Hello, everybody. I’m Chris Grovich. You may remember me from such blogs as Run Up The Score, Slow States and, well, this one. I’ve been tasked with taking over the daily operations of this place. Despite having a guy on the other line about some white walls, I enthusiastically accepted.
Before jumping into what BSD is about to become, let’s take another minute to give thanks and praise to Mike, your benevolent, departing dictator. Mike, Galen (from The Nittany Line) and myself started blogging about Penn State so long ago that I legitimately can’t remember the year. I believe it was 2003 or 2004, which seems like a relatively short time ago in many ways, but it’s actually about 48 in Blog Years. Despite the clichés about bloggers as pajama-clad basement dwellers, it’s difficult to keep any site running without feeling burnout or seeking reinforcements at multiple points. Yet, BSD kept chugging onward. And it’s going to keep chugging onward, but with a significantly expanded scope, staff, and purpose.
Here’s what you can expect:
Comprehensive coverage of nearly all Penn State sports. Not just football, which naturally will be attacked from every angle in a way you expect and deserve. Basketball, wrestling, and hockey are going to be huge parts of the site as well. The men’s basketball program has an extremely promising future under Patrick Chambers. The wrestling team is the defending national champion. Hockey is about to become the most exciting addition to Penn State sports since Joe Paterno discovered the shotgun formation in the mid-2000’s. Recruiting news for all of these sports will be a big part of the site. We’ll also have coverage on other Nittany Lion sports, both from an on-campus perspective and from our moms’ respective basements. One of our guys eagerly requested to cover cross-country and track. Cross-country and track, people! It will be All You Can Eat at the Too Country Buffet. Save room for dessert.
More than just words on a screen. We all know and love the Ten Minutes Or Less features over at Linebacker-U, right? Those will become a big part of the site, as will regular podcasts featuring interviews with bloggers and reporters across the Commonwealth and nation.
Increased interaction with other sites, Penn State and otherwise. There are a lot of people doing hard work for little glory on The Internets, and we’ll help bring them to your attention under the “a rising tide lifts all blogs” theory. You’ll get a regular overdose of news specific to Penn State, the college scene at large, and business topics tailored to our collective interests.
Bringing this content to you will be not only myself, but a number of old BSD friends with whom you’re already familiar, and other writers who are finally getting their deserved opportunity to shine in front of a big audience. Many have come over from Linebacker-U (if you didn’t read their site recently, you missed a boatload of fantastic interviews and other features that simply weren’t being done elsewhere in Penn State blogging). You’ll find the collective style to be a healthy mix of the informative and the insane. It’s a large team – with room to expand further in the future -- which will serve to keep the content (and writers) fresh like a central Pennsylvania dewdrop.
Welcome to the future of your daily obsession. You’ll be very happy with what we have planned for Black Shoe Diaries.