The sporting life...

His mother made it perfectly clear from the first phone call.

There was going to be a point of emphasis.

And the reason they were coming had everything to do with what they'd seen before.

From friends.

A lot of times the way things continue to work in this town of 200ish is by word of mouth.   And sometimes it's just flat out "we like what we see."

And usually it's a combination of both.

Sometimes it's not easy to pinpoint it, but in this case I think it was clear.

Jessica Burroughs told me from the git-go that the main reason they were making the trek all the way from Grundy Center was for sports.   Or more accurately, our ability to document that for her quarterback, two-guard, pitching, state golfer.

They'd been keeping their eyes open and had spied a golf image we had done for a fellow Spartan a couple years back, and it didn't hurt that one of her son's best buddies had been in earlier this senior season.

So, while we had a shirt-n-tie and a casual jeans outfit to get through... there would be no doubt... the rest of the session was all Spartan sports... all the time.

The cool thing was that we were right on the cusp of the Grundy Center QB's appearance in the state football playoffs.   In a day that was filled full of images in the morning, the afternoon was slated for a bus ride to West Hancock of Britt for what would eventually be a 24-16 victory for Austin and his teammates that evening.

But prior to that, we had work to do, and I'll just go ahead and use the term VERY loosely right now, because once it became clear that his father was a Cubs and a Hawkeye fan both... you know what happened next.

Yep.   Senior session hi-jacking.

Being the sports nut he is, I doubt Austin minded much.   But the bulk of his session then centered around the epic seasons that both the Chicago Northsiders and the Black-n-Gold clad Hawks were having.

Sure, we mixed in some images along the way, including a mad dash around the Tama Country Club Golf Course before the chilly rain chased us off the links, but going roundtable sports talk with our guest "Sports Reporters" Austin, Jason, Jessica and I hardly seemed like work!

Looking back several weeks later now.  The Cubs fell just a little short of the ultimate prize... as did Austin's Spartans, but there's little time to be sad about that.   Basketball season is now here for our Grundy senior... and whaddya know... the Hawks still haven't lost a football game!  

Sometimes senior pictures can be a necessary evil for senior guys, but my hope is that when this senior year finally ends for Austin, and he looks back on the day he visited Montour and ended with a playoff win in Britt, Iowa, he can grin and think that THAT day was one of the best of the year.   Thanks for letting me be a little part of it.