A fond farewell

A fond farewell

It occurred to me the other day that I haven’t informed you, my loyal readers, that I have resigned my post as Sports Editor of this publication. I’m sorry about that, as it’s been a whirlwind of a few weeks.

You know, when I started at The Evening Times in 2013, I was petrified. I didn’t know what to expect, I wasn’t sure if I could hack it. I didn’t know what the general response would be to a young, green sports writer stepping in and covering athletics. I can look back and say that I worked hard, because that’s what you deserve as a reader. If the shoe were on the other foot, I would want all of those things from my sports page. I hope that Billy Woods and myself were able to deliver that.

Billy is a giant in the realm of Arkansas sports media. I read him growing up, and I still read him today. He’s a class act, and working with him over these past three years and change has been special to me. I’ll be forever indebted to him for the lessons that he taught me.

My work family at Crittenden Publishing is second-to-none, especially our crew in Editorial. Ralph Hardin, Mark Randall, John Rech and Joy Hall are as hard-working as anyone that I’ve known and their drive to be the best at their jobs have helped me, as well.

The thing that I’ll miss the most are the relationships that I’ve shared with student- athletes, coaches and parents. I’ve had the tremendous pleasure of getting to know a lot of you reading this right now, and that opportunity has been one that I’m so unbelievably grateful and humbled by. Thank you for allowing me to tell your stories.

The leaving is sad, because this place has always been home for me, and leaving home is often one of the toughest things to do in life.

While moving on offers a feeling of sadness, it also presents a bevy of new challenges, experiences and stories to tell.

I can honestly say that no matter what my future holds in store for me, I can only hope that my new readers will be as involved and passionate as you all have been.

Thank you for the conversation, the fun, the laughs, the joy, the tears and everything in between. I wouldn’t have wanted to have those times with anybody else.

As for me, I’ll still be around. I’ll be working for Hooten’s Arkansas Football in Benton, and living in Little Rock for the time being. That means that I’ll still be very familiar with Crittenden County athletics, just with a focus more on the statewide level.

It’ll be weird not going to the arena on Tuesdays and Fridays in the winter, but things will probably just be weird for a little while in general. But weird doesn’t necessarily mean bad or good, only different.

Thanks to all of you again, for your support over the years.

Chuck’’s Corrnerr

By Chuck Liiviingstton