Alas, poor sports — I know them well

For those readers who do not know — today is my last day as the sports editor for the Columbia Basin Herald.

I have spent two years with the newspaper and am moving on to explore other endeavors. I feel, however, before I depart it is my duty to fill you in on the sports desk's inner workings in the hope that my successor will survive the rigors of the position longer than I.

March two years ago is when my newspaper life began. I was initially hired as a three-part reporter — part-time sports assistant, part-time news clerk, part-time arts and entertainment reporter. This three-fold position changed when I took over the sports desk six months later.

Becoming the sole full-time sports editor-reporter-photographer was a challenge, to be sure. My home became a place to store my clothing and my car became a place to occasionally store my change of clothes, pajamas and tooth brush. Many nights were spent going from game, to office, to home for two hours of sleep and back to the office.

The routine of what became known as my "evening nap" was one that wore me down to say the least and I was thrilled beyond words when Tony Vehrs came on board as a sports assistant.

Now, as I embark on the next part of my journey, I would like to leave a few cautionary words behind or rather reminders for readers to keep in mind:

? The Pigskin Picks competition run during football season is not part of the sports department. The sports section conducts an in-house picks competition amongst the sports editor, managing editor, Moses Lake High School athletic director, Moses Lake High School head football coach and a specially invited guest.

? The local sports beat encompasses between 40 to 60 high school sports seasons as well as Big Bend Community College.

? There is, in fact, only one full-time reporter/editor dedicated to the coverage of those 40 to 60 seasons.

Having laid out these facts, I am also compelled to say that we do the best we can with what we have. There are many late nights and even more early mornings.

In your endeavors to see your favorite athlete, team or sporting event keep in mind that local sports hold priority over all other occurrences. After local sports have been covered, Washington state-based teams come next and, if there is room, national sports find their ways into our pages.

I implore you to have patience with the sports section. I beg you to be courteous to those who work in the sports section, and in the editorial department as a whole, because our nights are as late as yours and our mornings are just as early.

As for me, I am hoping to revert to a more normal routine that does not involve waking at 4 a.m. to be at the office by 5 a.m. or sometimes working until 2 a.m.

My time here has sometimes been harried and other times ridiculously busy but I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of interviewing athletes signing letters of intent or hoping to, covering every game under the field lights of a Friday night stadium and photographing the moments of triumph in the Tacoma Dome and on every field, track and court imaginable.

It has been my pleasure and privledge to work with every athletic director, coach and student-athlete I have come across. The presence of those people in my daily routine will be sorely missed and I extend my deepest thanks to them all for being a part of my working life, howsoever large or small their part.