Five years ago, a Buckeye fan had insomnia and decided to kill the hours before the Penn State game by starting a blog and sharing his madness with the world.
A little under three years after that, that fan realized that there were more folks with his perspective and passion for Ohio State sports, and brought three other guys on board to continue in the revelry. And the rest is both history and precursor.
In the days and years since, we’ve worked diligently to bring you both the latest news and our particular (peculiar?) slant on what’s going on with the scarlet and gray. And, to be honest, it’s been an amazing experience.
We’ve grown and contracted our staff, we’ve been honored to expand into written, video, and audio opportunities, and we continue to find new ways to connect with college sports fans from across the nation and the world. Who could have imagined, waiting for that game against the Nittany Lions, that this endeavor would lead where it did? tBBC has opened doors for us to talk with our favorite players (both college and pro), and it’s given us the chance to cover the team at The Grand-daddy Of Them All- something that a kid growing up in the midwest could have only dreamed of.
Our team has been lucky enough to have access that fans can only hope for- in the box high in the Horseshoe, on the sidelines during practice, at press conferences- and we hope that our coverage and commentary has shared the experience with you and given you the insight you deserved. Heck, we must be doing something right- of our staff and contributors, no fewer than six members of the team have current opportunities as members of the “mainstream” media on radio, as local sportscasters, and even on ESPN and Fox Sports.
Ok, we admit it… we were dropping hints all week about this celebration so that you’d get us presents. I mean, no one likes to have their special day forgotten, right? But, when I think about it, we’ve already been given one of the greatest gifts that anyone can give- the time and energy of all of our readers. We’re well past our million mark, especially if you also calculate the folks who are joining us on iTunes and so forth- and each person who reads what we think, forwards an article to a friend, hits us up on Facebook or Twitter, or takes the time to comment and engage our work is both a symbol of trust and encouragement for us to keep going. From the bottom of our keyboards- Thank you, and stay tuned to see where we grow from here.
At a personal level- When Jeff turned the keys over to us, it was a daunting moment (and still is). I started to look at the numbers of folks who were checking in and got more than a bit intimidated by the responsibility of being a Buckeye resource for so many. Over the past few months it’s also not been easy to be fully engaged as rumors and facts swirled around the program, and as some of the things I valued (like higher education, integrity and trust, the student-athlete ideal, and so forth) were getting harder and harder to find, not only in Columbus but throughout college athletics. I’m incredibly grateful to the rest of the guys here at tBBC and the other partners we’ve made across the blogosphere for allowing me a place to process all of this, and “proud” ofall of our Battlecry staff for not taking the easy way out in the face of the past months of adversity but choosing instead to look for ways to grow. Thanks, gang- and thanks, Jeff, for replying to my email.
Five years ago today began a new era- not necessarily in the world of Ohio State coverage or sports media in general, but at least in the lives of those of us who make this slice of the web our home and for those of you who join us here. Tomorrow, against the Colorado Buffaloes, the Ohio State Buckeyes begin a new era as well… led by a quarterback wearing number five.
And I’ve got to tell you… we’re just as excited about what’s going to happen next as Jeff was when this whole thing began.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
