Farewell, But I'll See You Around At Meets!


It's been an exciting last 10 years. It's been fun, almost all of it, but it's time to hand off the reins.

Starting tomorrow, Bobby Reyes makes the daily decisions of what happens here.

My responsibilities going forward will be to ensure the results side of the site is working efficiently and correctly. I will also take meet coverage assignments along the way as Bobby makes those requests.

If Bobby ever offers me a more open-ended writing opportunity, I'll probably jump all over it. I still thrive on the challenge of putting together words, sentences, and paragraphs together to nudge people into thinking, or laughing.

I will continue taking my camera to meets because that's a substantial chunk of the fun of going to a meet--for me, anyway.

I still enjoy geeking out over track & field or cross country data.

I'm just done with Saturdays that begin at 5 AM and end sometime the next morning when I can't keep my eyes open any longer, yet with piles of work still to be completed. I tried very hard, mostly unsuccessfully, over the last 12 months to get the time I was spending on this site under control. Something had to change.

Hopefully, me taking the responsibility posting of results and helping out with some meet coverage will help keep Bobby from ever landing in the same mire.

This is a great time to thank all of you who have taken a moment or two to go out of your way to express thanks for what this site has meant to you over some or all of the last 10 years. I really appreciate those words, and I've not yet had anything like adequate time to respond to but a fraction of those comments.

Over the years, countless numbers of you have sought me out at meets and said hello. You have no idea how much that meant, and still means, to me. Confession time: I can be a bit on the side of socially awkward and would never have had the courage to reach out to you as you have reached out to me. But I have always, and without fail, appreciated it when somebody came up to me at a meet and said something about the site.

It's very easy for me to sit down at a keyboard and start typing out thoughts. It's rather difficult for me to start a conversation and spill out those same thoughts. All the more so if I don't know the other person in the conversation well.

I know there have been times I've made people upset with things that got posted (or not) on the site. And, there were times when I waded into a topic and knew it was pretty much a certainty that someone would end up upset. But, I never set out with the goal of making anyone angry; it's just that sometimes things end up there. For better or worse, it's an inevitability of doing sports coverage.

My blanket apology goes out here to anyone who was offended by something that went up on the site anywhere over the last 10 years. Offense was never my intent. It was, not infrequently, a risk I felt was part of doing my job, but never an intention for its own sake.

I have tried neither to court nor avoid controversy. When controversy comes knocking, you deal with it. Otherwise, you aren't doing your job. The periods between bouts of controversy are pleasant days. May those periods live long and prosper for Bobby.

I've had my own opinions about plenty of things. You all know that. But I hope this has been consistently a site where it's safe to express a dissenting opinion and have a discussion about it. 

I've almost daily endeavored to make the site about more than just the star athletes everyone would have heard about, anyway. I believe to the core of who I am that enduring celebrity status is a burden too large for most of us to manage well. Spreading around the joys and trials of celebrity is a worthwhile endeavor.

Everyone should get to enjoy at least a moment or two of celebrity status--whether here or somewhere else. Nobody should be made to bear up under the pressure of constant celebrity status. We are better, and more ebullient, people when fame comes unexpectedly, and in fits and starts rather than in a gushing torrent. 

To this day, one of my favorite things to do on this site remains to post a first-ever cover photo of an athlete. Those chances will be fewer now, but there will still be some points of opportunity with meet coverage.

There will definitely be things I will miss about my previous role, but I am settled that a lesser role is where I need to be.

If you have questions about results getting posted, results getting posted to the wrong profile, results getting posted to a duplicate profile, or anything of that nature. I'm still your contact. And, it's still the same contact email as it's always been.

If you have questions about meet pages--which are barely a hop, skip, and a jump away from results--you may still contact me, but my first response is going to be to send you a link to this article. If the issue goes deeper than what's covered in the article, we'll talk.

For anything else, Bobby is now your man. Treat him as well as you've treated me and I think you'll find him an outstanding resource for the community we're all a part of. His contact email should start appearing in the banner area at the bottom of all site pages shortly.

I'll be doing coverage of the Air Force High School Open this Friday and Saturday. It is my favorite meet of the indoor season. So, Saturday night might be another late night for me, but it won't be terribly late and there should be more than the usual satisfaction that attaches to covering that meet.

I look forward to writing better with fewer writing demands to satisfy. I look forward to rediscovering that less is more when it comes to photography, as well. And, I look forward most to having a little more time for family and for coaching with the few years of coaching I have left. 

You've all been a blessing to me. Thank you.