GREENBRIER CO.- WOW. It has been a while.
Without further explanation, most people would probably understand what that meant.
The area’s winter weather has resulted in a significant drop in sports participation among high school students. Greenbrier East, Greenbrier West, and even James Monroe have not played a basketball game or hit the mats in over a week (some even longer), but it feels much longer.
When your main job is to cover sports, you’re constantly trying to get from one game or event to the next within days, and often on the same day.
But what’s unusual is seeing and hearing almost every game canceled or postponed due to weather, leaving you wondering, “Okay, so when is the next one?”
Mother nature has had her way in our viewing areas so far this winter, and all signs point to this continuing for the next few weeks. The hope is that there will be enough of a break in the weather this week (Jan. 13-18) to allow the schools to play at least one or two games without interruption.
The Spartan boys’ basketball team was scheduled to compete in the New River CTC Invitational last week, but the tournament was mostly canceled with the exception of one day.
Since their 79-60 victory over the Princeton Tigers, the Spartans have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to return to the court. The Class AAA No. 1 Lady Spartans last played Princeton at home on that exact night, winning 58-29 to improve to 10-0 on the season.
The girls will play Winfield on Friday night, Jan. 17, and Shady Spring the following Saturday evening, while the boys will face Pikeview at home tonight, Jan. 14.
The Greenbrier West Lady Cavaliers, ranked fifth in Class A, have not played since a 60-50 victory over River View on December 30 and have yet to play in 2025.
The West boys haven’t played in a long time and, barring any setbacks, will host Summers County on Friday night, January 17.
Let us not forget wrestling. We are all eager to see all of the wrestlers back on the mats.
Despite all of the complaints about the cancellations, we are all fortunate to live in a place with all four seasons, and things could always be worse.
Still, we can all enjoy the beauty of the snow while hoping that these teams will return to the courts soon.
