SE: Thank You, K-State
Feb 07, 2020 | Sports Extra
I’m not even sure how to start this story; I’ve always been bad at goodbyes.
So, let’s get the awkward part of this out of the way: Today is my last day at K-State Athletics. That, in it of itself, was hard to type out.
On February 17, I’ll start a new journey with the NCAA as Associate Director of Communications – Editorial Development. It’s an opportunity I’m thrilled to take on, learn from and grow in.
But that doesn’t make this — the leaving, the goodbyes, the lasts — any easier.
K-State and Manhattan have seemingly always been a second home for me, even before I spent eight of my last 10 years here. My parents met here — a blind date at a K-State football game. A Kansas kid, I grew up coming to football games. My two older brothers both graduated from K-State and met their wives while on campus.
I, too, graduated from K-State, in 2010 from the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications. But it was K-State Athletics that introduced me to my fiancé, Connor Staats, a former graduate assistant in our academics department — shout-out to Maryclare Wheeler for that connection. Connor and I will get married in Manhattan this summer.
So, when I say this job was more than a place of work, I mean it. This place gave me more than I could ever give back.
My nearly four years here were filled with amazing experiences and people, many of which and whom I was able to write about.
I traveled to Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Dayton, Sacramento, Charlotte, Atlanta, San Jose and Memphis. I met and interviewed people from all over the world.
I covered unforgettable performances like K-State men’s basketball’s run to the Elite Eight in 2018, its Big 12 Championship last year, a pair of bowl game wins and football’s upset over No. 5 Oklahoma last season. I interviewed K-State Hall of Famers, national champions and Olympians.
I got to know and helped share the stories of some incredible people, stories that anyone could learn from, sports fan or not. Student-athletes who turned personal adversity and tragedy into strength and triumph. Others who made anyone else’s version of busy seem boring, who made it a point to give back to the community, who used their platform to inspire, who got the most of their student-athlete experience. Coaches and support staff members who have devoted their lives to helping these student-athletes succeed, to developing them as people first and athletes second, to giving them the best experience possible.
Trust me, however, when I tell you there are more people who I never typed a word about who deserve their own story. People who made my time here extremely worthwhile. People I learned from, who cared about me and who I owe a debt of gratitude to that I can never repay.
These people are spread throughout the K-State Athletics’ complex, but a large bulk reside on the sixth floor of the West Stadium Center: Home to the Communications offices.
Thank you, Kenny Lannou, for taking a chance on me as a 25-year-old newspaper writer who never imagined such an opportunity would come his way. Thank you, Ryan Lackey, who I’ve worked most closely with, for being patient with me, editing late at night and giving me the freedom to tell these stories how I saw fit.
To the rest of the current and former Communications staff members — Tom Gilbert, Randy Peterson, Christopher Brown, Josh Brunner, Andy Eisch, Grant Leibee, Chris Kutz, Emily Starkey, Jay Moline, Kevin McCarty, Ella Henton, Mary Gorman and Scott Retzlaff — thank you for everything. Thank you for the story ideas, the interview arrangements, the hilariously fun practice photoshoots, the constructive feedback, the professional growth, the personal connections, the lifelong friendships and so much more.
Thank you, Gene Taylor, for continuing to support this position and building on what makes K-State such a great place: The people.
Thank you to all the coaches and K-State Athletics employees who treated me with kindness, always opened their doors for interviews and answered my questions without pause.
Last, but certainly not least, thank you to those who made it this far in this long-winded farewell. Your passion for K-State Athletics makes this position possible. I appreciated every single email of praise, suggestions and straight-up criticism, because it meant you were reading.
While this may be my last day at K-State, a few more stories I’ve written will be published in the interim. The story schedule will also be a little sporadic until my replacement is found. Hang in there. Someone extremely talented will soon be churning out great K-State stories — that, I’m sure of.
To whoever replaces me, know you’re coming to a great place with even better people. I look forward to following along.
Go Cats!
Corbin McGuire
