Navigating pitfalls of a global pandemic

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/09/2020 (1907 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been well documented how the pandemic has affected athletes, coaches and leagues around the world.

You’ve likely heard all about the Zoom calls, home workouts and what it’s like to play without fans in the stands.

But what about the people who work in sports in other capacities? They might not be the ones hitting home runs, catching touchdowns or scoring goals, but that doesn’t mean COVID-19 hasn’t drastically changed their day-to-day lives as well. 

The Free Press chatted with people who are involved in the Winnipeg sports scene to see how the virus has challenged their line of work.

Mike Still

It sounds cliché, but Mike Still eats, sleeps and breathes amateur football.

The King’s College journalism school grad has carved out a niche as the go-to source for all Manitoba amateur football news with his website (manitobafootballfeed.net) and as the communications co-ordinator for the Winnipeg High School Football League (WHSFL). Still, 25, was also a staff writer for University of Manitoba Bisons sports until the pandemic hit in March, and did play-by-play for the school’s football team.

“I kid you not, my schedule is all sports,” said Still.

“When I’m with the Bisons from 9-4, it’s straight from Bisons to a high school football league practice. Or it’s straight to a (Winnipeg) Rifles practice. Or it’s somewhere in the community basically every single day of the week. It’s my identity. It’s who I am.”

In a typical year, Still finds himself engrossed in the football community from May to November. But with all the people and contact involved in the game, it could be a while until football resembles anything close to normal.

“I didn’t have anything to write about whatsoever. Obviously, with my website, it’s not something I make money off of whatsoever. I just like to do it for the heart of the community.”

“It was a struggle not having the chance to do that because I was just sitting there with all this time because I like to stay busy, especially staying busy in the football scene, and I just sat there a lot of days and in talking with friends I said ‘I just don’t know what to do with myself. My whole life revolves around this.’ So, it really took a toll on my mental health for sure. It was really hard.”

For Still, it’s the camaraderie he misses the most. He’s no longer surrounded by people who love the same thing that he does every single day. He kept busy taking nominations for and revealing the WHSFL’s all-decade teams on social media, but it didn’t have the same rush as being on the field. There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel.

Montreal Alouettes linebacker DJ Lalama, a Winnipeg native, called Still the other week and asked him to get involved in the Pro Prep Flag Football League, which is set to launch on Sept. 30. The league, which is operated by Lalama and Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Andrew Harris, is intended to fill the void for local high school, junior, university and professional players. Still will be in charge of social media, website content and game coverage.

“I’m thankful that over the last little while here that some of the things have picked up for me and some of my contacts in the amateur football community have lifted me up and given me some good opportunities… The one thing that I’ve learned throughout this whole thing is to be patient, to not get into your own head. Don’t let your thoughts linger for too long and ruminate on them and just try to stay optimistic.”

Ron Arnst

It’s possible that you’ve never met Ron Arnst, but you’ve heard his voice if you’ve been to a Winnipeg Goldeyes game at Shaw Park. 

Arnst has been introducing hitters and reminding Goldeyes fans to watch out for foul balls since 1994. You’ll find the popular public address announcer in the booth for the team’s 50 regular-season games, as well as pre-season and playoff tilts.

But this summer’s calendar looked a whole lot different, and emptier. The Goldeyes were based out of Fargo, N.D., for the 2020 campaign and didn’t play a single game at Shaw Park.

“Of course I’ve missed it, I’ve missed it terribly,” said Arnst, who spent many evenings this summer watching Goldeyes games streamed online.

“I miss the live baseball and I’ve missed the people I work with. We have a great time at the ballpark. We have a lot of fun there every night. That’s difficult to miss, but when I start feeling too sorry for myself, I think of those people who have lost part, or a significant part, or all of their livelihood because of what’s happened with COVID. Then all of a sudden my little inconvenience seems pretty insignificant.”

