuff -- enough to keep an aging sports writer busy, anyway.

It also isn’t over. This year is ending as it began, with sports cancellations. Good news for Gonzaga? Florida transfer guard Andrew Nembhard is on board. Bad news? Tennessee is not on board, definitely no, not going to be at the Jimmy V Classic, sorry about that.

This is troubling and in case you didn’t hear it, Montana men’s coach Travis DeCuire -- well aware that cases of COVID-19 keep spiking -- wasn’t exactly full of confidence about the Grizzlies’ 24-game schedule last week.

“We’d be hard-pressed to play half those games,” DeCuire told abcfoxmontana.com, adding: “Thirteen games are mandatory to qualify for the NCAA tournament... I bet that number drops.”

OK. Enough bad news. The Montana Lady Griz, with Flathead High graduate Mike Petrino installed as head coach, played at Utah State Wednesday night (fingers crossed). The Griz men were to play the Men of Troy at USC Saturday.

For that we can be thankful.

Closer to home I was pleasantly surprised to cover a nearly full slate of high school football, though with the caveat that I’d like to get to Columbia Falls and Whitefish and Bigfork next fall.

I did cover more high school soccer than I thought was possible -- not a bad thing, but a good thing. Glacier’s girls are champs along with the Whitefish boys, the Whitefish girls are runners-up along with the Columbia Falls boys. That’s a lot of talent in a tiny cross section of Montana.

The summer found me at the Lakers’ Legion ballpark, as well as the one down in Florence to watch the Glacier Twins win their divisional.

Mostly I’m thankful to be back in the line of work I toiled in for 26 years -- half my life spent eating sketchy gymnasium food. Five years later the newsrooms are smaller, which is a terrible trend, but the reporters are still amazing no matter where I go.

I shouldn’t give short shrift to bosses, so here’s a story from back near the start of my career. I’d driven from Missoula to Billings to cover the 1991 State B tournament at the Metra, and I was the only sports writer at the Thursday opener.

“Odd,” I thought. A high school buddy came down and sat with me -- plenty of room. Eventually Billings Gazette sports editor Warren Rogers showed. We explained pleasantries as he sat down and laid out his pen and notebook.

Then he leaned over: “Who’s playing?” he quietly asked..

“Um… Darby and Broadus,” I said, and he thanked me.

Five months later he hired me at the Gazette. For that I’m forever thankful.

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 546-1122 or by email at fneighbor@dailyinterlake.com.