I love writing.
I just finished spending a long time on an article about John Schultz. Well, really, it’s about John, NRHEG girls’ basketball, John’s family, Onika Peterson, oh, and Erin Jacobson was mentioned once too.
I talk to people, coaches, fans, friends after nearly every event I cover. I think I’m starting to understand why people watch what they say around reporters, because a lot of that made its way into this story. All of these conversations were technically on the record, and they are “feel good” conversations, but at the time, even though I had my recorder out, I didn’t really know what I was going to do with the quotes.
It wasn’t until I was looking back through all the transcripts at the end of the girls’ basketball season that it hit me. I’ve been working on this story for weeks. Heck, you could even say years if you wanted to.
I really couldn't help myself. The burning questions I had after every game down the stretch of this season were about John Schultz's coaching career.
Ever since I was in 8th grade (and before), I’ve been a fan of NRHEG girls’ basketball. That 8th-grade year, coincidentally, was also the last year I was simply a fan going to the games.
That year the girls took third place at state and I watched from the stands. Every year after my dad brought me on the sidelines as a “reporter.” (That year, my sister got the privilege. I’m pretty sure my dad could hear me yelling from the stands, cheering so loudly that he felt bad and decided I could be the “reporter” the following year.)
Also, the Wagners’ grandmother, Joey, was my babysitter and lived three doors up the road from me. I miss her. She was a lovely lady. Always with her orange slices, cookies, and her TV in the kitchen. She would let me watch anything I wanted.
I’ve written about the famous “overflowing toilet” scandal blamed on me, which was really my sister. That happened at Joey’s.
Anyways, tangents be gone.
I love NRHEG sports, and girls’ basketball has a special place in my heart with its many, many fond memories.
So, of course, when I talked with Onika after the conference championship game in Hayfield, my questions about coaching with John started. And, well, I don’t just talk to Onika after games.
John was my 7th and 8th-grade gym and health teacher; brief football coach in 9th grade, and probably gym again in 9th or 10th grade. It’s a lot easier to ask intrusive questions when you’re comfortable with someone. Also, when I was sidelined from gym class and football during my 8th-grade year with a concussion, I vividly remember asking John question after question all gym hour for a week. He told me about his college football career, and well, his life. I basically interviewed him, without the pen and paper, or a place to publish.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is: I really wanted to know how others, those literally involved, were feeling about this season, John’s last as a coach. I know how I feel, but what about them? Do they remember all these crazy details? Do they remember what it was like clapping so hard I thought I might break my hands?
Okay, that last one was just me.
But the point stands. The people involved in these unforgettable moments are as important as the moments themselves.
I, too, am grateful for all John and family, (and all NRHEG coaches) have done for our local community.
Thank you.
P.S. I liked all of these quotes, so here they are:
“Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.”
– Fred Rogers
“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
- Dan Wilson
“Goodbyes make you think. They make you realize what you’ve had, what you’ve lost, and what you’ve taken for granted.”
- Ritu Ghatourey