As a guy from Omaha, Neb., who had never been further south in the country than St. Louis, I had no idea what to expect when I became the sports editor for The Messenger.

What I found when I came to Troy was a group of very generous, kind and caring individuals at each and every school and organization that I worked with.

Today marks my last day at the newspaper.

And though my time here has been brief, it has been anything but devoid of awesome experiences and great memories.

I was thrust into the middle of the football season, arguably the craziest time of being a sports editor in Alabama, but from the onset, everyone I met and came in contact with did their very best to make sure I had everything that I needed to do the very best job that I could.

I can’t thank enough my fellow reporters, here and at other media outlets, everyone at Troy University, and every coach at a high school, middle school or otherwise that took the time to let me speak with them and share their story with the people of Troy.

This city is very lucky.

It is a hotbed of sports that is chock full of quality athletic competition at the university, high school, middle school, elementary and recreation level.

Though I will be moving on, I’ll always keep an eye on Troy.

Having watched a total of two or three Troy University football games before moving here, I will wait anxiously every Saturday for scores and updates to see if Neal Brown will be taking the Trojans back to the promised land.

And I will always have a special place in my heart for the teams and people in Troy.

I got to make a living watching and talking about sports. That’s pretty cool.

Thanks everyone who helped me along the way. I won’t list names because I’ll surely forget someone.

This was definitely an experience I will never forget.