I’m a teacher. 19 years in the profession have shown me that, first and foremost like my Murphy Jo pictured above, I’m a dreamer and love and passion are the cornerstone characteristics that are needed in teaching. I started my journey in a small school in Mobile back in 2001. From there, I taught in the most dangerous projects in the U.S. (at the time), the Desire Projects in New Orleans, then Port Sulphur, LA where the school was washed away by a 30 foot storm surge, then Belle Chasse, LA where I taught an entire class of refugee students who lost homes during Katrina. Now, my wife and 2 little girls, Murphy Jo (4) and Finn (1.5), are residents of Santa Rosa Beach and we’ve been here these past 9 years.
Over that time, those 7,000+ days, Braves Journal was always my home blog. I’ve been here going on 2 decades and I’m honored to carry on the legacy that Mac started and Alex and Rob carried since Mac’s unfortunate passing. Mac set the standard, and the rest of us have just been trying to carry the legacy while maintaining the atmosphere that’s been present for decades.
Adding, Not Changing
I don’t aim to change that, but don’t be surprised if I add a few things. As stated in the first paragraph, I am a dreamer. Some of my dreams for the website have already begun:
- New design
- New logos
- Merchandise
- New menu bar
- Three Flags Flying podcast
Within the next month or so, I plan to roll out another idea. One that I think will keep the blog sustainable for years and provide some fun for us all.
What will never change is the bar-like atmosphere and the chat that flows from post to post. It’s the quintessential component that sets Braves Journal apart from all of the other Braves blogs and that piece is here to stay.
My “Job”
I’m site editor and coordinator here and will be in charge of regulating the ruffians and coordinating posts. I’ll hand out warnings, etc., but I do not want the power of the ban-hammer and like Cliff stated a few days back, I’d love to have a panel that makes those types of decisions. If you’re interested in being a part of that panel, please send me an email (cothrjr at hotmail).
Want to write here? If you are interested in writing, also send me an email. We have started a wonderful GroupMe chat that has 10 Braves Journal regulars and we schedule/coordinate pieces and also brainstorm new topics to write on. My goal is for this site to put put out 500 pieces in 2020 and that is a lofty goal, but with a kickass team, I think we can make it happen.
Thanks for reading!
Long live Braves Journal!
Congratulations Ryan, and good luck
Murphy’s a doll, Ryan. Enjoy her and Finn. They grow up too fast.
Mac started it, but you torch toters have held the banner high. Keep up the good work.
I am thankful, being blessed beyond measure. Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one. The Braves will win it all this season.
Hey Ryan:
Happy Thanksgiving and all the best with Braves Journal. This site paved the way for so many of us. I know you’ll do great stuff, and I’ll be reading.
Bud.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Ryan.
Thank you for your holiday wishes and, more particularly, your fascinating teaching CV with all the moving and tough environments it must have contained. I have friends who teach in Over the Rhine in downtown Cincinnati who tell me 80 plus percent of their time and energy is spent on trying to maintain some sort of basic classroom order and discipline. How you’re supposed to teach and get through a syllabus with that background is beyond me and it’s all very sad. Well done you.
Now, about the blog and its future development. I was pleased to see you acknowledge its history and the essence of the bar type ambiance. Yes please. I am aware of the conflicts that will face you trying to juggle this with the ever growing amount of analytical data . Point taken, you will control the balance.
On that question please understand the blog now is most certainly ‘drier’ than it was before. More numbers, fewer words. The bar fun needs more space to flourish and not to be pre-empted by a data table which could as well be posted at another hour.
However. You have done a great job in encouraging and attracting ‘new’ writers. Our recaps in particular are now outstanding and a far cry from my 2 years of Saturday nights when Elton John was a regular and no stats were ever mentioned. And yet….I miss Smitty’s Barber and the like. And let’s stop calling light verse poetry, my fault!
Hope you can make some sense out of this jumble. Best wishes in your new job.
@blazon
Thanks for your words. The bar just needs to adjust to a very small adaptation and that is the content. Blogs can’t survive without content. Many faces here, including myself, are getting into their middle to late years, and it’s important to bring new people to the bar otherwise the bar dies. That’s my job going forward, and I’ll try my darnedest to maintain the balance, but it’ll take necessary adjustment from longtime commenters such as yourself, to carry the conversation to the next entry. It’s truly not that much to ask.
I don’t always drink before noon when my wife’s family visits…but when I do I wear a Braves Journal shirt!
Happy Thanksgiving!
God bless ya buddy.
Love the content and am a long time reader (back when robots screamed while you dialed in).
Keep it up! We’ll be here appreciating the solid writing on the team we all obsess over.
HAPPY Thanksgiving to you and yours!
Happy thanksgiving to everyone in Braves Journal world, enjoy the day all.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hopefully there’s another Thanksgiving signing like when Coppy landed Serpico on Turkey Day 2016.
Happy Thanksgiving y’all!
I haven’t been here for as long as many here have. I happened upon this site somtime in 2018. Truthfully it’s become my favorite Braves related site, though.
Rob, you’ve done a fantastic job.
Ryan, I have no doubt you will too. The podcast is awesome, and I enjoy all the new content. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what else you have up your sleeve for the site.
Also, kudos to everyone else who contributes here. I’m sure it’s a fair amount of work to put together such well written pieces. Much appreciated though.
Big fan of the podcast too. Hope you guys stick with it. It’s nice that you’ve had signings to help the podcast get off the ground.
Happy Thanksgiving to all. I’m especially grateful today for the inimitable Mac, whose vision still reigns here and in whose shadow we all work; for Alex and Rob who have taken their turns keeping the vision alive (and who I trust will remain essential parts of this place); and now for Ryan who has climbed on their shoulders and will maintain the vision and also bring new folks and ideas here.
Now we just need management to shell out for JD and a front line starter and my cup will runneth over. But whatever the front office does, I’m grateful that Ronald and Ozzie will bring joy to the hearts of Braves fans for years to come, and that in Mike Soroka we’ve been blessed with the closest thing we will ever see to Greg Maddox redux.
New thread done the Wright way.