I've really, really, really avoided starting this thread because I believe it's ultra unprofessional. But it's clear this board is on the verge of melting down, so let's talk.
About two years ago, I was no longer able to live off this site. Growing up from a 22-year-old covering this team to a 27-year-old covering this team on the same salary has a way of putting life in front of you fast. I needed more money to survive, and I was presented an opportunity to join NFL.com. They hired me on as an editor and a writer for the .com side of the league, and I opted to work mostly overnight shifts so I could do both NFL and UCLA. I would go to shifts at NFL from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., take an hour nap, then cover UCLA practices from 7 a.m. to whenever. Then I'd cover the recruiting aspect of UCLA and then go right back to NFL.
As you can see, it obviously wasn't a super sustainable model. And now, in order to live like a sane human being, I've had to work smarter and not harder with this site. Obviously, you guys have noticed a drop off. But let me be clear, a lot of that is not necessarily because of just me trying to find ways to stay a healthy human being while working the two jobs.
UCLA has completely diminished the opportunity to cover this team. In Jim Mora's first two or three years here, media availability was daily. We'd have a Sunday night conference call with Mora, we'd have a Monday press conference availability, we'd have practice availability (where we could request five different players and coaches and actually get 1-on-1 time with them) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was a travel day for the team, but on Saturday, we'd get nearly every coach and every player for post-game talks. And, to top it off, Mora allowed us in practice -- though he told us we couldn't write anything, but still, we were in there for our own knowledge.
Fast forward to today. We're not allowed in practice, other than the first 10 minutes of stretch, which is useless now because Mora took the numbers off his players in order to prevent spies. There's no more Sunday night teleconference. Monday's availability was just Mora in a press conference/scrum setting. Today's availability was just the coordinators, again in just a scrum setting. Tomorrow's availability will be a few minutes with Mora, a few minutes with Josh Rosen and maybe a few other players, again, all in a scrum setting. There's no availability set for Thursday or Friday as usual, and, Saturday, post-game, they'll bring out a few players and a few coaches and then call it a night. It's very difficult to both cover a team with this type of availability and develop sources inside of the team.
As for other things you guys enjoyed: The Cover Two Recap died because everybody left this beat. Guys like Miguel Melendez, Ryan Kartje, Jon Gold, Joey Kaufman, Blair Angulo (who's now killing it for my competitor because you can fill in the blank here as to why) -- all my guys that I used to shoot, edit and produce the Cover Two Recap with had to leave because the salary to cover UCLA is not sustainable. I no longer have buddies on the beat I can do those recaps with. As for the Bruin Bite, it was going to die anyway you look at it. With Twitter and the 24/7 news cycle officially strangling the world, I was no longer able to hold onto information like I was in my first two or three years here. I just started posting it whenever I got it. I'm sure the weekly package was awesome for you all, but I was tired of getting beat because I waited for Sunday nights to throw it out.
So where does that leave us today? I'm still very much involved in this site. I'm on here daily, if not hourly. Yes, 40 hours of my week is spent writing and editing at NFL.com. But most of the rest of the week's hours are here. I'm still watching every UCLA commit's games, breaking down their tape and keeping track of realistic recruits that UCLA is pursuing. I'm still calling kids and trying to get information for you all regularly. I'm still posting daily press conference videos, recruiting stories, Five Questions previews, What We Learneds, game recaps and more. I'm still going to key high school football games, UCLA games, press conferences and events. I'm still here to answer all your UCLA questions and I'm still the same straight-shooting evaluator I've always been. This board is still full of awesome and knowledgeable fans who provide a really neat community for you to interact with during games, recruiting seasons and down time.
If you feel that's not enough for your $8 a month, nobody's holding you here with duct tape to your chest. I've never been briefed on how to cancel a subscription to this site, but I'm sure there's a simple way. I just please am begging you to stop coming on this board and complaining about how bad this board is. If you hate McDonald's, would you sit in their restaurant every day and tell customers how much you hate it? Please don't do that here.
Again, I'm very, very sorry for this note. Like I said, it's amazingly unprofessional. But I'm just begging you all to stop the threads griping about this site.
If you have any questions about me or Rivals or BruinSportsReport.com, please email me at EdwardFLewis@yahoo.com. I will continue to delete threads that aren't about UCLA or fun off-topic stuff.
