I shoulda listened to my wife.

How many times have I said that over the years...(to be clear, it’s been many)...

Last winter I was making some rounds during conference basketball month and was leaving Odell, next stop Lewiston. (Go ahead, look that up if you need to, but think greater Beatrice). I wouldn’t necessarily say I was in a hurry, it was the middle of the afternoon and I had plenty of time, but I would say I was lazy. Lazy with my camera, placing it in the back seat of my pickup...right next to my camera bag, in which the camera should have been placed.

About an hour later I pulled into Lewiston, opened the back door of the pickup and my camera fell out, crashing to the concrete. Not good. In fact, very bad. While it was too soon to say what kind of internal damage the camera had suffered it was clear to see the mount to my favorite lens was busted, and wouldn’t seat properly onto the camera.

Again, not good.

Well, I was in Lewiston so I decided to give it a go, heading into the gym for the EMF v. Lewiston game, if I remember correctly. Either way, I fiddled with the lens mount, got to the point where I could at least capture some sort of image and shot the first half of the game before heading home. Or at least to Gretna, which isn’t the same thing but you know what I mean.

It was late January, the figured the repairs would be expensive and probably time consuming so I elected to plunge ahead and used that battered camera and lens all the way through the state basketball tournaments. Given the quality of my work you probably couldn’t tell the difference - mediocre is mediocre - but it was a chore getting photos that would work for my use, even in the smaller format required by the website.

Got through state, knew I could use the camera on my phone for all the player feature and other photos that were part of the preseason magazine and such, so no rush to get my camera into the shop. So I waited. Until late July.

All along Huskerland Penni had told me to get that thing in the shop and get it fixed, you’ll need it. I knew she was right but figured I would put it off as long as I could. So I did.

Waited too long.

As this is written on the morning of Opening Night - which, I guess, makes it Opening Morning - my camera is still in the shop. To be honest, it may arrive today, according to my repair people, but I am planning to not have my camera tonight. Which is weird. I always have my camera at the game(s).

I’ll be on a sideline tonight, either way, but since photography is sorta what I do on game night, it will change things...maybe I should go sit in the press box, which I never do except at Memorial Stadium for state. (And why wouldn’t you, right?) Had I listened to my wife (oh Lord, how many times have I heard that...to be clear, it’s been many) I would not be in this predicament. But I am.

We’ll make it work, and for sure I will have my camera back in time for the Week 1 games. At least that’s what my wife told me...see how I listen?!

* All 14 games matter to all 28 games playing them tonight but the clear headline grabber among them is the Creighton Prep at Bellevue West contest. It’s a game veteran Belle West should win handily, in part due to Prep’s relative varsity inexperience at the start of this season, and you surely would expect the Thunderbirds to put on a show, given all that offensive firepower.

My original, pre-no camera plan had me considering a trip to North Platte for the Flatrock double dip, games at both North Platte High and St. Pat’s. Not gonna work this time, but want to make it work before the season’s over. Could well be I wind up at Blair to check in on the Bears as they host Norris in a game where Blair can make an early statement. We’ll see, but I sure like the look of that team as we enter the season.

Lots more games tonight, and we will discuss them all in tomorrow’s Saturday Morning Quarterback, and we get everybody in the pool next week. It is true the start of the season, once so far in the distance, really does sneak up on you.

It happens so fast that if you’re not paying attention you can wind up with your camera still in the shop on Opening Day...