What's A Fellow P/T Blogger On His Merchant Pinnace To Make Of The Recent Happenings Aboard The Main Ship?
Interesting times here on the pirate ship.
I shouldn't say here. I'm not aboard. Not on the main ship anyway. I sit off in the shadows on my piddly little pinnace vessel part-time blogger merchants use to row to and fro to deliver our little offerings. That's where I took witness this week to the spectacle that was Ohios Tate. A veteran merchant four years my senior clearly at the end of his rope. A man scorned by the whimsical demeanor of pirates either on board or working from land on Friday's with no make-up on. Tired of the scraps he was served for doing more with a lesser hand, he sought to eat at the table with the crew.
But closed mouths don't get fed.
So off he went to brazenly besiege the main ship as a fleet of one. Darting from the ledge of his weathered six-year old pinnace revealing its leaks and barnacles left otherwise hidden underneath. Tate manned a chic clipper seemingly sung into existence by a Swiftie on the main ship (not on a Friday). And swiftly Tate sailed to make waves. Waves big enough he no doubt knew he would never be able to return from. Waves that would either be his demise or the reason the captain decided to keep him aboard to reside. Whether hoisted by meticulous plot or irrational exuberance, he would set forth as Ohio's Tate and arrive anointed as a Barstool mate.
What a spectacle it was. Whatever your feelings on it are.
This leaves me here thinking. What's a fellow apprentice a year and a half in the game to make of all this? Watching the main ship rock from my merchant dinghy in calm tepid waters. What am I to learn? Is this "the way" aboard? Do I look to the holster of my cutlass as well? While I rarely draw it, make no mistake. It's sharp.
That's just not my style. I aspire to favor my more jovial nature. I don't need to rely on skewering anyone in the company to put out content that my niche of readers enjoy.
But I sure like to!
Of course, this is towards people that I like in a ball busting manner. Very different than what we all took witness to this past week.
Then again pirates attacking other pirates onboard is also part of pirate ship charm when done organically. The waters of the raucous stoolie body made that clear this week.
I don't buy chalking this support up as the work of a few 'incels'. I think it was an undercurrent the main ship underestimates. It was done by a growing contingent of readers who - to my estimation - just want more sports blogs on their sports blog site. The Make Barstool Sports Again contingent. The ones who habitually comment on pop culture blogs with some form of the following:
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I'm not convinced this is really understood on the main ship. Maybe I'm wrong. I mean, how would I know? I'm over here on this dinghy. But I do know what I see come up often in my comments. I see the other end of this all. The good side. This movement's seemingly brief exhales of gratitude.
It all started in my very first NFL Sad Stats blogs. Week 1 of 2022. And it's because of them - and really only them - that I held my feet to the fire to produce a weekly NFL Sad Stats blog every week for the past two NFL seasons.
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I've never appreciated a loud farter more in my life. Or a donkey Don Kedic.
This certainly looks like I'm bragging about a few good comments while brushing the negatives into the bilge. Let me assure you. That is indeed true. But it's not just that I get some positive comments. It's the way they're positive. Like I'm some Write Knight that swooped in a couple years ago to help save them from pop culture. A fight that it appears Ohios Tate and others have been fighting for years. Perhaps I'm seen as a new soldier in the resistance. I don't know. But I do know they appreciate my style of using data analysis programming to create original and relevant sports content. Someone no one else in the company is doing. Not targeting anyone in particular but, generally speaking, Barstool doesn't need another writer to jot two paragraphs with the headline "OMG THIS THING THAT YOU JUST WATCHED HAPPPEN HAPPENED SO READ ABOUT THAT THING THAT - AGAIN - YOU JUST WATCHED HAPPEN" literally five minutes after it happened. And none of this requires the whistling of steel from a holster. (OK maybe a LITTLE whistle, generally speaking)
If it's ever in the cards for me to join the main ship, this is the contingent of readers that will make it so. It's a slower row than mutiny, but you have to believe a more sustainable route. Instead of forcing my way onboard, I'll need to drift towards at the behest of the stoolie sea still keeping the main ship afloat. This is the only way I'd be willing to risk leaving a pretty darn good 8-5 analyst job. It'll be because I grew an organic base that appreciates my slant on comedic sports statistics with a stoolie style of delivery. And I have work yet to do as professed in my goals for 2024.
Then again. This past week does make me wonder. As a fellow part-timer to Ohio's Tate who also has a busy life outside of a passionate side gig, what's going to happen when I'm still on this dinghy in year six? When the wood weathers, leaks sprout, and barnacles I can't see begin to form underneath the surface. While the waters of the stoolie sea can drift me to the main ship, it can't throw me the rope. I guess time will only tell. Until then, I'm happy as hell to continue to think of ways to create content that's true to me and that at least enough people love. And eternally thankful to Big Cat for giving me the chance.
So why write this blog? Might this all come off as me looking jealous and trying to latch on the success of a fellow part-timer that finally got made? Am I just using this all as an opportunity to brag about what I've done in hopes to summon some waves my way? OF COURSE MATEY! You see, while I feel my perspective over here on this little merchant boat has something to teach the main ship, what transpired this past week has taught me something. While our tactics might differ, Ohios Tate has taught me something.
Closed mouths don't get fed.