January 2022 update

Whoa! This Omicron variant packs quite a wallop in terms of case numbers! As we approach the two-year anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic, there seems no end in sight. However, there is a difference this time. I think. Several people have asked: What will become of this indoor track season? The implication being: Will meets get canceled, will the season be shuttered, will we be stuck at home, staring at Zoom screens all day (again). Throughout much of the pandemic, I have tended to skew toward the realistic/negative bent. Rarely was I viewed as a voice of positive reason (more than once, on MAAC coaches Zoom calls, I was referred to as the "grumpy old man"). With that context? I believe that this indoor season will happen. I do not believe there will be catastrophic outcomes as it applies to our sport’s ability to function. When I was realistic/pessimistic, I tended to be closer to accurate than not. Let’s hope my predictive powers remain the same in this case. Let's hope we'll be at the Armory, at Ocean Breeze, at Boston University. I will say THIS, though: I am not optimistic about spectators being allowed at any of these venues. Sorry to say that ...

For now (and, the caveats and qualifying statements and what-ifs most definitely apply here), we are scheduled to return to practice on Sunday and Monday, with our first meet on Saturday, Jan. 15 at the Armory. Again … for now. We’ll see how this goes. But this time, at the beginning of 2022, I’m going with a coffee-mug-half-full (rather than half-empty) mentality.