For the last 30 years, Chris Duerr has been a familiar face covering sports at every high school in western Illinois, KHQA-TV camera on his shoulder.
His sportscasts on the 10 p.m. news were appointment television for generations of local sports fans, athletes and parents.
Last week, Duerr quietly signed off for the final time, choosing to take his talents to Quincy-based web start-up Big Muddy Sports.
Wednesday was his final broadcast.
"I say with no hesitation that the joyous reality of that journey as a 'TV Sports Guy' far surpassed my wildest expectations," he said in a statement. "A blessing for which I will forever be grateful and a supreme credit to where God landed me back in 1995."
Duerr said his quiet, sudden exit was on his terms.
"Oftimes, when people leave TV they are disappeared without explanation," he said. "KHQA did not do that to me at all here. They honored my request. To be honest, I abhorred the idea of hijacking any part of a live newscast at the cause of my own ego."
When asked about his move by Community News Brief, Duerr said his focus on coverage won't change, and that he'll continue to cover McDonough County high school sports.
"Nothing changes in terms of the coverage priorities for those communities (in McDonough County)," he said. "To the contrary, Muddy River sees my ties here as a chance now to concentrate more assets into every corner of our expanding coverage area."
Duerr was inducted into Missouri Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame as a broadcaster in 2021, along with numerous accolades.
He was also known as a pioneer of internet sports content, establishing the first message boards and blogs covering local sports in the late '90s and early 2000s. His 'Do-or-Die' high school honors teams and games served as a prestigious showcase for tri-states area athletes for years.
"I walked in the door (at KHQA-TV) saying this job was always going to be about the great kids, teams, schools and communities we served," he said.
