First stop, Elnora followed by parenthood

Joey Hart and the Miners are looking to beat North Daviess Friday night.

It happens every year where a big basketball game in the county takes place at the same time as a family gathering. Welcome to parenthood as a sports editor.

My wife’s family gets together every year for a Christmas gathering and its something we all enjoy. However, as her family keeps growing the gathering shifted from the home of the grandparents to renting out a church. Today, it’s no longer practical to be held in December. Now it’s the third week of January so everyone is available.

Which brings us to the issue at hand. Linton takes on North Daviess Friday night in what might be the biggest basketball game in all of Southern Indiana this year. It is a game that if I were to miss I would not be able to say I am the Sports Editor of Greene County with a straight face.

This brings us back to the January edition of the Christmas reunion with my wife’s family. Missing this event is a bad idea. Especially, now my wife and I are new parents. Normally, I would travel up Friday night and be ready to go for the event on Saturday morning. Linton at North Daviess put an end to that idea.

Since the USS Enterprise is not going to transport me from side of the state to the other I have made the decision to drive overnight and load up on caffeinated beverages. It’s an idea that is not my best but it is better than my college football picks this year.

I will say that becoming a father has changed my perspective on the holiday season. Christmas and Thanksgiving is more about building and maintaining connections so that my little one has those connections during his development. You invest in those connections even if it takes you into late January. Needless to say, this priority does not always go with the priorities of being a local sports editor.

I don’t know who will win Friday night between Linton and North Daviess. For me, winning is just getting some sleep Saturday night.

Nathan Pace is the Sports Editor of the Greene County Daily World and can be reached at npace@gcdailyworld.com. His “Low Budget Sports Show” airs weekly on Facebook Live.