All the way back on Aug. 21, when the PIAA gave the green light to fall sports against the recommendation (oops, strong recommendation) of Gov. Tom Wolf and the departments of health and education, there was a sense of relief.

But also of trepidation.

More than a few coaches and athletes I talked to expressed doubt the fall season would conclude.

They feared COVID-19 outbreaks would force Wolf's hand and he'd shut the whole thing down.

They were concerned the season would come crumbling down like a wobbly Jenga tower.

While the coronavirus pandemic did wreak havoc on several schools and sports across the state, canceling games and shortening schedules, we are just a little more than a week away from finishing the fall sports season.

District champions have been crowned. Individual titles won in cross country, tennis and golf. PIAA champions will soon be claimed.

A different kind of triumph, though, goes to all the athletes, coaches, administrators — well, everyone — who successfully navigated the minefield of COVID this fall.

It wasn't easy playing under that kind of uncertainty.

“Our first scrimmage against Mercer, we weren't playing well and it didn't look like the girls wanted to be there,” said Slippery Rock High girls soccer coach Sarah Vemilya of the early days of playing under the shroud of a pandemic. “We sat them down and told them, 'Hey, listen, this may be your only game this season. We don't know what next week will hold.' Every game is honestly a gift and they really believed that.”

For the seniors hoping to get that one last taste of fall glory, getting through the season meant more than any individual accolade.

“We took so many safety precautions,” said Seneca Valley senior Sarah White, who concluded another standout campaign with the Raiders' volleyball team, earning first-team WPIAL and All-American honors. “We were wearing masks all the time. Having our athletic department fight for us and have a season, especially since it was my last season there, meant a lot.”

Now the focus will soon shift to the winter sports slate and a whole new set of problems.

COVID-19 is raging again all over the country. Every day, more than 140,000 are testing positive and 1,400 are dying from the virus.

Every day.

The fate of a sports season seems rather insignificant in light of those numbers.

But here we are, wondering if there will be basketball, wrestling, indoor track and field, bowling and swimming in the coming months.

Hockey has already begun.

Again, people I have spoken with are saying the fate of winter sports is bleak.

Lots of tough decisions will have to be made in the coming weeks.

Maybe today.

It's Friday the 13th. The last Friday the 13th — March 13 — everything changed.

Let's hope the chaos of this spring and summer is avoided and a definitive answer is given sooner rather than later.

There's been enough living in limbo.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle