It was a handful of years ago when Neosho County (Kan.) Community College baseball coach Steve Murry adopted the motto: “Embrace the suck.”
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It was a handful of years ago when Neosho County (Kan.) Community College baseball coach Steve Murry adopted the motto: “Embrace the suck.”
About a week ago, Murry tweeted: “Thought for the day – instead of complaining – be positive. You can’t control it, so make the most of it. Embrace the suck.”
That got me to thinking.
In this time, in this world that we currently live, it can be difficult to do. Right now, we live in unprecedented times.
You look around and our everyday lives have been turned upside down. It feels like the entire world has come to a complete stand still.
It sucks we have no sports. It sucks to be stuck at home in quarantine. It sucks to have reduced hours at work. It sucks to be out of work completely. It sucks we can’t go out and enjoy a meal at a restaurant. It sucks we can’t take road trips, enjoying the nice weather and beautiful sights of Wyoming and surrounding areas. It sucks that we can’t be around our friends at school.
You get the point.
However, he’s 100% correct. Now is the time for us to rise above and “embrace the suck.”
Browsing social media over the last few weeks, it’s amazing to see the many different positive ways people are passing the time of day: working on jigsaw puzzles and playing board games with their family, sharing thoughts from their daily diary, grilling outdoors while school teachers and other school administration stay in communication with students in differing ways.
These are great examples of people making the most of the times and embracing the suck of the situation.
Personally, the more time I’ve had has allowed me to stay in better touch with my mom. Professionally, it’s stretching me as a sports reporter. I don’t have the advantage of all the games to write about. I’m having to dig deep and find feature stories to write.
As a former managing editor once told me, “Everyone has a story to tell.” Moving forward, you might even start seeing my name outside the sports pages more often, really getting me out of my reporting comfort zone.
Speaking of which, don’t hesitate to forward any story ideas on to me during this down time, don’t hesitate to reach out at either atowne@torringtontelegram.com or call the office at 532-2184.
At the end of the day, if you look back over the course of history, this isn’t the first time the sports world has stood still. Two instances that came quickly to mind were during World War II and the weeks following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
In both instances, people embraced the suck, made it through those difficult times and were able to eventually resume normal activities. We can do the same in 2020.
If we all do our part, we can and will get through this. Then it won’t be long before we will be hearing the crack of the bat, hearing the sound of the gun firing at track meets, hearing the squeak of basketball sneakers sliding across the gym floor, hearing the thundering crash of two football players coming together and cheering on our local teams to yet another victory.
