Have you ever driven down the Turnpike at seventy-five miles an hour and came upon a sea of red? Red lights that is and had to stop quickly………..Well that is what has happened to the world. Believe me, I am not saying that sports should be the center of attention when the world is in crisis, but if it is a major part of your business model, then you’re always thinking of what could’ve been throughout your now idle day. I already miss the game, whichever one you pick, whether it’s watching it on TV, sitting in the stands or photographing it. My last game was an exciting one, down to the last shot to decide who moves on and who goes home, but the winner never moved on as things came to a stop. We’ll come back when this ends, to the game, as sports and competition is a part of our social being. I’ll grab my gear and get in position to push the button to record the moment when we get back to our new normal. So be safe, take care of yourself and the others in your life and I’ll see you at the game.

The winter championships, the ones I covered, that were completed before the year did includes the track and field Group Championships, the Meet of Champions and the State Ice Hockey Championships. Congratulations are in order for the hockey teams of Morris Knolls, Randolph, Summit, Christian Brothers Academy and the inaugural girls champs Morristown-Beard. There was a slate of five games over two separate nights at the Prudential Center, each carrying the weight of a trophy for the winners of each game. It was a full day of ice time, plus extra time (two OT games), as the top 2 teams in each group, Girls, Public A, Public B, Public C and Non Public fought it out to decide who takes the trophies home.

Track and Field Group Championships showed up early and the Shore Conference went out and grabbed 20 individual wins, eight boys and twelve girls, as CBA captured the Boys Non Public A for a tenth consecutive time and their twenty-fifth overall. The winners from all the events plus others with qualifying times go on to compete in the Meet of Champions. The Shore had two runners win multiple events, Shaw Powell from CBA won the 1600m and the 3200m and Lilly Shapiro from Colts Neck won the 800m and the 1600m. Lilly Orr from Rumson-Fair Haven had a great day winning the 400m for the third consecutive year.

The Meet of Champions had its ups and downs, its a great place to photograph the jumping events, along with its controversies. The boys 1600m seeded race had two finishes, a finish that was short a lap and one that included all 1600m. The NJSIAA handed out awards for both finishes and Allentown’s Liam Murphy will probably never lose the 1400m record as there should never be a reason for that distance to be ran as a race again. The best of the day as far as records was the Kingsway HS 4X800 team which came away with the US#1 time this year as Stone Caraccio anchored the teams come from behind win over Ridge HS, who has the US#3 time from the race.

So what to do now that all of sports as we know it has been completely cancelled or postponed, some seasons finished before they started. Well for one thing the honey doo list gets done. I’ll be helping my niece with baby sitting. I’ll also be doing more ride by photography. Things that are in motion will catch my eye, such as surfing, skateboard parks, maintaining a socially acceptable distance of course. I’ll work on my craft and my art with landscapes and lighting experiments. I’ll also keep coming back to write and show off some of the things that I capture in during this time of isolation.

Tom

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