Jeff Kind, Middleton’s girls basketball coach, insists you shouldn’t shed a tear for him.
Kind has taken 11 different teams to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament.
He’s helped the Cardinals win at least a share of 11 Big Eight Conference titles since the 2006-’07 season.
And he’s had a large hand in making countless girls better basketball players — and human beings — during his more than four decades in coaching.
But it’s hard not to have a bit of sympathy for Kind these days.
The one thing that has eluded Kind — his white whale, if you will — is a state championship. Middleton’s 2020 team seemed poised to change all of that, to capture the first state title in school history and reward Kind with his first-ever gold ball.
Amazingly, though, this year’s tournament was cancelled on March 19 due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
If it wasn’t for bad luck at the state tournament, Kind wouldn’t have any.