It was about this time five years ago I was sitting on my couch in Newberry when I got an unexpected phone call around nine o’clock at night.

You know how it is when the phone rings that late. You wonder who it is that could be calling at a time when the events of the day are winding down and you’re getting ready for bed.

It’s also at the dreaded hour in which all of us cringe at the thought of what news is about to come on the other end, especially when you are like me and your parents are getting up in age and your wife’s grandmother’s health is starting to decline.

When I noticed on the caller ID that the listing said Edwards Publications, I was somewhat intrigued so I picked it up. As it turns out, I was glad I did.

On the other end was the owner of The Daily Journal / The Daily Messenger, Jerry Edwards. Mr. Edwards was formal, but at the same time was straight up about why he was calling. He apologized for calling so late, but he ran across my name and he wanted to call me and see if I was interested in being his new sports editor at the paper.

My stepfather, who has since gone home to Heaven, taught me a long time ago that you always listen to any offer before you turn it down. So the next day I found myself headed on a two-and-half hour trek to Seneca to meet Mr. Edwards and take a tour of his paper.

It turned out to be one of the best meetings in my life and forever changed my professional career. When Mr. Edwards called me, I at the time had no intentions of leaving Newberry. I had been the sports editor of the Newberry Observer for three years prior to his phone call and I took pride in being a part of The Observer when it was experiencing some of its greatest growth and editorial achievements.

I was also proud to be a part of the Newberry community, where the town and the surrounding towns in Newberry County and all the coaches took me in as if I was one of their own. To this day, I still have a great relationship with a lot of those same people.

But Mr. Edwards made no bones about it, he said he wanted me to come to Seneca and grow his sports section and readership like I was able to do in Newberry. He said he would me give all the tools I needed to make it work and to make it successful.

With Clemson University right up the road, plus Southern Wesleyan and the seven high schools the paper covers on a daily basis, I saw that the opportunity was too good to turn down.

Mr. Edwards, also with the help of former publisher Joni Weerheim and the greatest boss a guy can have in managing editor Brett McLaughlin, was true to his word and he immediately started to let me bring my ideas to the forefront.

Over the last five years our sports section, with the help of my small staff – thanks Steven Bradley and Eric Sprott for all that you have done the last couple of years and to Emily Horos and Dan Tomayko before them as well as one of the best photographers in the business in Kenny Fey – has grown from the two pages that used to be merged with the life section and classifieds, to its own section where we are able to get as many local items as we can in the paper without losing the focus that there are still many readers out there who want to read about Tiger Woods, NASCAR, the Braves or maybe what is happening in the NFL.

I introduced our area to GameDay – our comprehensive coverage of high school football – as well as College GameDay during the football season. Those special sections have grown as the paper has, and I’m proud our readers anxiously wait to see them every year.

I’m also proud of the all-area teams that we have been able to produce each of the last five seasons in football, volleyball, basketball, baseball, softball and soccer. I was amazed with so many high schools in the area that our paper did not do it before me or at least do it consistently. Now, it is one of the more popular things we produce.

I also take great pride in the fact that I was able to establish a great working relationship with Clemson University, which when I got here was basically non-existent. That relationship has helped our paper become one of the area’s leaders when it comes to Clemson football, basketball, baseball and other Clemson athletic news.

I take pride in knowing I helped our Web site, upstatetoday.com, become one of the state’s best. Our sports department pumps out Clemson, SWU, high school and regional sports news on a 24/7 basis – even though the print edition only publishes five days a week.

When I first got here, our Web site was basically non-existent, but I’m proud of the way, like the rest of the newspaper, it has grown and has become the news leader that is today. I like to think I had a little something, even if it is just sports, to do with that.

Granted I’m sure I didn’t make everyone happy out there because there are always a few who will never be happy, but I think I at least set out what I hoped to accomplish and that was to give my readers a better looking product and one that I hoped would entertain them, while also keeping them informed on what was happening at Clemson as well as what was going on the high school front.

It’s weird how things happen in life. But just a few weeks ago, while I was covering a Clemson baseball game, I received a text message that turned into an opportunity that was too good to pass up. So with that, I turn over The Daily Journal / The Daily Messenger sports section, the one I have taken so much pride in the last five years, to Steven and Eric, who I know will continue to improve it and continue to make it one of the area’s best.

There were still a few things I wanted to do that I was unable to get accomplished in the newspaper and on the Web site, but hopefully they will be able to get those things done in the near future.

So with that, I say good-bye. Thanks to all the coaches – and that means you Coach V – for all you have done to make me feel welcome here and for publicizing your players. Without coaches like you, we could not do our jobs. Like Newberry, I’m sure I will continue to have relationships with all of you.

And lastly, I want to say good-bye to you, the readers. You’re the reason I do what I do. I thank you for allowing me to come in your home every morning or on your computer. You are truly the reason why our little newspaper has become one of the state’s best.