For the first time in a long time, I'm not covering high school softball or baseball in June -- or in Austin.
With being just a few months away from completing my 19th year at the Texarkana Gazette, I would dare to say I have traveled the I-35 corridor during the early summer months more years than I haven't.
And even the ones I didn't make the trip to Austin to cover a local or area school in the final four of either softball or baseball, a member of my staff was often en route. Just not this year, and it's a bit strange for me.
It was not for a lack of talent -- we had three teams still playing up until last week, numerous teams ranked in the statewide polls either all or much of the season, and teams that could play with anyone in the state in their classification.
So why is 2022 different than most years for Northeast Texas teams? I can't answer that decisively. Only give what I have learned from my experience of covering prep sports for my entire adult life.
On any given day, it's better to be lucky than good.
Now I am not trying to take away from the teams that have put out our local and area playoff contenders as each round has passed week to week, but the ball rolls your way sometimes. However, sometimes it doesn't.
I believe to win a championship -- at any level in any sport -- it's not enough to be the most talented. Discipline, coaching strategy, individual matchups, small nuances and intangibles and, yes, even luck plays a part.
I'll call it -- our area teams were just unlucky, unlucky at the wrong time and wrong point of the season. It's a very atypical year when this corner of the state is not represented in Austin this week or next.