All had seemed normal back on the night of March 11.

The Coudersport Lady Falcons had just finished their thrilling 54-46 win over Blacklick Valley at Bald Eagle Area High School to advance to the PIAA Elite Eight, and I was heading next door to the local Sheetz to start writing my game story.

After ordering my food and sitting down at my laptop, I glanced up at the TV in the lobby and saw the breaking headline from the NBA. The Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert had tested positive for COVID-19, marking the first time the then-new pandemic had touched life in American sports.

I didn’t think much of it at the time, and went to work on the story. After all, the pandemic hadn’t impacted daily life around here in the slightest and I was on a deadline.

I wrapped up my story at about 10:45 p.m. and sent a text to my editor at the time, Anthony Sambrotto, to let him know it was ready for the paper. After we finished the sports section and got it to the press, he mentioned that he hoped I enjoyed the game and enjoyed covering it, because it was probably going to be our last event for a while.

Up until that point, I hadn’t given the coronavirus situation much thought. Pennsylvania’s first cases of the virus came on March 6, but things were still relatively in hand the night of Coudy’s big win. Maybe I was naive or simply ignorant to the situation.

By the time I arrived at the newsroom the next day, though, it was pandemonium in the sports world. One by one, professional leagues were putting seasons on hold. By day’s end, the NCAA had canceled all remaining winter and spring competitions for the year.

Eventually, the PIAA postponed and then canceled its remaining winter championships, as well as all spring competitions, bringing an early end to Coudy’s run and to the high school careers of countless seniors.

In a word: devastating.

The hiatus felt like ages. No March Madness, no baseball until July, nothing.

Eventually, though, local sports found a way back.

We managed some summer baseball in the area courtesy of the Elk-McKean All-Stars and Southern Tier Cardinals, and even had the Varischetti All-Star Football Game in Brockway in August. We even had the Corporate Cup Soccer Showcase up in Olean, to boot.

The summer baseball games felt pretty typical, all considered. Parents lined up their lawn chairs down the foul lines like in normal times, and the players clearly enjoyed being able to go out and compete. Simply put, it was a breath of fresh air — literally and figuratively after I had sat in the newsroom most days up to that point.

With so much happening again, my hopes had begun to rise that we’d perhaps be able to pull off some sort of fall season. Then, of course, came the PIAA vs. Gov. Tom Wolf rollercoaster ride that saw Wolf “strongly recommend” sports be halted until Jan. 1, only for the PIAA to press on anyway.

The state managed a relatively smooth fall campaign, and at the end of next week can begin its winter sports competitions.

It was an up-and-down experience — and perhaps one with much more downs than ups this year — as a sportswriter, one I won’t miss as things slowly progress back to normalcy as the months go on.

But perhaps we can all learn something from our local athletes, who not only put it all on the line each time they took the field or court this fall, but did so after such a turbulent summer. They showed, and continue to show, resilience in the face of adversity and uncertainty. If they can do it, we all can, too.

Here’s to a better 2021, filled not just with sports again, but with good health and good fortune, too. Happy New Year, and good riddance, 2020.

(Joel Whetzel, assistant sports editor of the Bradford Era, can be reached at jwhetzel@bradfordera.com.)