Varsity Kansas - The Blog

by joanna

Hard to believe, isn’t it, that the winter sports seasons are nearly over? Winter sports always seem so long when you’re looking at them in November — practice starts in mid-November and postseason awards are finished by mid-March. That’s a loooong time.

Of course, for me, it hasn’t seemed so long, thanks to a maternity leave that took me through the mid-way point of the season! Not that I was sitting back eating bon-bons during that time away. I’m sure my lack of sleep rivaled that of most coaches.

Anyway, we’ve got wrestling this week, and I have to admit I always have mixed feelings about this time of year. See, wrestling stresses me out like no other sport. This dates back to when my brothers wrestled, when my mom would sit in the stands crocheting something or other. She’d get so into the matches that she wouldn’t even realize her yarn had fallen under the bleachers until she pulled, pulled and pulled and the yarn didn’t move.

That intensity definitely affected me, even to this day. There are times in other sports where I can feel a rush of adrenaline when a game comes down to the final seconds. But in wrestling, it happens from the beginning of every match I watch. No lie. I feel it. I get stressed. Even though I have nothing involved in the match except what I’m going to write later.

I have to admit that there were years when I dreaded this time, but that was only because I was covering 4A, 5A and 6A. That’s a lot of schools in those three classes and a lot of kids to make sure you are watching for, story lines to check out. It was a lot.

This year, well, I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to 6A at Koch Arena. A huge difference in coverage. I know the teams, I know the athletes.  I don’t know the story lines yet, but that will come. That’s the fun part.

Goddard certainly looks to be the best story again this year. The Lions did well at their regional, and I can’t imagine that wouldn’t translate to state, too. There’s a lot of kids looking to defend their titles, and Boaz Beard and Tyler Caldwell are looking to become three-time champs. Heights also has a set of kids that could win titles — possibly as many as four. Northwest could make a statement there, too. Derby is strong again, too.

I know all those coaches, too, so I’ll know just who to go to for the information — and those story lines. I also wrote about some of those athletes last year, so they won’t be wondering who the chick is.

Wrestling’s not the only postseason starting up. We’ve got bowling sub-states on Saturday.  Isn’t it amazing how this sport has grown? When the City League decided to start up bowling — thanks to the proprietors who are footing the bill — it seemed a little crazy. Who didn’t ask if bowling’s a sport? Obviously it is, and what I appreciate about it is that it draws a different type of kid, many who don’t play any other sports at their high school. How can that be wrong?

As for teams to watch, the Northwest boys came on strong at the CL meet, and how about Maize sweeping boys and girls in Divisions I and II of the AV-CTL and Augusta doing the same in Divisions III and IV?

Basketball sub-states aren’t far off, either. I’ll be tracking down sub-state pairings for 2A, 3A and 4A on Wednesday. 5A and 6A will mostly be available on Saturday. I’m curious how this basketball postseason will pan out. You can’t count on really any locks to make it to state — if you think you can, look at what happened to Southeast and East last year in sub-states. If that didn’t shock you, you’re lying. OK, I will give you one lock — the Heights girls will advance. There.

That’s my last prediction, folks. But I think I’m pretty safe here.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 3:34 p.m. and is filed under Basketball, Bowling, wrestling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.