Tone

Other than the revival of the Pandemic Papers interviews, loyal blog followers have grumbled about the tone of many of the other posts during the past several months. The terms “downer” and “depressing” have been thrown out there – some have even texted me about my mental state. Hey, I’m trying to be honest here, folks. Self-pity and sympathy are not the goals. If that is the tone, and you find that tone not to be uplifting, I’m sorry about that. The goal is not to be depressing but rather realistic. In the narrow focus of the Marist Running world, we are approaching 11 months since the last time our athletes attended a competition for the purposes of competing. For athletes who nursed injuries last winter, the yawning chasm since the last race grows even wider. Others have endured the same fate; many others have not. Races and meets have resumed or will resume in many parts of the collegiate track/cross country landscape – in some places, it never stopped. So, chronicling the pandemic and its impact on our athletes … we can’t help it if the tone is not exactly glass-half-full. Hey. It’s a new month, the second one in a new year. New month, still new-ish year: Hope for improvement shines through every day – that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. But for now, we’re still in the tunnel.