Hey guys, I know there is A LOT of hate for me and Hammer & Rails, much of it likely justified from opinions and reactions over the years, but I am posting for the first time in a very long time to offer an olive branch, Hammer & rails is no longer just me. In fact, I am scaling myself back more and more everyday. I no longer solely run the twitter account and haven't for over a year now. We also have several new writers that, quite frankly, are a lot better than I am.
A lot of the anger directed at me is warranted from my own wild opinions from over the years. Stepping back my role is part of a new found maturity developed because, let's face it, I have made a ton of mistakes. There are also a few things to clarify.
1. I never made a scene at a press conference and had credentials revoked - The incident in question occurred at the 2010 Notre Dame game. I had a credential in South bend and sat there quietly during the entire game. Notre Dame took issue I was commenting in our Open thread and there was one comment, left by another reader in the thread and not me, that said "If I had known you were going to be going to South bend I would have sent you a sniper rifle." Notre Dame found this, blamed me for it, and reported it to Purdue. After a sit down meeting with Tom Schott that included even one of my higher ups at SB Nation I have been in good standing with Purdue for about 5 years. I do have a credential to select events as my schedule allows because hey, I do need a real job (SB Nation pays some, but not a lot). This coming basketball season, since one of our writers actually lives in WL, we may have more basketball games than before, but generally I am at 4-5 home games, the Crossroads Classic, and the Big Ten Tourney when it is in Indy. The last two years we have had another writer credentialed at the NCAA Tourney games and Jumboheroes will possibly be at the 2017 B1G Tourney since he lives in DC>
2. The Kansas crying incident - yeah, it happened. It was an embarrassment. I fully recognize that. Let's move on, shall we? I have.
3. Not being connected - You guys are right. I am not connected very well. I never claimed to be. Brian, Stacy, Kyle, and the crew are a lot more connected than I ever will be or, quite honestly, want to be. I have nothing but respect for what they do and give them a ton of credit for their work. I appreciate their informative information daily and we work to credit them when they break a story. We are much like Boiled Sports in that we are opinionated fans and supporters of Purdue that speak from the heart. I am more than guilty of speaking from the heart often before thinking. Some people appreciate that. To others, I understand that it rubs people wrong. The few connections I have are often int he world of recruiting when I happen to cover a recruit or prospect through my part-time job (I write for the Zionsville times-Sentinel and Kokomo Tribune on the side). Even then, that is not often. I don't have "inside info" very often, and often joke about it when I do.
So yeah. I am more than open to constructive criticism. I have been doing this for about 10 years now and especially in the last 2-3 years it has been a lot different than those early days. I am more than happy to listen if you have an issue with any of us and work to correct it. We're all the same team here in terms of supporting Purdue. We're also all extremely frustrated with the way things are being run right now in terms of the football program and the athletic department as a whole. All we offer is an alternative voice and a place to vent. Even then, I recognize we're being way too negative and need t find some solutions. That is my goal for the summer.
so yeah, if you're offended by what we do, I apologize and take responsibility. If you want to take this time to attack me, please attack. If you have some constructive criticism and would like to see us work on things, please let us know.
A lot of the anger directed at me is warranted from my own wild opinions from over the years. Stepping back my role is part of a new found maturity developed because, let's face it, I have made a ton of mistakes. There are also a few things to clarify.
1. I never made a scene at a press conference and had credentials revoked - The incident in question occurred at the 2010 Notre Dame game. I had a credential in South bend and sat there quietly during the entire game. Notre Dame took issue I was commenting in our Open thread and there was one comment, left by another reader in the thread and not me, that said "If I had known you were going to be going to South bend I would have sent you a sniper rifle." Notre Dame found this, blamed me for it, and reported it to Purdue. After a sit down meeting with Tom Schott that included even one of my higher ups at SB Nation I have been in good standing with Purdue for about 5 years. I do have a credential to select events as my schedule allows because hey, I do need a real job (SB Nation pays some, but not a lot). This coming basketball season, since one of our writers actually lives in WL, we may have more basketball games than before, but generally I am at 4-5 home games, the Crossroads Classic, and the Big Ten Tourney when it is in Indy. The last two years we have had another writer credentialed at the NCAA Tourney games and Jumboheroes will possibly be at the 2017 B1G Tourney since he lives in DC>
2. The Kansas crying incident - yeah, it happened. It was an embarrassment. I fully recognize that. Let's move on, shall we? I have.
3. Not being connected - You guys are right. I am not connected very well. I never claimed to be. Brian, Stacy, Kyle, and the crew are a lot more connected than I ever will be or, quite honestly, want to be. I have nothing but respect for what they do and give them a ton of credit for their work. I appreciate their informative information daily and we work to credit them when they break a story. We are much like Boiled Sports in that we are opinionated fans and supporters of Purdue that speak from the heart. I am more than guilty of speaking from the heart often before thinking. Some people appreciate that. To others, I understand that it rubs people wrong. The few connections I have are often int he world of recruiting when I happen to cover a recruit or prospect through my part-time job (I write for the Zionsville times-Sentinel and Kokomo Tribune on the side). Even then, that is not often. I don't have "inside info" very often, and often joke about it when I do.
So yeah. I am more than open to constructive criticism. I have been doing this for about 10 years now and especially in the last 2-3 years it has been a lot different than those early days. I am more than happy to listen if you have an issue with any of us and work to correct it. We're all the same team here in terms of supporting Purdue. We're also all extremely frustrated with the way things are being run right now in terms of the football program and the athletic department as a whole. All we offer is an alternative voice and a place to vent. Even then, I recognize we're being way too negative and need t find some solutions. That is my goal for the summer.
so yeah, if you're offended by what we do, I apologize and take responsibility. If you want to take this time to attack me, please attack. If you have some constructive criticism and would like to see us work on things, please let us know.
