I didn’t even make it through one game before it happened.

How quickly I forgot!

Having taken a one-year hiatus from covering high school sports, I knew there would be a few tricks of the trade that would present themselves again after realizing I just made my job harder than it had to be. But overall I wouldn’t forget much. I was under the impression that being forced to look at myself in the mirror every day provided me with a daily reminder of how young I look and I am — I suppose I was just hoping I’d grown up.

After all, it had been an important 13 months for me. I spent that time working for the University of Washington, where I was witness to the worst football season in Pac-10 history, a cross country and softball national championship and a trip to the NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament. It was a roller coaster to say the least.

While a Husky, when I was not being confused with a student, I worked on the other side of the media, which is to say that I poked and prodded them into telling the stories I wanted to be told. And after one year, there are two things that I learned about sportswriters. The first being that each one is weird. They are their own people that don’t like to be prodded. If you prove to them that you will continue to prod until you’re acknowledged, however, they will do whatever you ask right away.

And the second thing is that we are babies. With the exception of a few such local writers, most will complain about not getting free dinner and half of their stories written for them. So not only did I have to babysit the writers, but I babysat players during interviews, where I would say the same sentence numerous times: “You know, you don’t have to answer every question.”

That was my job, and it was a pretty good one. It was so good, in fact, that I almost forgot about my days with The Lynden Tribune and all of the state championships I covered, along with fueling the rivalries and telling local stories.

Now my attention is here, and I am excited to get to know the intricacies of this area. After attending just a handful of events, I have already been impressed with the excitement and dedication these young athletes put toward sport.

I almost forgot about the relationships I built with coaches after being there during the wins and the losses. And I forgot that everyone around here doesn’t yet know me or my idiosyncrasies, but that has all come back within my first week — maybe even my first day.

Yes, it all came back when I was on the sideline of a Marysville-Pilchuck soccer game and asked, “So what class are you doing this for?”

How could I forget?