Hello, Worthington.

My name is Chris Murphy or, as I’ve been known since third-grade basketball by all human beings outside of my family, Murph. I will be your new Sports Editor.

I’m a 25-year-old from the south side of Chicago and a graduate from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism, so there’s a good chance I hate every team you cheer for, except the University of Minnesota, which I just recently learned does in fact have athletics.

Who I cheer for, or, better yet, what I think, doesn’t matter. What does matter is my belief in journalism. It is something I don’t take lightly. I’m in love with the ideal that people deserve to be informed and have an obsession for being the one to pass on the information. It is a belief I would die for.

Go to blogs — where the loudest writing is dubbed the best — for graffiti disguised as news or watch as attention-grabbing know-it-alls, dolled up in makeup like actors and actresses, try to speak over one another in a quest to tell you how to think on Fox News or MSNBC.
Come to newspapers for information, stories that will shock you, move you, make you laugh and bring you to tears.

Sports journalism is no different. Every field, team, athlete, coach and locker room has a story, and it is my job to bring those stories to you.

I have loved sports ever since I brought a deck of baseball cards to show-and-tell in kindergarten when I was 5 years old. For the last 2½  years, I’ve combined my love of sports with my obsession of bringing people stories, covering sports for the Chicago Sun-Times Media Company at a wage no human being could live on, but earning experience no amount of money could equal.

I’ve moved more than 500 miles from the most important woman in my life (my mom), along with the most important people in my life (my family and friends), and suffered a casualty of one of my best friends of the last 13 years (my acoustic guitar) on the ride here because I believe in journalism.

I’ve brought a combination of my two obsessions to you, Worthington. What do you have for me?

Feel free to contact me with questions, concerns, information or hatemail at cmurphy@dglobe.com. If you’re looking for me, I’ll be the tall guy who can’t take my eye off the beauty of Lake Okabena because I’m used to nature being surrounded by humongous buildings and thousands of tourists. I’ll also probably be that guy that drives like a (fill in expletive here) from the city.

Sincerely,
Your Sports Editor

P.S. Nick Punto was and is a disgrace to baseball, Kevin Garnett was and is one of the softest big men of all time, the Timberwolves and the Vikings are useless outside of having Kevin Love and Adrian Peterson on my fantasy teams, the Blackhawks are better than the Wild and the closest thing you’ll come to enjoying a World Series as a Minnesota Twins fan this century is watching my 2005 Chicago White Sox World Series DVD.
Let the hate mail begin.

WORTHINGTON — When you’re attending sporting events around the area this winter, you may notice that there will be a little less ginger in the room.

Sure, people in Worthington have already gotten used to having a little less ginger around with Brandon Berger having taken his talents to St. Olaf College. I was happy to keep up the ginger representation in his place, but now I’ve reached my time to leave as well.

After a mere 14 months on the job here at the Daily Globe, I recently decided to continue my career at the New Ulm Journal. This will be my last week on the job.

I’ve had a lot of great experiences during my time in this particular region of southwest Minnesota, and at a time like this it seems only appropriate to thank some of the people that have made my first-ever job a really memorable one (I’ll see how many thanks I can get in before they start playing the background music and yank me off of the stage).

First of all, I’d like to thank Ryan McGaughey for taking a chance on a culturally confused 22-year-old fresh out of college. After coming in as nothing more than an aspiring journalist, I feel that I’ve taken great strides during my time at the newspaper.

Most of the credit for turning me into a real journalist is due to Aaron Hagen, who withstood all of my growing pains and has been a great editor and teammate. I know we rarely choose our colleagues, but I certainly feel I got lucky having had Aaron beside me. The sports section’s recognition by the Minnesota Newspaper Association as the best small-town daily sports section in the state is a true credit to Aaron’s awesomeness.

I also was lucky to work with the section’s part-time crew, all of whom share the last name Knutson. Les, Lucas and Lance — it was a pleasure working with you, I know it’ll be hard to get used to working without you. And Lucas, I’m glad you’re better at picking football results than you are in predicting AL MVPs, though I applaud your faith in Delmon Young.

The final sports guy I have to thank is photographer Brian Korthals. I came to this job only vaguely aware of how to properly use a camera, and having the help of a pro like Brian has left me now as a capable photographer. Thanks also for introducing me to Azteca. There will be no shortage of memories from that place.

To night editor Joe Froemming, we share a special bond that can only be formed by jumping into a frozen lake together in the middle of winter. What were we thinking?

To all my other colleagues — whether you knew me as that kid spouting crazy things from the sports desk, as the guy that stocked the candy dish, or even if you didn’t know me at all — thanks for putting up with me for the past 14 months.

Most of all, I’d like to thank all of the coaches I worked with, the athletes I wrote about and all of the parents and family members that appreciated my coverage. Without your support, my job would have no meaning. My biggest hope is that in doing my job I was able to help you document the memories you all created on the field, on the court, on the ice and on the course (and various other settings). I really enjoyed getting to know a lot of you. I hope someday you will see my name in print again — if I do get famous, I’ll always remember that my journey started right here at the Globe.

A special thanks to whoever sent me the Jackson County Central T-shirt. I still have no idea who you are. Here’s to hoping for the Huskies to go a step better this year and take home a state girls’ basketball title. Sorry Gingie won’t be there to document it.

My departure marks only the final step in a big turning point for the Daily Globe sports section. Starting next week you will have both a new sports editor and new sports reporter to get used to (as Aaron mentioned in a column a few months ago, he will be staying at the Globe, though in a different role).

However, you will still see a number of stories with Knutson bylines, so I hope they are able to give the section at least some continuity.

As someone that grew up in five of the world’s major cities (six if you want to include St. Paul), living in southwest Minnesota was a new experience for me. My biggest philosophy for myself is to fill my life with as many different experiences as I can, and I’m glad that I took a chance at a whole new experience in moving here. I foresee my life taking many more twists and turns before I settle down, though if I follow the same path as my dad, I will never reach a point where I settle down for good.

I am pretty sure that I have absolutely no German heritage (just Norwegian and various strands of British and Irish), but I’m hoping I feel as at home In New Ulm as I did here.