Believe it or not, journalists are not the only ones asking questions.

From time to time curious minds will ask questions to the ones usually ending sentences with question marks, especially about details of our careers such as where have you been, who have you talked to, what’s your best story or your favorite story, what gyms have you been in, have you been to all of the Illinois tourist destinations, what do you eat on the road, where is your favorite place to eat on the road, and every what is your favorite question possible.

The No. 1 question I’ve been asked over my 20 years as a professional journalist is, “What is your favorite event to cover?”

At first it was a difficult question to answer.

I have covered a lot of cool, interesting, history making worthy events such as a rally at the Illinois State Capitol Building in Springfield to fight the pulling of a college grant, St. Bede alumnus J.A. Happ pitching in MLB games (six different stories which took place in both Chicago ballparks, Detroit, and Milwaukee), state fairs, rodeos (including speaking to the at-the-time No. 1-ranked Professional Bull Riders cowboy), Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame member Walt “Clyde” Frazier donating to Southern Illinois University, Illinois Senator Sue Rezin and State Representative Lance Yednock taking a tour of the newly bought and renovated OSF hospital in Peru, DePue boat races, two NASCAR races at Joliet Speedway with interviews with Ross Kenseth, speaking with country music singers Drew Parker and Shane Profitt in Sublette during Hops and Harmony 2023, the 2018 Hall baseball team state championship (covered on radio and in print), met US Senator Dick Durbin at the Amboy Fire Department, and many, many, many more awesome events I’ll write about in a book some day.

I left out some of the happenings early on in my career from the list (Rest in Peace Dan Callahan, former SIU baseball coach who helped me mature and make sure this was the career I wanted) as I thought about more recent memories. There are events that made the question a tough answer since year one of my career in 2005.

In 2014, the answer became easier when I covered my first IHSA State Track Meet.

Since the first weekend I witnessed the jaw-dropping track and field performances to a level I had never seen before, I’ve been hooked and have never changed the answer to what is my favorite event to cover whether sports, news or entertainment.

The answer has been and may forever be, the state track meet.

Let’s just look at this year with Mendota freshman high jumper Mariyah Elam winning only the fourth female track state championship in school history following Tracy Stroyan (1982, discus) and Sherry Hoffman (1987, long jump; 1989, long jump).

Not only did she win but she impressed herself, her coaches, her teammates and her parents as she out leaped her 4-foot-11, fourth-place finish at last year’s IESA State Track Meet to 5-7 to claim her gold medal in the high school ranks.

There were top marks, top athletic ability, top notch determination from athletes all over the state and definitely from the Illinois Valley.

It’s like this every year.

I love basketball and football. Volleyball is awesome. Baseball and softball are cool. Soccer is alright. Tennis is OK.

I never thought I’d like covering or watching track, but it is at the top of the list, even surpassing hoops.

There is no greater feat than defeating opponents on a stage as big as the one at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. All eyes are on you. All headlines are focused on what you do. All schedules are booked around you. All attention is on the athlete and what he or she does.

Can they rise to the occasion?

Will they fail?

The anticipation for a 50 second run or a 5-7 jump that took 10 seconds is incredibly intriguing, unique, and addictive.

Just ask every track athlete who has ever performed, it’s highly addicitive.

That’s what La Salle-Peru alumna Rachel Hickey won the 800-meter run in 2016 and 2018 before a career at Illinois State University and Baylor University. The same goes for St. Bede graduate Bret Dannis when he won both the 300-meter and 100-meter hurdles in 2106 and the 110 hurdles in 2017 before hurdling for the University of Illinois.

Steven Brust, Anthony Buchanan, Devin Soldati, and Marshall Walk gasped the words, ‘Man, that was awesome,” after they won both the 400-meter and 800-meter relays in 2019.

And who knows who may be able to have the same thoughts and sentiments after this weekend’s 2024 boys state meet.

Will the favored win?

Or will the lower expected reach higher like Amboy senior Elly Jones did this year in the 100-meter hurdles when she was seeded eighth but walked away from last weekend’s state meet with a fourth-place medal.

What a great competitive environment.

What a fun event to create headlines and story lines.

What an awesome, easy answer to the question, “What is your favorite event to cover?”