This has been weighing on my mind the entire 2013 season.
I love football. Specifically, I love college football. When I started this blog, it was as a response to a request from other Duck fans to put all of my thoughts on a specific topic in one site. So I did.
After that, the story, thanks to the NCAA, refused to die for more than two years. During that time I was asked by a friend for more formal stuff; and I took on that challenge. I have written a lot of stuff over the last two years. Mostly positive stuff along with occasional negative stuff.
What I have noticed is my passion for a sport I love begin to diminish; that is bound to happen.
But it is not diminishing simply because I write about the team. I only have so many hours in a day and I have been trying to get too much into each day which has begun to drain my mental resources.
I have spread myself too thin.
So, I have been contemplating methods to take off some of the load without giving up the things I enjoy. Writing happens to be something I enjoy, so i don’t want to give that up.
It occurred to me today, as I was slacking on some of the work that actually pays my bills to respond to a thread I had created, that I knew where the area I could cut back was… and it was right in front of my face.
I spend far too much time monitoring our message boards, trying to respond to everyone and be a resource. But, you know what, that is not my job; nor is it part of my writing obligations for the site. And it can get quite draining to always feel like I have to spend that time on the boards.
Worse yet is that my opinions, because of my role as a writer, get taken at a different level. What I write here is considered an extension of my writing for Duck Sports Authority. While that should not be the case; it is the case. I have been commingling my opinions with my writing duties and that creates a lot of confusion for everyone.
So, today, I have decided that any and all thoughts I have outside of my articles will be shared here. And no where else. I will, of course, continue to have a live game thread for every Duck game I cover for the site; but that’s it in the comment world.
That means if you want to know what I am thinking, you have to come here.
I deleted a thread today because it was simply unproductive and was not generating the kind of conversation it should have generated.
So, you will see me post my stories on the appropriate message board. And you will see commentary in love game threads. But that’s it for me and comments. Want more? Gotta come here.
By the way, ALL thoughts shared on here will have the comment section blocked . This will make my life so much easier to deal with. No more monitoring or responding. I am done with that.
From now on, you get my articles, and that’s about it.