March 19, 2024

Go — Learn things.

Go — learn things is a phrase said by a character in one of my favorite television shows. I’ve heard it hundreds of times, or so, but not until last week did it really resonate with me.

I know why it finally did. On Friday, I turn 60. Now, age is not a big freak-out for me. It is how old I am and I’ve always told my age.

Learning something every day is part of being human. We learn from our triumphs. We learn from our fails.

I remember having my younger nephew at my home when he was a baby. I don’t know how parents get anything done because I just watched him as he learned things. I was learning also.

I’ve learned all my life, 60 years worth so far. As a journalist, I continue to learn each time I write, each time I take a photograph, and each time I take in an activity. I learn from watching the athletes and coaches when they win and win they fail.

Failing is part of life. We aren’t going to go through our journey without the ups and downs.

I recall my parents telling us as youngsters when we fell down to “get up and go again.” It was their way of telling us we were alright, maybe a skinned knee or elbow, a bruise but we were alright.

Playing a game of the Sheets family touch football in the front yard was never just touch football. I remember getting smack around by my older and younger brothers. I held my own.

I could beat my older brother, who is much taller and stronger than I, in a game of burn-out. I threw a softball or baseball pretty well in my youth.

I catch up with my classmates — Linwood High Class of 1975 — on Friday. I’m the youngest in our class. I’ve had a lot of fails in those 60 years but the triumphs win out in the end.

A learning situation was had this week by the Iowa Newspaper Association and all the sports writers in Iowa. The INA switched from in-person all-state team meetings where sports writers and editors met to hash out information for the annual INA all-state teams to an online voting.

It failed this week when the 2017 INA all-state football teams were released. I championed the online voting for several reasons, but most of all it allowed a small sports staff such as the Newton Daily News staff to vote in more than just two classifications.

The Newton Daily News had five area football teams in four classes — 4A, 2A, A and 8-man. The in-person meetings limited us to one person in a class meeting. The online voting limited us to one person voting per class.

Unfortunately, not enough information was presented to voting members about players. The online ballot did not fit the voting purpose. There were players listed incorrectly by position and classification.

When the all-state teams were released to media on Monday afternoon, confusion and frustration rang out. Now, the teams are public and confusion and frustration continues to ring.

Media members contacted the INA on Monday about the discrepancies. No changes will be made to the all-state football teams. They are what they are.

More media members voted this year for all-state football, which is what the INA wanted. There was concerned with low turnout for the in-person meetings.

Online voting can work, but it needs to be revamped to what we are voting for with a ballot to fit all-state teams. Information needs to be gathered better from coaches about nominated players.

A constructive dialog needs to be had between the INA and sports writers to fix this if online is the way the INA wants to go.

We at the Newton Daily News are proud of the young men from our area who were recognized. We believe a few who deserved to be recognized were not.

So, I just offer this advice to all involved — go, learn things.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets
at jsheets@newtondailynews.com