A farewell to a wonderful life in sports

In late summer of 1977, I made a decision that changed the trajectory of my life.

I told my father, who was a youth and parochial school coach as well as executive sports editor at The Gazette, my football career was over. I lacked the two things that made football players good — I hated being hit and hitting others.

Obviously, it was no great loss to the Cedar Rapids Washington High School program.

My father, who never pushed me into any sport but wanted his children doing something, asked what I was going to do. I told him I was going to run cross country. He was fine with that.

When November rolled around and I told him I also was hanging up my basketball shoes, he again asked what I was going to do. “Get ready for track,” I said. This did not meet with his approval.

“You’re going to get a job, too — and I have one for you,” he said.

Thus, at the age for 17, I embarked on my journalism career, working as a part-timer in The Gazette sports department. I continued in that role through the rest of high school years, through two years at Northern Iowa and my time at the University of Iowa.

Today, this lifelong journey comes to an end.

I have mixed emotions — lots and lots of emotions, too. While I’m thrilled I’ll be able to spend more time with and give my full attention to my wife, Lisa; adult children and six grandchildren, this is not the way I wanted this to end.

But life can be funny that way and while the road ahead is a bit of a mystery, I welcome the challenge.

In the latter years of my career — and before COVID messed things up — I was spending a lot of time working with high school journalism students. It invigorated my career and gave me hope for the future.

It still does.

Journalism is important, especially local journalism. So if you take nothing else from these parting words, take this: Supporting local journalism, like The Gazette and every small-town news organization, is vital, especially in today’s world.

That said, I would be remiss not to remind you how lucky you are to still have the likes of Jeff Johnson, K.J. Pilcher and Jeff Linder — as well as our rookie of the year Madison Hricik — reporting and writing wonderful stories for this paper.

I always told people my job was easy because of the writers on my staff. It will remain that way. Nobody — and I mean nobody — cares more about high school athletics, and those who play the games, than Pilch, JJ and Lindy. That will never change.

My father — that man who hired me and almost fired me once when I wasn’t working fast enough — would be proud The Gazette has remained the go-to source for high school sports.

I also would be remiss without telling you my colleague for 44 years, Mike Hlas, is walking out the door with me. He has a column saying his farewell, too. Mike is the ultimate pro, the best writer and storyteller we’ve ever had in this department. He could spin a column like no other, making you laugh and maybe even cry, definitely think. Mike could be a “pain in my backside” (his words not mine), but he was a pleasure to work with all these years.

There also are those who work behind the scenes — names that never make print. Sam Paxton, Ryan Suchomel and a list of part-timers that include Dale Jones (an editing maestro and mentor to me), John Kerth and Ben Lamparek, to name a few. I’m lucky to have worked with them all.

I also have to thank the man who started me on this journey, my father. He’s my inspiration, my guiding light to his day. Former sports editor Mike Chapman hired me full-time and his predecessor, Mark Dukes, made me his assistant. Current editor Zack Kucharski has been an avid supporter and cares deeply about The Gazette.

There have been many on this staff — far too many to mention — who remain friends to this day. Know you all played an important part in this journey.

As Hlas wrote last week, the memories of what we do are many, but it’s not the games we remember the most, it’s the people we met and were privileged to tell their stories.

I’m often asked what my favorite moment is and it’s one of the hardest questions to answer. But I will never forget Dan Gable’s last NCAA tournament as Iowa wrestling coach inside the UNI-Dome, a stone’s throw from where he grew up. The line of autograph-seeking well-wishers lasted well into the evening.

It’s been a hell of a ride, from covering high school sports, men’s fast-pitch softball and college wrestling — among many other things — and I loved every moment of it. Well, almost every moment.

In the words of my beautiful wife, Lisa, you can start calling me John now.

Comments: rdrunrjohn@gmail.com