I’m hitting the pause button on blogging. Taking a break. That won’t stop the world from going round and round.
The anniversary of the 1990 U.S. Open golf tournament is this weekend. Played on course #3 at Medinah Country Club, it’s the legendary one where Hale Irwin sunk a 45 foot putt to send the tourney to a Monday playoff that went 19 holes before Irwin beat Mike Donald. I worked that tournament and made photos of Irwin when he did his “victory lap” after making that putt.
A blog was in the works and that’s when the trouble began. Last Saturday, the 6th, I went searching for a box of old photo credentials and event vests with the intention of taking photos of the vest to use in the blog. The last I recall, the credentials were in a cardboard box with two event vests folded neatly on top. The purple vest from the U.S. Open was kept as I wore it and has white marks from the salt stains as I sweat through the event. The backstory of covering that event is pretty cool.
A box on a basement shelf is labeled '“photo passes and lanyards,” and it was sealed with packing tape. The second I picked it up I knew it was too light to contain what I was looking for. In opening it, that was confirmed. There were some recent passes, but not the treasure trove I was looking for. The box I had in mind has all of my sports credentials from events I worked from 1983-1997, including such items as two NBA Finals, the first night game at Wrigley Field, a game shot at Boston Garden, my Sports Illustrated “tryout” football game…countless other events. There is a red event vest from the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle.
Panic set in and it hasn’t gone away. So far, the box with the credentials has not been found. I have looked everywhere and Lori has tried to help. We moved here about two years ago and I hadn’t needed the box until now. The house has pretty much been gone through. There are still a couple of options in the garage but it looks very dim. Maybe, by a miracle, the last place I will check will have what I’m looking for, in the same manner Terry Kath’s daughter found her father’s signature guitar in the last case she checked.
I’m a zombie. This has messed with my sleep and diet. I’m beyond distraught, I’m gutted. Other than my slides and negatives and mom’s Christmas tree ornaments, that box is everything. Music can be replaced. Those credentials are priceless and irreplaceable. I’m sick.
There are multiple scenarios as to what might have happened but none add up. I”m sure they made it from my old place to the duplex Lori and I shared. When we moved here, I personally moved the slides, tearsheets, etc. to this office. Everything is accounted for except that box, which holds 14 years of my career when I was shooting big time sporting events on a regular basis. I usually have an epiphany and it “hits me” as to what or where. Not this time, it’s driving me crazy. How could I be so careless with something that means everything to me. If I don’t find the box I will never forgive myself.
Ahh, but perspective. Many times, friends have told me, “Kent, it’s only stuff,” they say, when I’ve wigged out about other things. And they are right. Just Monday, I received an emal from a high school classmate, telling me about another classmate of ours who just received a horrible diagnosis. I get it.
I’ve been trying to keep busy to keep my mind off the problem. I have work in Evanston this weekend, a garage sale the following weekend. As we prepare for, and dig through totes and boxes for the sale…maybe it will turn up. But I feel a bad sense of doom on this one.
The U.S. Open blog was about to happen and I had ideas for others. But I just ain’t feeling it now. I will be back eventually.
