Changes to HDN sports coverage

This column however, is about both.

First, the Havre Daily News recently bid a fond farewell to Kason Clark. Kason gave the HDN nearly three years of dedicated service to the sports section. And as the one who hired him, I not only want to say thank you to Kason for all he did, but I also want to tell him what an incredible job he did.

Kason not only carried on the traditions we have built at the HDN, but he helped make them better. Kason was an excellent writer, and he soon became an excellent sports reporter. But, as I started to transition away from being the sports editor at the HDN, Kason began to take on more of those duties, designing pages, covering more events and just being in charge of the day-to-day operations. Kason did such a great job that it is part of what made it at least possible for me to take a new direction in my own career.

Yes, with Kason in Havre, the excellent sports coverage at the HDN continued on.

Now however, Kason's career has taken a different path. He had the opportunity to return to his native California, and not only that, but he also was gvien the opportunity to cover sports in his home community. And, as someone who did that himself for the better part of 20 years, I can't blame him for taking that opportunity.

And I can truly say, Havre, sports in Havre and the Hi-Line, and the HDN, will sorely miss Kason as a writer, a reporter, and as a person.

Having said that, the sports pages of the Havre Daily News are now at a crossroads they haven't been at in nearly three decades. And it will take some time to sort itself out.

With myself and now Kason no longer in Havre, the HDN will need to find a sports editor, but not only that, one who can continue to excel in covering all of our local sports just as we have done for a long, long time now. And in this day and age, that someone might take some time to be found.

In the meantime, Kason and I will continue to contribute as best we can. Of course, we have full-time jobs, and life responsibilities. But we will do our best to get as much information into the paper as we can.

Will it be the same? No it won't. That's not possible as we cover sports remotely. We won't be live at the games, we won't be tweeting in real time, and we won't be there interviewing coaches and players. We will do our best to report on as much local sports as we can, to give you the vital information and stats that you, as our readers have become accustomed to. We will do that, despite being in different places, and in different career situations now, because we both deeply care about the HDN sports section. We care and we want to see it through.

But, as much as we care, just please know that, for at least a while, our sports pages won't be what you're used to seeing. It will be different. There will be less coverage, fewer photos, fewer features, fewer columns and so on. It's just how it will be.

Hopefully, that won't continue for long. The HDN will do whatever it can to find the right person for the job, and, even then, I plan to continue to contribute as much as I can. But for now, please exercise some patience with the paper. It's going through some transitions, and for the first time in a long, long time, that includes the spores section.

But though it isn't the same, please believe, we're all doing the best we can, and we will succeed in getting it back on track as soon as we possibly can.

Until then, good luck to all the athletes, coaches, officials and fans as you all embark on another sports season. And as always, feel free to email me or Kason pictures, results, quotes, and anything else you can in order to help us do the best we can during this strange and difficult time in HDN sports history.