Brendan Quealy: Busy days on the horizon

Oct. 21—I hadn't gotten out of the office much since I took over as sports editor. Not until last week.

I'm just a month into the job, but it already feels like a lot longer. Honestly, I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or a good thing.

I guess it probably falls somewhere in that questionable gray area with a little from column A and a little from column B. The hours are longer, and the schedule includes at least some work every day. But I'm enjoying the work — so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

I'm back to hosting our weekly podcast, the Get Around, and started up an offshoot called the Get Around: Film Study, a biweekly podcast that breaks down the best sports movies. (Sidenote: If you haven't yet, go listen to episode 193 of the Get Around with St. Francis state champion tennis players Ben Schmude and Tommy Puetz as well as TC Central's Grace Maitland and TC West's Ainslee Hewitt, who both qualified for the girls golf state tournament They were incredible guests. The first episode of Film Study — "Remember The Titans" — is also up, and "The Sandlot" episode will be out Friday. You can find all of these at SoundCloud.com/thegetaround.)

Staying in the office for most of my first four weeks back on the sports desk was a deliberate choice. I wanted to get the lay of the land, feel things out, get a sense of how the department operates differently than it did when I left three and a half years ago.

Training wheels were a necessity in the beginning as I learned a new system and the new daily practices. The change to my circadian rhythm was — and still is — a shock to the system. Moving from the 9-to-5 grind back to the 4-to-midnight shift is still taking some getting used to, but I feel like I'm steadying the proverbial bicycle as the training wheels loosen.

I'm still a little wobbly, but at least the wheels are going forward.

I managed to slip out of the office for three games last week — a couple of soccer matches (Traverse City Christian vs. Boyne City and North Bay vs. Charlevoix) and a battle on the gridiron at Thirlby Field that turned more into a full-out assault when Traverse City Central demolished Brother Rice 56-13. I'd only been to two games before that, Kingsley vs. Grayling football and TC West vs. TC Central volleyball.

Although my time as the education reporter at the Record-Eagle is in the rearview, I still managed to get my fix of school board meetings in between those first two games and these last three, making my way out to Kingsley to listen to the board of education and the public address the controversy over Benzie Central soccer star Kevin Hubbell's record-setting 16-goal performance against the Stags.

That seems to have quieted down, as most news does.

But life on the sports desk is about to get mighty loud.

Sure, girls golf and boys tennis are in the books, but the tidal wave of playoff sports is quickly approaching.

We're deep into soccer district tournament play, with the Division 3 and 4 championship matches set for today (Thursday). The aforementioned Sabres of TC Christian take on Elk Rapids in D3 action, and one of the best soccer rivalries in northern Michigan — Buckley vs. Leland — is set for a title showdown in D4. TC West, which beat rival TC Central 4-2 on Tuesday, plays for a district crown Saturday. So we are guaranteed to have at least two area teams going to regionals. Fingers crossed for three.

Friday is Week Nine of high school football, and playoff matchups will be revealed Sunday. That sets off a month of win-or-go-home games for our area squads.

On top of that, we still have to settle boys and girls cross country, volleyball as well as swimming and diving.

Nov. 6 is my 37th birthday. While not a milestone by any stretch of the word, it does fall on a Saturday and lends itself to more of a celebration than a Tuesday. But I'll be working — as will our other two sports reporters, James Cook and Andrew Rosenthal.

Why? Well, let's do a quick rundown of what's happening that day.

Boys soccer state finals. Girls cross country state finals. Boys cross country state finals. Volleyball district finals. Conference finals for the Traverse City Tritons. Oh yeah, and that little thing called the Iceman Cometh Challenge — a mountain bike race that draws thousands of people and hundreds of competitors from around the United States and the world.

Suffice it to say, I will need more than just a celebratory birthday drink after we put the paper to bed at — hopefully — 9:30 that night.

I can say this for sure, I'll be raising a glass and toasting the hard work that went into that day, the days before and the days to come.