Thank you guys for understanding.
About two years ago, I was no longer able to live off this site. Growing up from a 22-year-old covering this team to a 27-year-old covering this team on the same salary has a way of putting life in front of you fast. I needed more money to survive, and I was presented an opportunity to join NFL.com. They hired me on as an editor and a writer for the .com side of the league, and I opted to work mostly overnight shifts so I could do both NFL and UCLA. I would go to shifts at NFL from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., take an hour nap, then cover UCLA practices from 7 a.m. to whenever. Then I'd cover the recruiting aspect of UCLA and then go right back to NFL.
As you can see, it obviously wasn't a super sustainable model. And now, in order to live like a sane human being, I've had to work smarter and not harder with this site. Obviously, you guys have noticed a drop off. But let me be clear, a lot of that is not necessarily because of just me trying to find ways to stay a healthy human being while working the two jobs.
UCLA has completely diminished the opportunity to cover this team. In Jim Mora's first two or three years here, media availability was daily. We'd have a Sunday night conference call with Mora, we'd have a Monday press conference availability, we'd have practice availability (where we could request five different players and coaches and actually get 1-on-1 time with them) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was a travel day for the team, but on Saturday, we'd get nearly every coach and every player for post-game talks. And, to top it off, Mora allowed us in practice -- though he told us we couldn't write anything, but still, we were in there for our own knowledge.
Fast forward to today. We're not allowed in practice, other than the first 10 minutes of stretch, which is useless now because Mora took the numbers off his players in order to prevent spies. There's no more Sunday night teleconference. Monday's availability was just Mora in a press conference/scrum setting. Today's availability was just the coordinators, again in just a scrum setting. Tomorrow's availability will be a few minutes with Mora, a few minutes with Josh Rosen and maybe a few other players, again, all in a scrum setting. There's no availability set for Thursday or Friday as usual, and, Saturday, post-game, they'll bring out a few players and a few coaches and then call it a night. It's very difficult to both cover a team with this type of availability and develop sources inside of the team.
As for other things you guys enjoyed: The Cover Two Recap died because everybody left this beat. Guys like Miguel Melendez, Ryan Kartje, Jon Gold, Joey Kaufman, Blair Angulo (who's now killing it for my competitor because you can fill in the blank here as to why) -- all my guys that I used to shoot, edit and produce the Cover Two Recap with had to leave because the salary to cover UCLA is not sustainable. I no longer have buddies on the beat I can do those recaps with. As for the Bruin Bite, it was going to die anyway you look at it. With Twitter and the 24/7 news cycle officially strangling the world, I was no longer able to hold onto information like I was in my first two or three years here. I just started posting it whenever I got it. I'm sure the weekly package was awesome for you all, but I was tired of getting beat because I waited for Sunday nights to throw it out.
So where does that leave us today? I'm still very much involved in this site. I'm on here daily, if not hourly. Yes, 40 hours of my week is spent writing and editing at NFL.com. But most of the rest of the week's hours are here. I'm still watching every UCLA commit's games, breaking down their tape and keeping track of realistic recruits that UCLA is pursuing. I'm still calling kids and trying to get information for you all regularly. I'm still posting daily press conference videos, recruiting stories, Five Questions previews, What We Learneds, game recaps and more. I'm still going to key high school football games, UCLA games, press conferences and events. I'm still here to answer all your UCLA questions and I'm still the same straight-shooting evaluator I've always been. This board is still full of awesome and knowledgeable fans who provide a really neat community for you to interact with during games, recruiting seasons and down time.
If you feel that's not enough for your $8 a month, nobody's holding you here with duct tape to your chest. I've never been briefed on how to cancel a subscription to this site, but I'm sure there's a simple way. I just please am begging you to stop coming on this board and complaining about how bad this board is. If you hate McDonald's, would you sit in their restaurant every day and tell customers how much you hate it? Please don't do that here.
Again, I'm very, very sorry for this note. Like I said, it's amazingly unprofessional. But I'm just begging you all to stop the threads griping about this site.
If you have any questions about me or Rivals or BruinSportsReport.com, please email me at EdwardFLewis@yahoo.com. I will continue to delete threads that aren't about UCLA or fun off-topic stuff.
Thank you guys for understanding.
