It’s safe to say we’ve officially entered uncharted territory. The spread of and concerns surrounding the coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, has shut down schools, limited social gatherings and brought the sports world to a grinding halt.
North State Journal is committed to giving you statewide coverage of this ongoing pandemic, and we will continue to do that even with the restrictions and limitations of our situation.
As for us on the sports staff, first and foremost, we want you and your family to be safe. While we can’t offer you an escape in the way of day-to-day sports coverage as we normally would, we will try and find ways to entertain you even if there are no events to cover.
That starts with our ambitious “100 in 100” series spearheaded by sportswriter Brett Friedlander. We will go county by county — starting in Alamance and ending in Yancey — and unveil our pick for the best athlete ever to come from each of North Carolina’s 100 counties. Each weekday, we will have a new county and a new athlete, with photos, quotes and more on our “100 in 100” picks. You can see the first installment, which comes from Alamance County, and you can follow all our picks at our 100 in 100 page.
Some will be obvious and others will spark debate. But more than anything, we’re hoping it will be a fun and informative read each week while we — the North State Journal staff and you, our readers — try to find ways to get through this unprecedented situation.
We encourage you to weigh in on social media on our Facebook page and Twitter account at @nsjnews, and you can also email me with any questions or story ideas you may have.
While we won’t be following any North Carolina teams throughout March Madness, seeing if the Carolina Hurricanes can hold on to a playoff spot down the stretch, or taking in the normal start to baseball season at the state’s 12 minor league ballparks, we will still be here, working to bring you all the news while we wait for the games to begin again— when the time is right.
