He's alive!!!

HAMMOND -- So I'm sitting courtside at the University Center on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University just before 1 p.m., at work but not yet at work, and I'm the first media member to arrive today.

I will cover two games today, out of a total of five in our coverage area, as part of the Ladies Top 28 semifinals. Depending on the outcome of tonight's late game, I could also be back here on Saturday to cover one or two finals contests.

This is the type of work I enjoy. I like being on the road. There's something of a thrill that comes with it. But I'm also tired. And I've got a long day ahead of me. But it's already been a long week.
After traveling to and from Monroe on my day off Monday for a doctor's appointment, I arrived home just in time to be called into the office for a crisis. The LHSAA and the state's newspapers got into a verbal war over the use of photographs and who owned the rights, which caused the newspapers to boycott the first two nights of the tournament. Late Tuesday night, the LHSAA caved on the issue and allowed the newspapers to retain the rights to all of the photos they shot.

Well, after working for three hours or so on my day -- which really made my wife happy, let me tell you -- I came home exhausted. Then yesterday was exhilirating, traveling 45 minutes to Montgomery watch Montgomery beat up on Vermilion Catholic in the second round of the boys 1A playoffs.

Was in the office until after 2 a.m. thanks to some computer problems which caused me to lose the feature story I had done on Montgomery's boys for later in the week. After taking care of some bills and chores around the house, I crashed for about 2-3 hours before getting up early this morning to drive down to Hammond.

Such is the life of a sports writer during playoff time. After this weekend, we've got the next two weekends of the boys Top 28, and then basketball season -- at least on the prep level -- is done and in the books.

By then, I'm sure, I'll be basketballed out. I've got a quarterfinal boys game to cover Friday night -- where, I'm not sure yet -- then most likely will be back on the road early Saturday heading back down here to Hammond. The next two weekends I'll be back and forth from Lafayette most likely, as I'm sure Peabody and Zwolle will advance to the finals in their respective classes.

Anyway, it's good to finally write again. I'm about to get settled in a long, fun day of girls basketball. These are the best teams in the state, and it should make for competitive basketball.