I seem to have picked up a new nickname after entering Rock County last week, "The new guy." Yep, that’s me. I bet a dozen people came up to me at the football game Friday night in Redwood Falls and said, "You must be the new guy."Then they introduced themselves and quickly made me feel right at home. I remarked to my wife when I got home around midnight (though judging by her snoring I doubt she remembers it) about how friendly everybody has been. Thank you.Considering John has been the sportswriter here for 18 years, it looks like I’ve got a way to go before I lose "the new guy" moniker. Having the same job for 18 years is almost unfathomable for me, given my short attention span. My last two stops were five years each, and I thought I was doing pretty well at that.But I’m not all that new to the goings-on of Luverne. I did some time at the Windom newspaper right out of college and then kept an eye on things here while writing sports at the Argus Leader. Also, my family and I have lived next door in Valley Springs for 15 years, our house about 400 yards from the Minnesota border. In fact, I’m a runner and actually run through Minnesota about every night, and on those rare long runs, I’ll even throw Iowa into the mix. It’s kind of impressive to tell people, "Yes, I went for a jog through three states today." The kids take swimming lessons in Luverne and make almost weekly trips to one of the pizza joints or Country Kitchen. I timed my ride the other day and it was 18 minutes from my front door to the office door, and that’s going the speed limit, which I almost always try to do. Actually, this is the shortest work commute I’ve ever had and could actually run home on my lunch hour to let the dogs out (Edna the basset hound and Ella the wiener dog) if need be. My most memorable event in Luverne was when we came to the Magnolia Steakhouse with my oldest daughter who was about 2 (she’s 13 now). Just as the waitress was setting down our plates, Katie came down with a case of projectile vomiting right in the middle of the dining room. Needless to say, we got our steaks to go and slunk out the door back to the Valley. Thanks for letting me back in! I don’t envision any big changes in the sports pages here, as I’m still trying to figure out how the heck John covered 16 winter sports teams in a season. Hopefully I’ll get it figured out and ask you to bear with me for a while, as I am full-blooded Norwegian and not always the quickest on the uptake. One of the things the powers-that-be here asked me to do was to write a column every week. I’m pretty excited about that, as now I have a whole new audience to share all the stupid stories I’ve accumulated over the years.I’ll try to touch on the teams, players and coaches here as I get to know you. (I’ve already run across a few familiar faces and names.) I’ll even offer my profound wisdom (you buying what I’m selling?) on my life-long loves, the Twins and Vikings. I’m also a Gophers fan but must admit I’ve had difficulty shrugging off my loyalty to the Lakers and am not yet totally on board the Timberwolves bandwagon. Fortunately, my wardrobe won’t have to change much as I already have all those jerseys, hats and sweatshirts, and the Brandon Valley red even matches up well with the Cardinals. Thanks again for making me feel like an honorary Cardinal already, and I look forward to working with you and earning my wings.