Hi. As previously mentioned, today marks my last day as Co-Managing Editor of SB Nation’s Nashville Predators site, OnTheForecheck until further notice. I’ve chosen to stay on board and help guide the ship, and pass along my duties to Alex. Also, more weight will go to Anish, Bryant, and Marya.
I was very happy to spearhead a site that turned in two of its best years, and grew its market share and reach immensely. We always set our sites high, and we hit most of what we were aiming for. We’re in a good place with good people at the helm now. I’m comfortable with all of that, and comfortable knowing that our traffic numbers were excellent and will remain excellent. Our content will continue to be the as honest as any coverage on this team. I’m very happy to see a wave of new folks get in the roster and take steps in their careers. And folks… we have some future stars among the staff.
For those who don’t know, I also cover high school sports and college football locally. Before too long, my Fridays and Saturdays will belong to the demands of football until November. So the timing of this is kinda nice… for me.
Usually people who are leaving thank a bunch of folks on their way out. I’m not leaving for good, but I do have a great deal of appreciation for quite a few people. Jason Zito and Jon Garcia, Kris Martel and Chris Link, Caroline Davis, George Scoville and Jeremy Sargent, and the many folks who tolerated me over the years deserve it. Jason and Jon brought me into the circle, introduced me to Travis Hughes, and made me a better person. Kris, Chris and I went from watching a few movies together and sitting at a Buffalo Wild Wings to having a podcast reaching thousands of folks. That’s pretty heavy to think about.
The Predcast may be my favorite project I’ve ever worked on, and seeing listeners from overseas and across the USA/Canada is the highlight of my week. One of the reasons why it’s not going anywhere and will always be free is the consistent listenership we have with the armed forces. That means a lot to me the and the rest of the crew, along with knowing that we built it. Link taught himself how to produce. I taught myself how to edit and host. Why? We felt that the market deserved some intelligent banter. And after working with Kris, Jon, Alex and Marya… it’s great to know that you’re not alone in that notion.
As what you people will see and hear, I’m taking a sabbatical for a bit.
I started doing some small woodworking projects around my place a few weeks ago. At one point, I put my phone on the charge, connected my bluetooth headphones to the computer, and just started sanding on this piece of old wood for about 2 hours. It was peaceful, and purposeful. I stopped every so often to feel the rough spots, change the paper, and occasionally use the brand new power sander I just bought from Lowe’s. I still prefer sanding manually, at least to start.
But after I finished, I checked my phone to find messages, a voicemail, DM’s, emails, Skype’s… it’s like I had to go back to work just by putting my phone on. That’s when I knew I needed a bit of a reset: when I would rather sand old cuts of wood from my dad’s old attic than look at my phone.
I ask that you all play nice, and keep the meddlesome whining to a minimum. I’ll talk to you in a bit.
Hockey News
2015-16 Top Games Countdown: No. 1 – Nashville Predators – Features
Remember when the team sucked in overtime?
KHL goalie turns in save of the year candidate during preseason (Video) | Yahoo
The KHL is a lot of things. “Interesting” is the word that comes to mind this morning.
Inside look at Minnesota Wild | NHL.com
And the excitement is evident on Eric Staal’s face.
NHL Notes: Thornton’s not hanging up the gloves yet | CSNNE.com
Lucky for us, he’s still playing. Oh joy.
Jets boast young talent but breaking through in the Central Division is a difficult task – ProHockeyTalk
The Jets would make the playoffs if they were in any other division… provided that Ondrej Pavelec starts less games.
Is John Carlson a top-20 NHL defenseman? | Russian Machine Never Breaks
The top 20 list that’s being passed around doesn’t include Nick Leddy or Mark Giordano. So um… no.
Report: Las Vegas NHL team could be called ‘Nighthawks’ – Sportsnet.ca
If you’re well aware that your arena will be plagued by boorish midwestern refugees who somehow are all related to Al Capone, you might as well make it easy for ’em. Right?
No. This is stupid.
Not Hockey
Nissan GT-R vs Olympic Hurdler Michelle Jenneke: Who Wins? – Torque News
In honor of the new GT-R being released.