Arnst said regardless of what the temperature is outside, it’s going to feel like a long winter as he’s already counting down until spring and keeping his fingers crossed that he’ll be in the booth in 2021.

“I love being there when there’s a crowd. It’s exciting, it’s electric, it’s all the good things you want it to be. I can picture that (first game back). I certainly can,” said Arnst who retired from his career in public communications in 2017. “It kind of jumps my heart rate up every time I think about it.”

While he remains hopeful, Arnst isn’t in denial. He’s well aware there are no guarantees for next summer. Until then, he’ll keep busy reading (he recently finished a book on Yankees legend Yogi Berra) and working the odd freelance gig.

“I think you have to be pretty obtuse to not recognize what the risks are here and the challenges and the threats. But there’s one thing I’ve learned in my years around baseball and other sports, it’s like (Wayne) Gretzky said, ‘You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take.’ So if you always concentrate on the negative, nothing ever gets done and invariably you don’t change the outcome.”

Rhéanne Marcoux

The season was cancelled and it seems all the news surrounding the CFL is doom and gloom. So what is there for Rhéanne Marcoux, the creative director for the Winnipeg Football Club, to tweet about these days?

Well, Grey Cup hero Chris Streveler making some noise in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals has given her and the team something to work with, but that’s only a drop in the bucket.

“I think creativity tends to happen when you have some restrictions imposed and have to find new ways to come up with something,” Marcoux said.

“It’s been a challenge, for sure, to come up with regular content when there’s not a whole lot going on, but on the flip side, it’s been really cool to see what we have been able to come up with and different ideas that we can maybe carry over going forward when we do have a season again… But yeah, it’s definitely not what we were expecting in terms of being able to celebrate our championship through our content and celebrating the team’s 90th (anniversary season). It’s been different and challenging for sure.”

On a game day, Marcoux, who also oversees Valour FC’s content, is making posts as early as 7 a.m. and all the way through the game. The axed CFL schedule allowed Marcoux the time in June to launch ‘The W Hub,’ which provides exclusive content, such as a podcast, to season-ticket holders and Bomber For Life members.

Will there be a CFL next season and beyond? There’s a lot of uncertainty around that as the league still has a lot of issues to deal with. Marcoux is hopeful for the future.

“We have a lot of weekly calls across the board with every team in the league. The one thing that we’re really lucky with, (season ticket) renewals across the board are doing very well, especially for us. It’s a positive to know that we still have that fan support behind the team and that people are excited to get back to the stadium. That’s basically what we’re working towards, right? Like a kind of return to play and make sure that it’s a really big deal because everybody is going to be so excited to finally have that season back again, so we want to celebrate that across our platforms.”

Tom Hallick

It’s safe to say Tom Hallick enjoys sports. All it takes is a quick look at his resumé to figure that out.

He’s the press box announcer for the Blue Bombers, but sports fans would likely best know him for his PA announcing for the Bisons football and hockey teams. He’s also a statistician for high school hockey and the Western Women’s Canadian Football League.

All of his weekends between late August until early March are usually tied up with his various gigs. It’s how Hallick pays the bills, and he loves it, but obviously, the pandemic has wiped out his profession for the time being.

“It’s been a very hard hit. But I just got to roll with it and do the best I can,” said Hallick, who’s been spending his newfound spare time in the kitchen and watching ESPN Classic on TV.

“You can’t do anything about it, so you just sit back, hope for the best and brace yourself for the worst.”

The waiting has been the toughest part for the 51-year-old, who grew up in the small town of Starbuck. The CFL taking so long to make an official decision on the 2020 season was frustrating, and so is the fact he’ll likely have to wait another month to see if there will be any Bisons sports this winter.

So, what’s the plan for now?

“I’m hoping for some voice-over work. I reassembled my small voice-over studio. It’s not a humongous production, it’s just basic bare-bones stuff. Hopefully, I can send a demo or two out and get the attention of some companies and some people and maybe voice a few commercials or something like that.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31