KLAS STOLPE
PURE SOLE
I have been told I am long-winded.
I assume it is because of the roundup of the lowdown on the sports that are around town (say that three times fast… at the office Christmas party… after placing a baseball bat’s barrel end on the ground and the knob on your forehead… and spinning around three times).
So in sports, long-windedness is a good thing? What is it exactly? To me?
It is so much.
Stick-to-itiveness, perseverance in the face of adversity, helping an opponent up after knocking them down, congratulating an opponent that knocks you down, being a good teammate and classmate, being a good steward of your school and town, and giving back, among other qualities.
Long-winded (LW) is Mt. Edgecumbe senior Sanora Bell being selected for the Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches Senior All-Star Game on April 13th in Anchorage.
LW is senior Wolves harrier Skyler McIntyre signing a letter of intent to run at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and just as important it is the support from his grandparents, and legal guardians, Anthony and Carolyn McIntyre.
LW is anticipation of the Sitka Little League opening day ceremonies on April 13 (9 a.m.) and capturing the smiles in new-fangled digital mega-pixels of youth athletes running onto Moller Field with high school stars high-fiving them.
LW is digging through my scrapbook of photos, actual square celluloid photos, looking for my youthful smile in a dirt-stained Petersburg Tigers Little League uniform.
LW is the little leaguers staying at Moller Field to watch Sitka High start their baseball and softball seasons.
LW is St. Lawrence University senior, and Sitka grad (2015) Elle Gray leading her team to a 5-1 start this softball season and rapping her 100th career hit, putting up a .351 batting average, and keeping the Saints infield tight.
LW is my writing coworker handing me a BackDoor Care muffin (Yes, I managed to quit typing long enough to feed).
LW is every athlete who takes a win and every athlete that does not. It is the parent who starts the SUV at oh-dark-30, wakes up the gene pool recipient and makes sure appointments are kept.
LW is the World Series on television, your alma mater’s fight song, a class at the Hames Center, or volunteering for Girls/Boys On The Run.
LW is using the biggest tanning bed in town – the outdoors.
LW is Roz Savage, the first woman to row three oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian), a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. Look to the horizon, is that Roz out by Kruzof?
LW is the Sitka Sound Slayers, Mud Ball, and the Baranof Barracudas.
LW is the Baranof Ballers giving notice in Juneau that high school courts will belong to Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe.
LW is the Native Youth Olympics.
Long-winded is many different mindsets in our community including, among other things, hope, dedication, chasing dreams, having fun and working behind the scenes to try to get to where you would like to be.
Long-winded is just getting out there or in there and doing something.
I did not feel long-winded last weekend while visiting two friends in Juneau who are training for the Boston Marathon. It was a 12-mile speed day. Mentally drained and physically exhausted each stride was an effort that seemed heavier as my partners had age-group qualifying times under their belts and an ability to discuss the topics of the day while I was very concerned about what the post run breakfast would be.
The season can do that to athletes, it can be rewarding but also deflating.
The grind of working each day to improve, listening to coaches, teammates, putting in extra time and trying to fuel your body. It is something those on the sidelines fail to see.
The game is not just about the minutes on the clock, or a tally on a card, it is about the time spent getting there.
As I dragged along this impromptu Boston Training run I thought of Bell, McIntyre, Blatchley, and Gray, of Little League and big dreams. I took the pace to 6 minutes and left my buddies chatter behind.
I am long-winded.
I am capable of energetic activity without becoming short of breath and maintaining breathing power during exertion.
I am capable of having fun without expectations of acknowledgment.
As for the other definition, wearisomely verbose or tiresomely long and using too many words? Like I said, I am long-winded.
