When I started out in a much different media world 40-some years ago never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would someday accuse Dan Rather of stealing an idea from me.
And that still holds true.
Among numerous other reasons I can’t make that claim is that sent out his newsletter with the title “Back in the Saddle” more than 24 hours before I did. Also, he’s Dan Rather and I’m not.
Scouts honor (full disclosure: I was only a Scout for probably two meetings), I was thinking of writing this newsletter using that title while spending much of the day in the Emergency Room at Sanford Jackson Medical Center Tuesday.
And the reason for spending my day there? I tested positive for COVID Pneumonia.
I won’t get into a lot of the details in this space at this time and maybe never. It might just be in conversations when we meet up face-to-face. When we can meet face-to-face.
I’m feeling okay a little over 24 hours into this. Other than getting fatigued quickly it doesn’t feel all that much different than a couple dozen colds through the years.
And that’s thanks to the health care providers including the pharmacist who had a whole bag of bottles ready when we went to the drive-thru after being released.
The dispensing of the medicine has fallen on the poorly named Nurse Ratched, who is of course, my wife, Maren. I’m certain many of you will have to Google the reference.
I can assure she is nothing like that. As crummy as I was feeling throughout the day I felt bad for her in the Waiting Room probably not knowing what was happening.
That being said --- me being me --- I’m sure I’ll continue to refer to her as Nurse Ratched.
I am also thankful for my kids, of which a full one-third have contacted me. Again, I kid. That’s what I do. I know they were in contact with Nurse Ratched throughout the day Tuesday.
And there have been family and friends that have contacted Maren yesterday and today and that’s appreciated.
It brings to mind the comments of a former co-worker at my day job (although not this week, hopefully they’ll have me back) at Ametek in Jackson.
On several occasions he would tell me how blessed and rich that I am to have kids and grandkids nearby and be a part of each other’s lives. That is 100 percent accurate.
We were only a year apart in age (I’m older although that never felt right) and I always thought he felt sadness about not being in his kids’ lives.
A few times I wanted to share with him about my kids and them not being much of a part of my parents’ lives but his stories would get long and it was about impossible to stop him.
And I’m not going to get into that here. In my current condition I can’t afford to cut open any more veins.
But I do hope he is able to find happiness.
Enough about me. I’ll get back to writing soon, hopefully in the morning.
I wanted to let you why you haven’t seen anything from me for four days. Missed out on writing about good stuff in that time but we’ll just move forward.
And with that I would be remiss without mentioning a member of the Jackson County Central football family who has had a rough few days. I’m not comfortable saying much more about that although I am 100 percent confident of what I’ve heard is accurate and that situation is going well.
No doubt a lot of thoughts and prayers have come the JCC football family, a tight-knit bunch, present and past.
That struck me this morning when I came across this Facebook post by Nikki Copley:
Zach’s injury was indeed tough to see.
For a time Nikki and Zach lived a few houses down the street and then maybe three blocks away so I knew Zach growing up since he and my son Brett were friends.
In the comments under Nikki’s post someone posted that it was hard to listen to on the radio.
Brutal honestly: Even though I’ve been out of fulltime radio for almost two years, the radio side kicked in first and my initial memory is that there was a lot of time to fill but as time went on it was obvious how serious the injury was and the effect it was having on players, coaches and supporters.
Today is November 2 and everyone would like to have a game on December 2.
But as Nikki said, life can change in a second. Enjoy the game Friday whether you make the trip to Marshall or if you’re working overtime Saturday morning or can’t make it for another reason watching the video stream.
Even if it’s from Pipestone. Again I kid.
Bill Van Hoecke is a pro’s pro. He does a great job and the whole Christensen Broadcasting production is top notch. They’re doing all four games in Marshall Friday if you’re inclined to check on any of the three games prior to the Huskies.
Playing in the section championship game is almost expected at JCC. It’s happened 10 years in a row where the season has been played to a conclusion (that’s where COVID rears its ugly head) and a bunch of times prior to that. I hope to have more on that sometime tomorrow.
Celebrate another week of football if it goes the Huskies’ way or look back on another great JCC football season if it doesn’t.
A couple of coaches around here have been known to say something to the effect of “there is a scoreboard so they’re going to keep score. We’re going to try to win.”
But at the end while the game is important remember what matters most. It’s a football game. What’s most important is family and friends.
But with that said, GO HUSKIES!
Want to check out Dan Rather’s Back in the Saddle newsletter?
Here you go:
And these seem out of place now but I took the time to find them so I’m going to include them. One of my plans along was to tie the “Back in the Saddle” theme into one of these songs by that title. I failed but here they are anyway.
Gene Autry:
And Aerosmith: