Gilmer's Gospel

     Too bad this isn’t the Grammy’s. If it were, officials would pull me off stage for not wrapping up my list of “thanks” by the time the song ends.
     Here, though, there is unlimited space.

     First and foremost, thanks to my wife, Summer, who has endured my crazy work schedule, my phone ringing during dinner, my worrying while on vacation about who’s winning or losing, my coming in late at night and for listening to me talk about high school sports. Thanks for everything.

     For some reason, former Sports Editor Jim Fair took a chance on a 23-year old and gave me one of, if not the, hardest reporting job in the newspaper. Thanks for teaching me to do it the right way. You gave me the freedom to do the job how I saw fit and the ability to have fun and you put together an amazing staff.

     Even when I fought him through it sometimes, current Sports Editor Burke Noel has made me a better writer and reporter in the past few years. I’m always learning from you and will miss the chance to pick your brain over something small in a story. Your help on enterprise projects won’t be forgotten.

     To former publisher David O. Roberts and former executive editor Carl Beck: you guys had the faith in Jim to bring me onto the paper. Thanks for that.

     I’ll never forget the sports staff writers who I’ve worked with over the years. Eric Boynton, Todd Shanesy, Paul Strelow, Robert Neely, Pam Prevatte, Richard Coco and Matt Cobbs. Thanks to each of you, mainly because I probably stole some phrase, idea or story from you in the past.

     This job couldn’t be done without the free-lance writers who’ve come and gone over the years. There’s no way I’ll even start to list them, because I’ll forget a bunch. You know who you are. We couldn’t have made it during the high school sports seasons without you.

     One thing I didn’t have to worry about each week was compiling stats. Thanks to Brian Peahuff for taking care of those for so long. I never needed to hunt a stat because you already had it somewhere.

     The guys on the copy desk who lay out the pages: thanks. It has been an honor and pleasure to work with the current crop – Mike McCombs, Mark Egan and Nick Foster – of copy editors. Thanks for taking all the phone calls at night (along with our clerks) and for not giving out my number to readers who wanted scores or to yell at me.

     Thanks to the photographers. Your photos make bring people into a story. As a writer, I was just hoping the reader would stay til the end. Sometimes, your photos said it better than I ever could.
   
     To all of you who drove my car on road trips so I could write stories from the passenger seat. And that’s a large number of people who must be thanked. You each saved me precious minutes, so I could make deadline, or so we could get to a restaurant a little bit quicker.

     It isn’t unusual for me to send e-mails or phone a coach every day. They almost always pick up or reply. Coaches in this area are top notch. They care about their athletes. They want them to be recognized in the paper. They’ve given me access, provided me with stats, answered my sometimes stupid questions. I hope that each of you know that I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me over the years.

     Thanks also to the athletes for letting me come along for the ride. You’ve been fun to watch. You’ll be fun for the next person who takes this job, also.

     And, last but not least, thanks to the readers of this newspaper and Web site. I’ve met some of you along the way and have enjoyed our conversations. Keep supporting these young athletes and their coaches. They deserve your cheers.