As a sports editor, one of the best parts of my job is being out in the community, interacting with readers and sharing conversation. When it comes to reporting, I am the one asking the questions. But when I am out and about at local stadiums, gymnasiums and start lines for various events, often I get to listen to your questions and try to provide an answer the best I can.

For the past nine weeks since sports went away because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been mostly shut inside my makeshift office in the corner of my dining room. During this time, I have missed interacting with our readers and all of the wonderful community members of La Plata County and the surrounding areas. I miss answering your questions, as they often spark story ideas that further those conversations.

So, at long last, I’ve decided to start a mailbag column of sorts. I will take your questions and answer them to the best of my ability. If I don’t have an answer, I’ll find an expert who does and relay those answers on to you the best I can.

I’ll try to answer two questions in each column, thus the name of this column, “Two Bagger.” I am a baseball guy after all. I never had the speed to leg out many triples, but doubles do just fine.

Without further adieu, let’s get to a pair of questions for this initial column.

Q: Will there be school sports this fall? – Literally everyone I encounter

A: This is by far the question I am most frequently asked these days and the question I continually pepper toward coaches and school officials. The simple answer: Nobody knows.

That’s admittedly a tough way to start a question and answer column. Earlier this week, Durango Parks & Recreation Director Cathy Metz asked if I had a crystal ball when I selfishly inquired about the fate of adult recreation league softball and whether or not there was any chance of my squad hitting the diamonds at the Fort Lewis College complex this summer. No, there’s no crystal ball on my shelf, only hopeful thoughts of making memories in the dugout with some friends I only get to see on those glorious Wednesday summer nights.

So, without truly knowing the answer to this question, here’s a few scenarios I currently feel are most likely:

I think there will be sports this fall, at some capacity. Some sports such as cross-country, golf, soccer, softball and tennis will have a better chance than even football. But I don’t think there is any way football doesn’t at least start across the U.S. at the high school, college and professional level in 2020. Whether entire seasons are able to be played if a second wave of the coronavirus hits with brute strength, only time will tell.I believe, at least initially, there will be serious limits on fan attendance. For a high school football game, I could see fans being separated by multiple rows and additional bleachers being placed around fields to accommodate more social distancing. Don’t expect to see pep bands in the stands and maybe not even cheerleaders or dance teams on sidelines. I could see spectators being limited to four family members for each player, similar to what the Colorado High School Activities Association tried to do for the state basketball tournament before eventually canceling state play March 12 after the quarterfinals. I could see visiting fans being prohibited from traveling to away games. Let’s hope that’s not the case, but those are realistic measures I could see put in place for the start of fall seasons.I believe there is a real chance all non-conference college games will be canceled. That would give Fort Lewis College a few extra weeks before beginning fall play in men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball. The cancellation of non-conference games also will likely spread to the entire 2020-21 school year and potentially beyond with athletic departments and entire conferences financially struggling in the wake of COVID-19 cancellations this spring. If schools have a chance to save some money and not send teams across state lines to compete in non-conference games, which requires hotel stays and other travel expenses, they will take the chance to cut that expense.All of these points are simply my best guesses. Much of what happens this fall will be contingent on the success of professional sports organizations resuming play this summer as well as the ability of students to return to on-campus learning. CHSAA has already set a precedent of canceling all sports activities if students can not return to the classroom. Expect that to continue. Let’s hope for a safe summer and an improved landscape by July.

Q: What’s going on with the Thirsty 13? – Adam Huff, Albuquerque

A: When this year’s San Juan Brewfest was canceled because of COVID-19 and restrictions on large public gatherings expected to be in place through Labor Day in early September, the next question was what would happen with the wildly popular Thirsty 13 Half Marathon that precedes the brew fest at Buckley Park. A downhill half marathon perfect for setting a personal record followed by a brew fest results in a memorable – or forgettable – day for all race entrants who get admission to the brew fest by signing up for the Thirsty 13.

With no update posted on the Thirsty 13’s website, I caught up with race director Matthew Krichman to ask Adam’s question. He said the race scheduled for Aug. 29 is still on as scheduled, for now.

“I am hopeful that the race will happen, and plenty of runners share my optimism, as registrations are coming in daily,” Krichman said. “I think runners see the Thirsty 13 as far enough out on the calendar that it could be our first opportunity for a race to happen after all the early-summer events were forced to cancel. The Thirsty 13 is an important race for our running community and our town. I’m hopeful that things will be back to normal well before race day on Aug. 29th.”

Krichman added that the event’s priority is the safety of the runners and all the volunteers who help make the race possible. There is always the chance of a cancellation. Krichman has not set a deadline for making a final call and said he will be patient and see how the situation plays out this summer.

“Our decision will be in accordance with whatever guidance we receive from the governor’s office and San Juan Basin Public Health,” Krichman said. “No race is worth risking anyone’s health and safety.

“The cancellation of the San Juan Brewfest is definitely a bummer, but the Thirsty 13 is popular for lots of reasons besides just the Brewfest. It has a fast, beautiful, mostly downhill course and, of course, an epic finish line right in the beer garden at Ska Brewing. ... No one would be happy if we canceled too soon when there’s still a possibility that things could get better. We want to do what’s best for the runners, which means staying positive for now and assessing the situation as we get closer to race day.”

So, Adam, keep up with your training runs and know there is still the potential of a race this summer. I’ll look forward to seeing you at the finish line.

That’s it for this week’s COVID-19 focused column. I promise, this won’t always be focused around coronavirus and event cancellations, as I am as fatigued of writing those bad news stories as you are of reading them. This is open to any and all of your sports questions and a few non-sports related questions if you have them, too. Questions don’t always have to be about local topics, but let’s try to keep it interesting for the bulk of readers.

Let’s try to have some fun with it.

John Livingston is the Regional Sports Editor of The Durango Herald. He can be reached at jlivingston@durangoherald.com or on Twitter @jlivi2.