Hello, I must be going

I'm glad I came but just the same I must be going

At first, it was just embarrassing to tell people The Gazette would be moving forward with new ownership Monday without me.

Then, it quickly became a much-better kind of embarrassment. The volume of kindness from so many people over the last several days is something I can’t describe, let alone wrap my mind around. It would be nice if there were a tight, precise way of showing gratitude. Elvis Presley said it best.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

I so don’t want this final Gazette column to be maudlin. There may be no way around it since there’s a lot of thanking to do. Starting with …

Interviewees: Without people saying interesting things and being trusting to have their thoughts whittled down and shared the way they said them and meant them, I’d have had to go back to my old job as a fashion model.

Getting interviewed, especially by someone you’ve never met, is not a normal thing, and I always appreciated the thousands who took that leap of faith.

Column subjects: How people can have opinion pieces written about them and not hire someone named Ice Pick Petey to pay the writer an unkind visit is beyond me.

Of course, sometimes you do hear from them directly. In my early days of column-writing, I went to West Liberty Raceway and wrote an unflattering piece about it. I got angry calls and letters about it, and with good reason. The piece was unnecessary, shortsighted and just plain stupid.

It should have been about how that track and its Saturday night races gave its community part of its identity and a lot of pleasure. I wanted to have an edge, I guess. I slowly learned an edge is pretty dull if it doesn’t have a valid point.

Athletes, coaches, athletics administrators and communications staffers: The temptation here is to name so many fascinating, accomplished people I’ve interviewed and covered in the sports biz. The name-dropping would be so easy, and so boring.

It constantly was amazing to observe the intelligence and maturity of athletes, be it collegians, preps or competitors in non-school sports. A lot of people do vital work and don’t get questioned about it by media on a regular basis. Players and coaches do, and rarely shun it.

Often, the most-satisfying and best interviews have been with parents and other family members of athletes. Or high school teachers and coaches. None ever had an agent or a press secretary. Nor did they need one.

Co-workers, colleagues, peers: So many people I’ve known at The Gazette were so smart, thoughtful, driven to do good work, and fun on road trips. Again, I could flood this page with names.

I will echo what J.R. Ogden wrote in the print edition today and at TheGazette.com, and cite those who I’m glad are still here in the sports department. Among their multiple tasks, Jeff Johnson, Jeff Linder and K.J. Pilcher give Eastern Iowa high school sports coverage as good as anywhere on the planet. It’s a calling for them, and they heed it.

Madison Hricik started here in August as the Iowa football beat writer, and she’ll assume the men’s basketball coverage I leave behind. If I could, I’d buy stock in her future. She is young, but is like an old pro when it comes to preparation and taking her work seriously.

Sam Paxton and Ryan Suchomel are behind-the-scenes sports desk guys and good fellows who saved me from mistakes on one or two or 3,456 occasions, and made sharp-looking sports pages.

Keep supporting their work because they’ll keep supporting you.

J.R., the sports editor who also wasn’t retained here, didn’t get the same kind of attention I did over the last week. That wasn’t right. He’s telling his story here today. Please read it. My frequent nonsense rolled off his back while he always had mine. When I had occasional personal issues, his support and understanding were givens.

So many people at other newspapers, websites, and TV and radio operations near and far became great, true friends.

Readers: Thanks to all of you who ever called, wrote, emailed or approached me in person. Thanks to all who just read from time to time. Thanks to the shockingly small number of people who ripped me. Sometimes you were wrong. At least as often, though, you were more on the money than George Washington’s face.

Had I read me, I would have ripped me quite a bit. But what do I know?

Finally, my queen.

Pam: Her last name is Hinman. She is the director of marketing communications at The Eastern Iowa Airport. She has been a significant asset to the public in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City area since she moved back to Iowa from Wisconsin in 1998 with her 6-year-old son, Ike, to be a Gazette reporter. She was very good at that, too.

The great Paul Simon has a lively song called “Late in the Evening.” I’ve heard Iowa State’s pep band do faithful justice to it many times over the years in Hilton Coliseum. A passage from it hits home for me.

The first thing that I remember

When you came into my life

I said I’m gonna get that girl

No matter what I do

She hates attention. Had she not, you’d have tired of all the times I mentioned her takes on sports and more. Actually, you wouldn’t have. You’d have begged for much less me and much more her.

The Gazette gave me a livelihood. She and Ike gave me a life.

Starting soon, I’ll join the Iowa Writers Collaborative. It includes more than 70 writers from across the state, highlighting original reporting and commentary. I believe my URL will be mikehlas.substack.com.

My email is mikehlas1@gmail.com and my Facebook page is Mike Hlas — Writer. It’ll have links to my stuff there and be a place you can stay in touch if you desire. I’ll do other things professionally, writing and otherwise. This pen’s for hire.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Comments: mikehlas1@gmail.com