It’s a lot to ask of someone to devote several hours of the week to a task that’s pretty much thankless. Game recaps and previews are one of those tasks that aren’t always fun. You know those Tuesday night games against Calgary that we make light of and give tickets away to? Someone has to write about those. Someone has to watch, pay attention, and create readable content based on that game.
It’s a rough spot to be in, and imagine doing it for a high level for a few years and not getting paid for it. That’s what people like Alex, Anish, and Bryant have done here. And unlike a good chunk of the folks here at OTF, I don’t have any urges to cover this silly sport any more than what you see here. We sent out an internal survey earlier this summer, and grilled the folks we accepted into our ranks about what they wanted to do and how we could help them. Our responses varied from “want to work for Fox Sports Tennessee” to “work for an NHL team”, among others.
I started blogging several years ago, mostly because I didn’t know how else I’d make a living wage someday. It doubled as a great release for my rotten humor & such, and it’s fun for the most part. Since then, I’ve been able to pull myself up into a new career field. Blessed, fortunate, lucky, whatever… it’s all true and all valid. And I was able to meet Kris Martel, Chris Link, Jon Garcia, and Jason Zito. That didn’t suck. If you could put my favorite people in this world into a van, they’d definitely be in it.
Alex would be in there if he wasn’t LFC scum. Marya likes teams from Atlanta too much, and that would depress the population of said van.
All of that to say, we’re restructuring. I’m stepping into a senior editor role here, and passing the daily grind (and the paycheck) over to Alex Daugherty as of August 15th. I will continue to post on the site, and spend more time working with the newer writers. Also, when Mark Harris or Bryant Fair gets hired away by some big fancy print media outfit, I’ll be here to transition Marya/Anish into the role, etc.
I’m not really going away, so it didn’t really warrant a goodbye letter or anything. This was just a head’s up that you’ll start seeing all of those new faces put their name to some content over the coming months. Austin and Michael have been nothing short of stellar, Bobby’s video project is even better than I expected, we’re looking to get a second podcast off the ground, and that’s all without mentioning Hayley, Blake, Emme, and the rest of the crew. It’s terribly exciting. And I wouldn’t take a step back if I didn’t know and believe the people here weren’t ready for it. Plus, this allows us to have a deeper organization as a website. And hey, Kris is still here!
So that’s that, as they say. Enjoy your precious few news links today.
2015-16 Top Games Countdown: No. 6 – Nashville Predators – Features
The game that spawned some of the best .gifs of the year.
Auston Matthews still hasn’t signed his entry-level contract with the Leafs – ProHockeyTalk
Why did it have to be Toronto?
Five goalies the Maple Leafs might pursue – Article – TSN
After what David Poile has already pulled off…. haha, he’s not on the list.
Sabres’ Kyle Okposo thanks Islanders fans and organization – Sportsnet.ca
Straight class, Okposo.
Molson on Subban: Fans love P.K. but Bergevin hired to make team better – Sportsnet.ca
This will not play well in Quebec.
Agent: Charges against Buffalo Sabres’ Ryan O’Reilly dropped | ESPN
Take out any mention of hockey, insert [Linebacker], [SEC school], [County prosecutors], Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Waffle House, [Somewhere in Louisiana]. It still makes sense.
And finally….