I'm back, folks.
I left this area more than three years ago to finish college and now that I've done that while being gainfully employed, I'm back. Smarter, wiser, more educated, more patient, married and with a few extra pounds.
Many of you won't remember me. In fact, most people don't pay attention to the bylines on stories. That's fine. We're not here to gain notoriety; we're here to provide a service, though the two often go hand-in-hand, unfortunately.
My first day of work was actually a week ago, but I jumped in so quickly, there wasn't time to say hello.
Hello.
That hello isn't a first-grader-forced-to-write-to-a-pen-pal-by-his-teacher hello. It's genuine. It's about as genuine as Chris Bieri's love for ice cream and golf, so you know it's real.
Since I've been gone so long, I'll re-introduce myself. My name is Chris as written under my ugly mug. I'm a graduate of Sherwood High School. I finished with a Bachelors of Science in Writing with a minor in English at Dickinson State University. I worked for The Dickinson Press, first part-time and eventually full-time as a sportswriter.
Now, I'm back to the area of the state that I've always called home. I'm back to the newspaper where I made my bones.
I'm officially the Class B writer, so I'm looking forward to seeing some area teams. I did almost all of the high school writing in Dickinson and I've managed to keep tabs on what's going on in this area as well.
A little more about me and my sports background for you. I'm a hardcore Vikings' fan, but don't expect me to take the shots at Packer fans the way Bieri does, though they are hilarious. I don't hate the Packers as much as I hate the Bears, but I'll take a few shots now and again.
I'm an erstwhlie Twins' fan, and a steady Braves' fan. I (attempt to) play golf in my free time and can even be seen with a tennis racket (it's in my trunk where it's sat for two years).
Since I've been gone for awhile, I do have a few questions: How is Gene Manson and Bruce Anderson's basketball teams doing? I see Velva is still winning state championships in football.
I suppose that's my attempt at humor. I covered Dean Winczewski's teams extensively for two years in Dickinson and I played against Todd Magnuson's Surrey teams. Of course, my high school football team lost two games my senior year, both to Velva.
Well, enough of this mindless drivel. I hope you have an idea of who I am and I look forward to seeing and chatting with area sports fans in the future.
Chris Aarhus is a sports writer at The Minot Daily News. He can be reached by e-mail at caarhus@minotdailynews.com.