Offering my thanks to all of you

The calendar says it's once again time to give thanks, but with my sports calendar, giving thanks is something I could do in every issue of the newspaper. That's because there has not been a single issue that was put together without some very-appreciated help from coaches, school personnel and some of you in the community.

I'd like to thank all the varsity coaches who submitted their statistics on time, it is because of your help that Paul Gadbois and I were able to print the results of 364 varsity volleyball matches and 107 varsity football games, along with varsity tennis, field hockey, cross country and swimming meets and contests.

Thank you to the junior varsity and freshman coaches who also made the time to get us results, as well as the various school employees who provided information or identified players in photos. Huge thanks also go out to those of you who routinely provided me with photos or information that helped provide better coverage of high school sporting events as well as youth football.

Some of you have even helped by submitting story ideas, or by helping me track down people and athletes to speak to for feature articles. I always welcome story ideas concerning tri-county area athletes or sporting activities that fall outside the standard game coverage. If their unique accomplishments are interesting to you, there's a good chance others in the community would find them just as intriguing.

I also want to thank some of my co-workers, who have "pinch hit" for the sports department and have taken photos or provided game coverage so we could have even more in the newspaper.

Saving my biggest thanks for last, I want to thank my wife, Tonya. She understands that spending nights in gymnasiums after days in the office is part of the job, as are the occasions when taking a Saturday away from her is necessary in order to cover tournaments. I "like" writing about sports, but I LOVE her.

Thanks, hon.

Craig Purcell is sports editor for Tri-County Newspapers. Contact him at 824-1036 or sports@tcnpress.com.