Not surprised that Northern is doing a great job of safely hosting games

Playing games without fans isn't new to much of America. In fact, right now, it's kind of the new normal as the coronavirus continues to ravage this country. But playing games without fans had been new to Montana State University-Northern sports, simply because, Northern really hasn't hosted a major sporting event since the pandemic began.

That, though, changed this past weekend when the Lights and Skylights hosted the first basketball games of the 2020-21 season. The Northern women played Lewis-Clark State Friday night and again Saturday, while the MSU-N men took on Yellowstone Christian Friday night in the Armory Gymnasium.

And to say it was weird - to say Friday night in the Armory was anything but normal - was putting it mildly.

First, here's who was there besides the teams and officials. I was there. Our HDN photographer Colin Thompson was there. Ron Bruschi of New Media Broadcasters was there. The Northern bench crew, the Northern training staff, the Northern photographer, MSU-N Athletic Director Christian Oberquell. That was it, that was the list. So, of course, right away, you notice how quiet the games are. That really goes without saying. And of course it was to be expected.

Obviously, the fans were missing. That was easily the biggest takeaway from the weekend. It's just so different to watch a highly competitive college basketball game without the roars of the crowd, and it was certainly bizarre given how great and supportive Northern fans always are. Alas, though, that's how it's going to be for the foreseeable future because that's what the Frontier Conference decided and announced last Friday.

Anyway, this column isn't to debate or lament about fan restrictions for Northern sporting events. I may or may not address that some other time. No this column is to say thank you, and to commend MSU-Northern for putting on the games, and for doing an incredible job of adhering to the guidelines set forth by the CDC, by our health department, by MSU-Northern and by the Frontier Conference.

Yes, I want to point out what an excellent job both Oberquell, Tammy Boles and head Athletic Trainer Robert Tate did to host games, and will continue to do going forward. I know, some might say, it's their job and blah, blah, blah, but this is different. This is operating during a global pandemic. This is trying to host college sports with a lot of rules put forth, with a lot of restrictions in place, and above all else, with a lot of responsibility toward keeping everyone involved healthy and safe. And for that, I am going to toot the horn of everybody at Northern, and the job they did this past weekend because I know what they have to do to host these games; it isn't easy.

And yet, Northern did an amazing job. And this is how I know how good things are. I don't want to get COVID-19 if I can help it. I don't want to give COVID-19 to anyone else if I can help it. I've written about it here many times, and everyone who knows me knows exactly how serious I've taken this pandemic and how cautious I am.

So, with that in mind, I was certainly a little nervous about going back into that work environment, even without fans. I just didn't know how, covering my first basketball games in 10 months would go.

But, thanks to the hard work of everybody at Northern, it went as smoothly as I could have ever hoped. Thanks to all the work that everybody at Northern did, and is doing, to create a safe environment to host college sports I felt exactly that - I felt safe covering games this weekend in the Armory. And, I admit, I don't always feel safe with what we're going through right now. So again, for that, I want to say thank you to everybody at Northern who helped to make me and the few of us who were there last weekend feel safe and secure.

I'd also like to take the time to commend the coaches at Northern, too. Both MSU-N women's head coach Chris Mouat and MSU-N men's head coach Shawn Huse clearly have done what it takes to create an environment amongst their teams that takes this situation very seriously. Both Huse and Mouat were masked up, as per requirements by the Frontier Conference and the NAIA, and they didn't deviate from that. Not once. They followed protocol to a T. And so did their players. Northern players who were not in the game were masked up on the bench, and to someone who takes this very seriously, I really appreciate that. I know some people think its silly to have basketball players that spend so much time together wearing masks during games and on benches. That's fine, that's your opinion. But what it tells me is they care. I very much know for a fact that Mouat and Huse care, and I know they're instilling that in their players, and I appreciate that. So thank you coaches, thank you for caring, and taking care of your players, but also having your players take on that responsibility of trying to take care of each other and all of us.

At the end of the day, that's what this column is really all about. Saying thank you. As sports editor of the Havre Daily News, the Armory Gymnasium is somewhere I spend an awful lot of time, and now that sports are going again, and with even more to come in January and February, I'm going to be spending a lot of time in that great gym. And yes, I have no problem saying I want to feel safe when I'm, in there, not just for myself, but because I will go home to my wife and my family, and I want them to be safe around me.

And thanks to the hard work of everyone involved with MSU-Northern athletics and Lights and Skylights basketball, I felt safe this past weekend covering games.

I've always bragged that the Northern and the Armory present the best home court advantage in the Frontier Conference. Everything MSU-N does in regards to hosting games is first class. And even during these trying times nothing has changed.

Northern is doing an outstanding job of handling the responsibility of safely hosting games during this pandemic, and I for one am very grateful to everyone up there for doing just that.