I’ve always been slightly annoyed by other journalists’ “personal news” social media posts. You probably know the ones I’m talking about, with several screenshots from the Notes app showing a drawn-out message full of flowery phrasing to describe an impending career change that — let’s be honest — few beyond the messenger actually care about. It’s too “look at me” for my taste.
I decided, if I was ever in that scenario, I didn’t want to make such a fuss. I just wanted to send my last sports section to our designers, chuck deuces at the newspaper office on Hill Ave in Spirit Lake, and drive off into the sunset without a word. Never again to be seen sitting cross-legged on a gym floor, or hustling to get into position along a football sideline.
However, now faced with a career change of my own, I’ve decided that departing unannounced would be doing a disservice to the many folks in the area who have supported my work for a little more than a decade now. You deserve better than that. So here I am, after 11 years of covering Dickinson County sports, letting you all know that the Feb. 13 edition will be my last as the sports editor of the DCN, as well as my exit from a newspaper career of nearly 20 years.
If you’ve made it this far and want to TLDR and bounce, I don’t blame you. It’s going to get mushy. If you choose to read on, well, at least you’ve been warned so I won’t feel like such a hypocrite.
Before I began my newspaper career, I was lost. I was just a 20-something-year-old idiot floating through life with no real sense of purpose or direction. By pure happenstance, I saw an advertisement for a local start-up publication that was looking for a sports writer to cover the area high schools and the local community college.
I was a multi-sport athlete at Estherville Lincoln Central. My high school English teacher Steve Weisman — the same Steve Weisman that you will find in this very publication’s outdoors page — once told me that I was a decent writer. And that was all I needed to muster enough confidence to apply. I showed up for the interview and left with a job.
After several months, that publication shut its doors, but I wasn’t jobless for long before Estherville Daily News managing editor Dave Swartz gave me a call and offered me a position as his newspaper’s sports editor. I accepted his offer and proceeded to have a blast covering my hometown teams for nearly 2 years while simultaneously attending Iowa Lakes Community College to study journalism and photography.
Seeking a new challenge — and some otherworldly waterfowl hunting and walleye fishing — I eventually headed west to become the editor of the Lake Preston Times in Lake Preston, South Dakota. During the initial interview, my soon-to-be publisher Dale Blegen — a veteran journalist and 2011 inductee to the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame — asked if I was any good at math. I was struck with immediate panic.
I stunk at math. Truthfully, I stunk at just about every school subject besides English, Art and P.E. Was math going to be a significant part of this job? Should I just lie?
“No,” I said sheepishly as beads of sweat formed on my brow.
“Good,” Dale responded. “I’ve never met a writer worth a (expletive) who was also good at math.”
Phew!
The Lake Preston Times was like journalism grad school. I was a one-man band. I attended every school board and city council meeting, every town festival and Friday night football game. I wrote every story. I took every photo. I designed advertising. I sold advertising. I did the layout. I designed each page. I learned more about being a newspaperman in my 2 years in that sleepy east-river South Dakota town — population 600, though I think they were also counting livestock in the census — than one could possibly learn at any journalism school. I even won a few awards, including being named the state’s Outstanding Young Journalist in 2012.
After my time in Lake Preston, I spent 10 months as a sports writer and, eventually, sports editor of the Le Mars Daily Sentinel. Then in late 2013, I received an email from former Dickinson County News sports editor and friend Ryan Christoffel, letting me know he was leaving the DCN and thought I would be a good fit to replace him. I applied that day.
I met then-general manger Jason Lindsay and managing editor Russ Mitchell for an interview. A couple of weeks later, I was offered the job and jumped at the opportunity to be close to family once again.
As I wrote in a column around this time last year celebrating my 10-year work anniversary, on my first day as sports editor of the DCN in January of 2014, I walked into the newspaper’s huge warehouse of an office on the western edge of Spirit Lake with a bigger ego than it could possibly contain. I knew that I was joining a talented staff, but I thought “Wait ’til they get a load of me!”
About a month into my new job, the DCN crew came back from the Iowa Newspaper Association’s annual convention in Des Moines with arms full of awards, and a second consecutive first-place General Excellence trophy. Seeing my colleagues’ achievement was humbling and I went from “Wait ‘till they get a load of me,” to “I just don’t want to be the weak link,” almost immediately.
Then I went to work. And that’s what I’ve tried to do every day for the last 11 years.
The awards have accumulated. Thanks to the work of many, the Dickinson County News has won 10 General Excellence awards in the last 11 years — a feat matched by only a handful of publications in the state and one that I am extremely proud of. I’ve also had plenty of personal success, winning more individual awards than any other Iowa journalist during my time at the DCN. But all of that success can’t compare to the moments of athletic excellence that I’ve witnessed, the memories I’ve made, or the relationships I’ve been fortunate to build throughout my career.
I have so many people to thank that it would be unfair of me to attempt to name them all, but I’m going to pick out a few.
Thank you to Dave Swartz for getting me started. Thank you to Dale Blegen for taking a chance on me. Thank you to former DCN publisher Paula Buenger and former GM Jason Lindsay for allowing me the opportunity to work at this publication that I came to love so dearly. Thank you to Russ Mitchell for your support, mentorship and friendship. Thank you to Nina Sorenson for your friendship and always making my work look its best. Thank you to Brandon “Hambag” Hurley and Kristin Westerman for making this job so much fun in the early days. Thank you to my guy Seth Boyes for being such a great friend and coworker. I’m always going to be proud of what we accomplished together.
Thank you to my family for their unwavering support, their belief in me, and making family time work around my insane schedule.
Thank you to my better half, Tessa, for always pushing me to be my best and for understanding that life with a journalist is hectic and unpredictable. Date nights have been few. Vacations, fewer. Money … nonexistent. In the beginning, we made our relationship work long distance. Frequently falling asleep in the middle of 2 a.m. phone calls. Making long drives to spend a weekend together here or there. It wasn’t easy. I appreciate all of the sacrifices those closest to me have made to allow me to chase this career, especially hers.
Thank you to the many school administrators, coaches and athletes of Dickinson County — far too many to name — who allowed me to tell their stories and share incredible moments that I won’t soon forget. And thank you to everyone in the Lakes Area and beyond who followed along.
As a young man, I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up. Once I figured it out, all I wanted was to be the best journalist I was capable of becoming. In sports, it’s all about getting just a little bit better every single day, and I tried very hard to apply that to my journalism career.
Newspapers gave me direction when I needed it most. I’ve achieved more than I ever could have imagined when I first started on this journey. Now, it’s someone else’s turn to man this desk, chase their own ambitions and, hopefully, add to this newspaper’s legacy.
And it’s time for me to take on a new challenge. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my ramblings.
See you around.