Friends,
It's been an adjustment losing Jeffrey Lee to On3/AuburnLive.com. He is one of my best friends and someone whom I believe in on a personal and professional level. I still believe in him today as much as I did when we had The Talk earlier in the summer. He is a friend to many of you as well. Jeffrey and @BryanMatthews made this site what it is. They have been here a long time; they are AuburnSports.com through and through. I am hugely appreciative of both guys. I love them both.
I was offered an excellent opportunity to leave AuburnSports.com this summer. An entrepreneur wanted me to take my show on the road, so to speak, and move into his professional community. I ultimately chose to remain here, obviously, and I want to explain why I did that.
I cannot explain that without giving you some background information:
In 2010, I was covering Auburn at the Montgomery Advertiser. The newspaper business was in trouble. The Advertiser was in trouble. I needed to move online. I approached Jeffrey, who was AuburnSports.com publisher at that time, and asked to become his primary team reporter. He told me that I was his guy, but that he wasn't yet in position to make that happen from a financial perspective. So I waited.
I asked again in May 2011. He said the same thing.
I asked again in May 2012. I'd successfully remained employed through six rounds of layoffs, but I simply couldn't take much more of the anxiety. I begged Jeffrey to take me. I was in luck — his tone was different! He said he was ready for me. He sent an official employment offer to me via email on July 7, 2012. I was on vacation at Hidden Mountain Resort in Pigeon Forge. I hurried down to the office, printed off a hard copy of the offer, signed it, took a picture of it and sent it back within an hour. I was overjoyed.
A lot has occurred during the nine years since then. I'm now publisher (COMMANDANT TATE), the staff has grown, the site has grown. The Bunker might be slightly less obscene now, but it's still outlaw territory — in a generally delightful sense.
When I needed proverbial shelter in 2012, AuburnSports.com was there. You were there.
When my kid sister died in 2016, I needed proverbial shelter. AuburnSports.com was there. You were there. In addition to hundreds of encouraging posts and DMs and texts and phone calls and visits to my home, three Bunker members lined up Mass intentions for Kimberlee at their churches. I have tears in my eyes right now just thinking about it. I didn't think I could get through that time in my life. AuburnSports.com helped carry me through.
As I was nearing a "final" decision about my future earlier this summer, I wasn't sure what to do.
That's when my friend Chad Prewett tweeted this:
To which I responded:
I'd prayed for shelter at AuburnSports.com in 2010, 2011, 2012. And I found it. AuburnSports.com became a home for me. The Bunks became friends or sparring partners or villains or whatever else y'all are to me. So many good folks. We have a lot of fun. When it's time for counsel or support, you all offer that as well.
My blessing was right here all along — and I'm not going to walk away from it.
We've got a team here that has done great work and will do even better work in the future. B-Matt is a legend. @Cclemente is an assassin and you'll see that soon if you haven't already come to that conclusion. He will not be outworked. And then we have Ol' @BrianStultz. We'll figure him out one of these days.
We have another team member on the way to help Christian and B-Matt on the recruiting front.
So that's the story of today's AuburnSports.com. Thank you for reading.
I appreciate all of you and I hope to see you all here for the next decade or more.
Peace and Love,
MGMT
(Not the band)
It's been an adjustment losing Jeffrey Lee to On3/AuburnLive.com. He is one of my best friends and someone whom I believe in on a personal and professional level. I still believe in him today as much as I did when we had The Talk earlier in the summer. He is a friend to many of you as well. Jeffrey and @BryanMatthews made this site what it is. They have been here a long time; they are AuburnSports.com through and through. I am hugely appreciative of both guys. I love them both.
I was offered an excellent opportunity to leave AuburnSports.com this summer. An entrepreneur wanted me to take my show on the road, so to speak, and move into his professional community. I ultimately chose to remain here, obviously, and I want to explain why I did that.
I cannot explain that without giving you some background information:
In 2010, I was covering Auburn at the Montgomery Advertiser. The newspaper business was in trouble. The Advertiser was in trouble. I needed to move online. I approached Jeffrey, who was AuburnSports.com publisher at that time, and asked to become his primary team reporter. He told me that I was his guy, but that he wasn't yet in position to make that happen from a financial perspective. So I waited.
I asked again in May 2011. He said the same thing.
I asked again in May 2012. I'd successfully remained employed through six rounds of layoffs, but I simply couldn't take much more of the anxiety. I begged Jeffrey to take me. I was in luck — his tone was different! He said he was ready for me. He sent an official employment offer to me via email on July 7, 2012. I was on vacation at Hidden Mountain Resort in Pigeon Forge. I hurried down to the office, printed off a hard copy of the offer, signed it, took a picture of it and sent it back within an hour. I was overjoyed.
A lot has occurred during the nine years since then. I'm now publisher (COMMANDANT TATE), the staff has grown, the site has grown. The Bunker might be slightly less obscene now, but it's still outlaw territory — in a generally delightful sense.
When I needed proverbial shelter in 2012, AuburnSports.com was there. You were there.
When my kid sister died in 2016, I needed proverbial shelter. AuburnSports.com was there. You were there. In addition to hundreds of encouraging posts and DMs and texts and phone calls and visits to my home, three Bunker members lined up Mass intentions for Kimberlee at their churches. I have tears in my eyes right now just thinking about it. I didn't think I could get through that time in my life. AuburnSports.com helped carry me through.
As I was nearing a "final" decision about my future earlier this summer, I wasn't sure what to do.
That's when my friend Chad Prewett tweeted this:
To which I responded:
I'd prayed for shelter at AuburnSports.com in 2010, 2011, 2012. And I found it. AuburnSports.com became a home for me. The Bunks became friends or sparring partners or villains or whatever else y'all are to me. So many good folks. We have a lot of fun. When it's time for counsel or support, you all offer that as well.
My blessing was right here all along — and I'm not going to walk away from it.
We've got a team here that has done great work and will do even better work in the future. B-Matt is a legend. @Cclemente is an assassin and you'll see that soon if you haven't already come to that conclusion. He will not be outworked. And then we have Ol' @BrianStultz. We'll figure him out one of these days.
We have another team member on the way to help Christian and B-Matt on the recruiting front.
So that's the story of today's AuburnSports.com. Thank you for reading.
I appreciate all of you and I hope to see you all here for the next decade or more.
Peace and Love,
MGMT
(Not the band)
