A New Challenge Awaits...

I started what eventually became Nats News Network on March 14, 2007.  It was originally titled Bottomfeeder Baseball Blog, and I attempted to write about the Nats, Orioles, fantasy baseball, Capitals and other stuff.  It was not very good and nobody read it.  About that time, I also started writing about the Nats and Caps at DC Sports Box, and I would lke to thank Al Santos for allowing me that great opportunity.

In October 2008, I started my hockey blog, Caps News Network.  In December, I changed the name and format of the baseball blog to what you see now, Nats News Network.  Just before opening day 2010, the Nats invited us and four other blogs to apply for credentials based on a very specific set of guidelines.  We were extremely excited to find out the Nats accepted and approved our application and we will be eternally grateful to Stan Kasten, John Dever, Mike Gazda and Bill Gluvna for taking a huge leap of faith and opening the press box to independent media outlets.

And that's how we end up here, today, having completed our second season as credentialed media covering the Washington Nationals.  Hopefully you're still with me, because here comes the big news.

After five seasons and 1,472 posts, I am retiring Nats News Network.  I've decided to combine my two blogs, pick up coverage of the other sports in town, and start an on-line sports page covering all of D.C. sports.  You can find the new site at http://www.districtsportspage.com/.  It's a monumental challenge for me, but I won't be alone.

I have recruited some of the finest local independent journalists to help me with the project.  I will manage the Nats/MLB content for the site, and each sport/team will have a page editor who will guide content for those teams.  We'll have staff writers to write game stories and analysis.  We'll have several contributors; folks that have their own blog but will occasionally post for us too.  We'll continue to have fantastic photography from not only staff photographer Cheryl Nichols, but our good friends Brian Murphy and Anthony Amobi too.

Also, Cheryl's Off the Field column will be coming with us, so if you're looking for the latest player appearance in the community, player birthday of photo gallery of a special event, it'll all be on the new site.

Hopefully, we'll continue to have you as well, reading and commenting on our material.

Please visit our new site.  Tell us what you like, what could be better, and what you might like to see.  It's still a work in progress, but we're excited to get it out there and give folks in the DMV another outlet to get local sports news, analysis and opinion.

Thanks for making Nats News Network what it was.  What started as a vanity project became something so much bigger, bigger really than I or anyone could have expected. Thanks, as always, for reading.