Easing Back In & Returning To Normal
I'm slowly getting back into a groove, which is perfect timing considering baseball season is almost upon us...
Good Morning!
I just wanted to fire off a quick update as it has been a couple of days since my last post. If you missed it, I detailed my stay in hospital and my battle with a mystery stomach illness that hit me for six. You can catch up on that by clicking HERE.
Now, I do pride myself on being able to fight through most inflictions and ailments. Throughout my life I’ve been lucky enough to avoid being bedridden with the usual array of viruses and other nasty things that find a way to infiltrate the human body and then mess it up, and even when I have gone down with something, I’ve always been able to just tough it out and get the job done.
I’ve also always made it my mission to be the hardest working person in any room I enter. I accepted a long, long, long time ago that I’m never going to be the smartest person in the room, I’m never going to be the most talented, and I’m certainly not going to be the most good-looking, either. However, what I’ve always been able to control is my work ethic and my insatiable appetite and deep-rooted love for the art of the grind. You may be able to beat me in the talent, smarts and looks department, but you will never get the better of me in the hustle department. Ever. Period. It just won’t happen.
I make sure of that by being an absolute work-obsessed maniac who is lucky enough to be able to do what I love more than anything else in the world for a living. Write about sports. And I’ll be dammed if I allow myself to be defeated in the one and only arena that I actually have some control over. Not allowing myself to be outworked has been my biggest asset throughout my entire career, and I firmly believe it will continue to be just that until the day I drop dead.
So, imagine my utter frustration, then, that this sneaky bastard of a stomach issue has not only wiped out any ounce of strength I possessed in the first place, but it has also snatched away my biggest weapon: the ability to outwork everyone else.
When sharing with you all the details about my stint on the Injured List, I just automatically assumed that I was back in the game and I’d instantly settle back into a routine of daily writing. Well, the universe had other ideas.
Instead, I’ve found it almost impossible to dredge up the kind of energy needed just to sit at the laptop for a few hours straight and type, let alone muster the strength required to really get those creative juices flowing. As someone who relies on being creative and the breathtaking beauty of the written word as much as the normal person depends on the essential commodity of air in order to survive, the last few days, and indeed weeks, have been a really scary and alien experience.
I’ve not really gotten a good grasp of how to handle all of that just yet, nor do I believe it is something I will have to get used to. Let’s hope so, anyway.
In any case, it hasn’t exactly been a fun time filled with rainbows and pink unicorns to say the very least, and having the ability to do what brings me joy (and also what pays the bills) stripped away from me has no doubt compounded any physical and mental pain I was already suffering.
As the last of the gut-wrenching pain ebbed away, I just automatically assumed - perhaps foolishly, with hindsight - that I would get back to the grind of everyday life as quickly as whatever strange alien lifeform invaded my body and played absolute havoc with my insides. Rather, the reality has been a very slow trot back to the starting line.
It has been an intense struggle to write for more than an hour a pop, or even stare at the screen, and I’ve found that I’m left feeling totally wiped and pooped after a walk. In other words, I’ve been functioning at less than 50% and I’ve been rendered totally and utterly useless as a direct result.
As one well-known former baseball manager used to love to say, “It’s not what you want.”
However, the good news is that this very article has oozed out of me with very little trouble or physical exertion, and I’m confident that my sudden spate of sick days are behind me. (If that’s not asking for trouble as it pertains to jinxing myself, then I don’t know what is).
Let’s certainly hope so because my really busy season is right on the horizon. While I love hockey, football and basketball - and I’ll certainly have a plethora of thoughts on the NHL season + the upcoming All-Star Game, the Super Bowl and my beloved Knicks coming up - plus a slew of other random musings, I’m sure - baseball is my first true love and we’re inching closer to the stunning sounds of the crack of a bat and heartwarming renditions of ‘Take Me Out To The Ballpark,’ the irresistible smells of freshly cut grass and ballpark hotdogs, and the heartwarming sight of pitchers working their way up to 100mph fastballs and hitters launching home run after home run deep into the sky.
Man, I am literally so excited for the return of baseball.
And can you believe that the hallowed event of pitchers and catchers reporting to camp is less than two weeks away?! Due to the Dodgers and the Padres heading out to North Korea for a two-game series to open the 2024 regular season in March, those two clubs will report to spring training a little earlier than everyone else. The Dodgers will have pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 9, the Padres will have pitchers and catchers in camp on Feb. 11, and the remainder of the league will begin workouts shortly after.
As a result, baseball season is hurtling towards us at rapid speed, and I have so much content planned for the 2024 season. I’ll detail exactly what you can expect in a separate post later this week, but I’m really pumped about our baseball coverage this coming year and I can’t wait to talk and dissect baseball with you all on a daily basis.
So, with that being said, maybe it was a small blessing that I’ve been able to indulge in some extra rest before the crazy times really begin and kick into high gear.
Although, if my battered and somewhat depleted immune system could revert back to some level of normality and actually put up half a fight against any looming infections so that I can avoid hitting the IL again and get back to outworking everyone else, then I would be forever grateful.
Anyway, here is to normal service being resumed and getting the New Year well and truly underway here at The Steele Sports Bar.
Thank you again for all your loyal and unwavering support. I couldn’t do what I do without you.
Lots of exciting things to come down the pike.
I’ll be back later with a couple of things.
Until then.