Jill's Journal: The lady with the camera
Over the last four decades, I’ve stood – or sat – on the sidelines of too many to count state tournaments with a camera in hand. And over those same four decades, I’ve taken thousands and thousands of snapshots of the action.
I am the lady with the camera.
Over those same four decades, I’ve gotten attached to the teams I’m covering. If you take a look at my wardrobe, I can honestly say that I have more Lynxwear than I ever had when I was in high school. Just like many Lynx fans, I get excited about promising seasons, and in my near 20 years covering Brandon Valley athletics, we’ve had an abundance of those promising seasons, some of which were capped off with bringing home the state title hardware, and other seasons where the opposing team was doing the celebrating.
I know I’ve had tears in eyes on both of those occasions. Tears of happiness for the accomplishment achieved. Tears of sadness for what could have been.
Saturday at the DakotaDome was no different.
Just like many of you, I was excited to see our Lynx football team win their 12th consecutive game that would ultimately cap off a thrilling undefeated season.
Unfortunately, that’s not how this year’s storied season played out. This time, it was the other team who hoisted the trophy to the delight of their fans. And on our side of the field, I saw tears roll down the faces of our boys who put in the work day in and day out.
Following the game, one of the student managers said to me, “I wish we could’ve won.”
I did, too.
But I was the adult in this conversation, and my response to her was, “This is why we play the game. Someone has to win and someone has to lose, and trust me, there will be bigger disappointments in life.”
My “words of wisdom’ likely didn’t ease her pain in that moment. After all, when you’re in high school, winning a state championship is a big deal.
While I will have many more seasons of standing – or sitting – on the sidelines of state high school tournaments, many of our boys and girls playing the game will take off their jerseys for the very last time. I know there’s bound to be more tears of joy – and sadness – for this lady with the camera to capture the action on the field and the emotions on the faces of our student-athletes.
Thank you, Brandon Valley Lynx, for taking us on a memorable season.
