Sometimes work can be good medicine – I was reminded of this lesson last week when I covered the Muleskinner golf tournament.
As some of you may know, I received my first dose of COVID-19 three weeks ago. About a week after the Semoball Awards, I noticed my nose and throat were a little scratchy. At first, I thought (and hoped) it was just allergies or maybe a summer cold.
But by the evening of July 19, I was feeling absolutely terrible. The next morning, I got up and went to the emergency room, where they examined me and gave me antibiotics in case it was a sinus infection or an upper respiratory infection.
When I got my test results on July 23, my fever had finally broken down and I was starting to feel better, which gave me hope that it was just a cold or an upper respiratory virus.
Incorrect.
I got the call just before noon and learned that I did indeed have my first official case of Covid (or as I call it, Captain Trips – bonus points if you get the Stephen King reference).
The good news is that I only felt really bad for about three to three and a half days (I didn’t even take a day off since I often work from home). The bad news was that the fatigue and head fog lasted for more than a week afterward.
When DC (sports editor D’Courtland Christian) asked me to cover the Muleskinner last Friday, I honestly wasn’t too thrilled, but I took the assignment.
And I’m glad I did.
As you may know, the Muleskinner is a major annual fundraiser for the Poplar Bluff High School Booster Club, often raising more than $20,000 for the club. But more than that, it’s an opportunity to see many old friends and maybe make a few new ones.
At least it was for me.
Last Friday’s field of 36 teams and 144 players included a who’s who of PBHS stars from the past few decades. Among those on the links was James Hayes, who quarterbacked the 1993 Mules football team to the Class 5A quarterfinals and the SEMO North title. Also playing last Friday were several of Hayes’ 1993 teammates, including Joe Martin, Joey Clark, Bryce Huffman and Justin Shell.
They were joined by former Mules baseball player Steven Edwards, a 1996 PBHS graduate who later spent several seasons as the Mules’ baseball coach before taking his current job at Dexter; Travis and Todd Tinsley, both of whom excelled on the field for the Mules in the late 1990s and early 2000s; Chris Love, who was part of two Mules’ state championship teams in golf in the mid-1990s; Ryan Hampton, a 2000 graduate who later was a member of the Three Rivers College cheerleading squad, and Matt Schindler, a 2003 PBHS graduate and member of the boys soccer team.
And the tournament field wasn’t just made up of Poplar Bluff graduates. Also spotted at the Muleskinner were longtime area coach Jeff Boner and Jimmy Cornell, a 2006 Twin Rivers graduate who went on to play baseball for TRC and Southern Illinois University.
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned with the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is how much I thrive on human contact. Even though I’m a bit of an introvert, contact with friendly faces has often been the best medicine for my mental health.
And last Friday was no exception.
Mike Buhler is a sports writer for the Daily American Republic. Reach him at [email protected].
