The day ends in 'y,' so that must mean Marcus Massey is coaching

BERNIE – There will be less than a month for Bernie High School baseball coach and assistant boy’s basketball coach Marcus Massey to breathe between his fall baseball season, which ends on October 3, and the start of hoops, which starts on October 29.

However, even during that break, he probably won’t be able to relax, because his wife, Jenny Massey, will be in the final days of her pregnancy for the couple’s second child, who is expected to make an appearance in mid-November.

The lack of downtime might be concerning to some people, but what the Massey’s have shown is that downtime can be measured in minutes or hours, not necessarily days or weeks.

“Right now,” Marcus said of his reaching a point of exhaustion, “I’m not. I won’t say that there won’t be a time when that comes, but I just like coming out (to coach) every day.”

And he means “every day.”

Massey’s schedule runs from fall baseball to basketball, which depending on the success of the Mules, can overlap with his spring baseball season.

Two years ago, the Bernie boys played hoops through March 12, while the first day of spring sports practice this school year is scheduled for February 25.

“I love being around all of these kids,” Massey said. “I’m around them, literally, 365 days a year.”

It’s a good problem to have, but part of Massey’s issue is the fact that his teams have a great deal of success.

The 2023 Mules spring baseball season didn’t end until May 24 in a 5-3 loss to Chaffee in the MSHSAA Class 2 Quarterfinal, and 48 hours later, his players (mostly the same kids, regardless of the sport) were in the gym prepping for summer basketball, which didn’t end until the last week of July.

Oh, and Bernie's kids also play summer baseball for Massey.

“It’s just what we do,” Massey said of the schedule. “It’s a routine. If I’m not here, then there is nothing to do.”

The Massey’s have tried to take “3 or 4 days” each summer and “go to the beach,” Marcus explained, but due to Jenny’s pregnancy, they skipped that this summer.

The family does try to make a mini-vacation on Friday nights when Marcus is not immersed in a high school season.

“We always go eat,” Marcus said of a relaxing Friday night. “Especially in the summer.”

Marcus explained that it helps that Jenny was a college athlete (volleyball at Williams Baptist) just as he was (baseball and basketball at Williams Baptist).

“She is a big supporter,” Massey said of his wife’s attitude towards his career. “She was a college athlete. She gets the grind and how things have to be.

“When I get a break, then I need to be home. But when it is in season, she is all for it.”

Well, it’s “in season” now.

The Mules will open their fall baseball season (20-plus games) on Friday at Holcomb at 4:30 p.m.

“She is all in,” Massey continued. “So, it is a great relationship from that aspect.”