Many of you know that I was let go last week by my long-time employer Now Newspapers as part of a workforce reduction by our owner Gannett Newspapers.

It was a stunning and sad turn of events that unfortunately gobbled up a fair number of my highly-talented and hard-working friends and colleagues too, but that is the state of the industry at this point. The outpouring of support I have received in the last week has been both overwhelming and humbling. I am immensely grateful to all who reached out to me.

I hold no bitterness towards the people who remain at Now Newspapers and Lake Country Newspapers and urge you strongly to continue to support them. Read their papers, visit their websites. They are still your best source of local coverage!

But at my age, I’m not done with sports and I’m certain sports is not quite done with me yet. I’m going to continue to stick my nose into my old prep beats (and some new ones for that matter), and give the kids, coaches and administrators more of the coverage that they have always deserved.

It’s always been something I’ve considered an honor and a privilege to do and besides, it’s always been a blast for me to get out and enjoy this level of competition, which I still consider the purest, most thrilling out there.

Please look for regular posts here and on my Twitter account @StevenTietz. I look forward to hearing from all interested parties, old friends as well as new. Please feel free to send story ideas to steven.tietz@yahoo.com.

Play ball!