I'll take a quick bow and defer everything back to Mr. Chargerblue

It's been a couple of very special weeks for me. I made an athletic director cry, a high school hoops coach gave me a shirt that said "Time to Shine" on the back and I said "thanks and best wishes" to a lot of people I have grown close to the past few years.

The unexpected gratitude I have been shown has absolutely floored me and it has made my heart sing a joyful song as I exited left from the HDN.

But more unexpected than most of this farewell tour was something I found in my inbox today — something I am compelled to respond to because grace tastes best when shared.

The e-mail said:
" Andy Losik shared a link on your Wall. To see your Wall or to write on Andy's Wall, follow the link below: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=40600739#v=feed."

I figured he had put up an insightful post on the Cactus Bowl from last night and was just sharing the info with an interested party.

How wrong I was, and how grateful I am for the undeserving words he penned. If you want to see how two men can forge a bond without ever actually meeting face-to-face then check this out: http://chargerfootball.blogspot.com/2010/01/thanks-rj-walters.html

Now, after bookmarking www.Chargerblue.com if you haven't already done that years ago, please take two minutes and read my response on the guy who will always help me define what the Hillsdale Chargers stand for.

Soon after I settled into my spot as the editor at Hillsdale I started receiving e-mails from some dude who seemed to be just a little obsessed with Hillsdale College athletics, so obsessed that he even took the time to read all of my articles on them from his post in Hamilton, Mich.! From the first time I opened an e-mail from him I could tell his enthusiasm was through the roof, and his knowledge of the gridiron gang from his alma matter was much more impressive than anything I could attest to.

Slowly I learned that he was a former Charger stud himself (looks or skills? I'll leave that up to all of you to choose) and he was a techie who was blogging about HC football before half of America even knew what a blog was. And that's when I realized I needed this guy way before he needed me. My life was chalked full of high school games and with the simple click of the mouse I could get up-to-date info on Charger football when I had a few free minutes to spare. This guy is an award-winning technology teacher with kids and a wife and he still is more up on the Charger than me I would think? And I was right.

One of the reason's Losik's recent post touches me so much is because honestly I've felt guilty about the lack of coverage I've been able to give the Chargers. In truth I would have much preferred to be a Chargers beat writer who was on the campus every day, hitting some spot high school games when the schedule allowed, but I did what I was told would sell papers. Not only did I give only sparce coverage to HC athletics at times, in truth Losik was the teacher and I was the student when it came to knowing the ins and outs of good ole' GLIAC football. While my mind runs on emotions and ideas more often than not, Andy has an analytical way of looking at life, sports especially, that provided plenty of food for thought.

On WCSR radio this year I predicted the Chargers would go 7-4, while A-Lo was giddy about the prospects of a 9-2 campaign. I called him a homer and thought my research and CLEARLY MORE OBJECTIVE approach was dead-on. All that ensued was arguably one of Hillsdale's finest runs in any sport ever. And he gave me a couple of jabs throughout the year to let me know he was still smiling about his pick, but as he said, we were more like co-workers than competitors.

Without ever having met the man behind the most beautiful D II football Web site on the "webernets" as I like to call them, I know he is cloaked deep in Charger love. Otterbein would mention him in our conversations as if he lived next door, and loads of school alumni would ask me if I knew about his Web site. For the last two years I have been a dedicated fan of his awesome podcast "The Charger Comment" and somehow he even managed to slip a rookie like me into his impressive lineup of guests. With that show he fills a void that Charger fans could never get from me or the HDN, and something Andy Brown of WCSR is learning to utilize big time as of late. Losik was good for a few laughs and timeless stories from players and coaches, and even though I never expected him to draw his sword and trade barbs with any guests, his shows are informational and worthwhile absolutely.

So as I move on and become simply an observer of HC athletics as opposed to an information gatherer I have two final points.

Andy has always far been my SUPERIOR in matter of heart and mind related to Charger football and that won't change for me or the next guy sitting at my old desk, so bookmark his Web site and consider him the wizard of wisdom.

And finally, consider this a virtual man-hug to a guy I have come to respect and will never forget throughout my journey. Hopefully my new relationship with the Cit Pat will grant me access to a few more Charger contests in a more intimate manner, but for now I'm out and thanks for the memories and for taking me to task when it was deserved Mr. Chargerblue!

(BTW, my wife was excited to be on the post picture with me, although as usual with females, she thought there were better pictures of us...:)....hopefully you are pleased with my own photo choice)