782 Miles. Twice.
12 Live Shots… 7 Newscasts… 2 Days.
113 Total Tweets – 49 Pictures & 17 Videos.
2 Cameras. 2 Laptops. 2 News/Sports Junkies. 1 Team.
Sigh.
When you sum it up like that, you can’t help but sigh… a sigh of exhaustion, a sigh of relief, a sigh of satisfaction.
At this moment a week ago, News 8 Sports’ Kory Kuffler and I were about 12 hours into our 13-hour drive back to the Quad Cities from Salem, Virginia. Why – oh why – were we in Salem? Well, unless you weren’t on social media for four days (meaning you didn’t see my gazillion posts – sorry/not sorry about that), you know that the Augustana College Men’s Basketball Team made it to the Final Four in the NCAA Division III Basketball Tournament! Not only that, they made it to the Championship Game – “We’re goin’ to the ‘ship!” as the Carver Crazies chanted – Go Augie!
I’ll go back to that later, but first…
The spontaneous trip took me and Kory – two people who are used to either sitting across from each other in the News 8 Newsroom most days or next to each other for only about 5 minutes at the end of each Weekend Newscast – to four days of long car rides, fast fast fast food runs, 5am wake-up calls, little sleep, and lots of work… creating a partner-in-crime team I like to compare to, say, Batman & Robin… Ren & Stimpy… Frodo & Sam… Beavis & Butthead… (I’ll give you one guess as to who best fits “Butthead,” ha! Spoiler Alert: It’s me.) In all seriousness though, we worked very well together and are really proud of the product we got on the air for all those newscasts.
What encouraged and energized me was the fact that I was there for my Alma Mater. When asked if I wanted to go to Salem to cover Augustana, I immediately said “YES!” I let that excitement help me through those four days. It gave me a perspective that was different from everyone else… a #ProudViking covering all the other #ProudVikings who made the same trip I did. That roster ranges from two buses full of students with the most school spirit I’ve ever seen (Full Story: Here)… to graduates from the 1970s making it a priority to support the institution they say has given them so much over the decades. I wrote this in one of my pieces – “Young & Old… Bleed Blue & Gold” – and it’s so true. I couldn’t believe how many people were there, but at the same time, it makes total sense to me.
“Augustana College is extremely important to Rock Island, Illinois. It’s also important to the Midwest and now we’re on a national stage. This is an opportunity to show that we’re not only a great academic school, we’re a great athletic school and also a school where you can showcase your talents.” (Full Story: Here)
I love that.
I look back at those stats at the top of this post and while they were fun to figure out, I know it doesn’t really mean much. Even if this trip only took me 3 miles to Carver Center and I wasn’t constantly tweeting out pictures and updates, I would still feel that what happened was a success. Even if Augustana’s record is 27-5 and not 28-4, I’m sure they still feel that what happened was a success, too. It’s all just numbers. What really counts is spirit and passion… and courage to let both show.
– A
