By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
KILJ — As has been said before, today is my final day as Sports Director at KILJ.
I am returning to my home state of Wisconsin after a near-decade long sabbatical dating back to my undergrad days at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
I am excited to return to my roots, be closer to friends, family and my loved ones — it just felt like the time was right.
With that being said, I owe KILJ, Mount Pleasant and the rest of Southeast Iowa one huge debt of gratitude.
I am proud to have served this incredible area and community and hope you feel as if my energy was palatable behind the microphone every day.
I’ll miss heading to a packed New London gym to watch Blaise Porter erupt on a nightly basis, I’ll miss watching the matmen of Notre Dame strike fear in their opponents and I’ll miss watching Jadan Brumbaugh eviscerate the record books — so on and so forth.
It was here where I was blessed with watching so many incredible individual and team performances and I’ll never, ever forget those memories and the small impact I had on them.
I owe a thank you to my boss Paul Dennison for taking a chance on me, nearly three years ago. He fostered my on-air development and was the beneficiary of my skills as evidenced by the numerous broadcast awards I have compiled while here.
To Theresa Rose, the best damn news person in the State of Iowa.
Theresa brought an infectious, room-lighting laugh to the office everyday and it was a pleasure to share the air with someone who I truly consider an extension of my family.
Thank you to Derek Zander, Iowa Wesleyan’s athletic director.
Derek and I share an incredible relationship and I am so grateful to have been able to help grow Iowa Wesleyan’s brand and make an impact in any way I could.
That institution deserves it and I’ll always be a lifelong fan of Tiger Athletics.
To Dan McCabe — my “surrogate” father — and the best friend a guy like me could ask for.
Dan took me fishing, cooked me dinners, fed me beers, had me over for Thanksgivings and took me in like his third son.
His kids Matthew and Michael are like my brothers and each of them have been so good to me.
Love you guys.
And finally, to all the people of Southeast Iowa.
All of your kind words over the past few weeks have meant so, so much to me.
You have given me the best and I hope you realize that I have given mine back.
I have thoroughly enjoyed being your Sports Director and morning person and I will always be a champion of KILJ, Mount Pleasant and Southeast Iowa.
For now, the Good Land calls.
Thank you for the memories,
Nathan Bloechl