In the blink of an eye, the world around us has drastically changed. On March 11, I was in the Murphy Center basketball arena covering the first of two weeks at the TSSAA state basketball tournament in Murfreesboro. The last girls' Class AAA state championship to be finished in that arena in 2019 was one for the memory books, with Bradley Central winning its first championship since 1976 on a shot heard around the state by Hannah Lombard. This year's state championships will never be completed due to the coronavirus.
There will be no 14-hour work days at the Spring Fling this May, and I will miss that greatly as one of our high school sports writers. As a writer, I have had to adapt and adjust, which has involved writing some for the Business section.
Still, my passion for helping share the stories of people in our community has not changed one bit. I am here to weather the storm with everyone, and my hope is our community comes out of this stronger than ever before.
- Patrick MacCoon, sports writer, pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com