The proof was in the paper.
In hindsight, I never should have tried to type anything while battling a triple-digit temperature and the early stages of one of the worst illnesses of my life. But instead of simply asking for help, I stubbornly sent in a story about basketball conference standings while (poorly) surmising who would be in, and out, of the postseason. Quite frankly, I don't remember much about the process of writing that story.
Once I began feeling better late last week, I typed up an apologetic column by sampling from Tim Tebow's "Promise" to Gators' fans after an upset loss against Ole Miss. Please understand I was not comparing what I do to quarterbacking a team to a National Championship, I just liked the quote for my particular situation.
"I'm sorry, extremely sorry.
"I promise you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this.
"You will never see any (sports writer) in the entire country (write) as hard as I will (write) the rest of the season ... " And ... you get the point.
After wrapping up the column with the promise "You deserve better. I will be better," I headed to Prairie Grove for its games against Gentry on Friday. By the end of the night, I knew I could never publish the first column because it was trumped by a "Pink Out" fundraiser for fellow Farmington High alum Tracy Tice, a popular second-grade teacher at Prairie Grove who was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer a year ago.
My misunderstanding of hoops postseason rules suddenly seemed small when compared to what Tracy and her family had been going through. Just check out the comments from Mandy Allen, one of the event's organizers: "She's been a huge impact to the kids in the community. She's just the kindest, sweetest, loving, Christian woman that you could meet, so we were very happy to do this for her."
Proceeds from the event went to help Tracy and her family. "Team Tracy" T-shirts were sold and there were silent auctions, among other things, to help raise money. Allen and a group of parents with ninth-graders who are friends with Cole Tice, Tracy's son, had been planning the event for months. They were Lee Heltemes, Michelle Cates, Denise Leduc, Tracy Watson, Carrie Scates, Donna Hudspeth, Missy Shrum, Roxie Pifer and Courtney Hawkins. Shannon Stearman, of Crescent Department Store, donated the entire cost of printing the T-shirts, so 100 percent of those sales would go to "Team Tracy."
"We've really been trying to put the word out," Allen said. "Honestly, it's just been through Facebook and flyers at school. This community, Prairie Grove is just amazing to support needs like this and Tracy is huge to this community."
How selfish of me to go on and on about a bout of the flu when Tracy was keeping her head high while battling cancer treatments?
The positive energy of all involved -- especially Tracy and her husband/high school sweetheart Jason Tice -- is inspirational.
"I was overwhelmed at the support and love poured out from our wonderful community," Tracy said. "You all are blessings, angels on Earth, and words cannot express our appreciation and thanks."
Sports on 02/10/2016