A fraction of the athletes who have powered Coupeville Sports over the past six years.
Best part of a blog anniversary? Getting a giant cookie from your supporters.
It’s still the middle of the summer.
That was the first sentence to be published here on Coupeville Sports, way back in the Mesozoic Era, or Aug. 15, 2012, if we’re being precise.
And now, here we are, six years and 6,258 articles later.
I’ve survived being temporarily banned from the CHS press box, attacked by a South Whidbey blog which belly-flopped and floated away after publishing two whole articles, and twice flirting with bringing this whole endeavor to a premature end.
Fueled by countless tasty goodies offered up from faithful fans, transported by “the car that wouldn’t die” (until it did last week…), I endure.
And fight on, from world headquarters on the shores of Penn Cove, publishing random articles at 2 AM, while using a computer powered by three imaginary hamsters on a treadmill (Thaddeus, Leopold and Lil’ Skippy).
If you look back at the history of Coupeville Sports, it began in anger, but has (hopefully) morphed into something bigger and better over time.
I was cheesed off in Aug. 2012.
The Coupeville Examiner, where my words appeared for 15 years, through thousands of movie columns and sports stories, had just sold itself to a Canadian behemoth which already owned the Whidbey News-Times and South Whidbey Record.
Shortly after that lil’ bit of journalistic seppuku, all of my Examiner articles forever disappeared off the internet.
Having been paid very little for my freelance work (which was fine and my choice, because at the time I bought fully into the idea we were fighting the “Evil Empire”), my by-lined stories were all I had.
And then poof. They were gone, short of tracking down and buying a print copy of every back issue of The Examiner.
Whether it was a truly accidental data entry error, or an intentional, thought-out middle finger from a giant corporation, doesn’t really matter.
It was enough to goad me into launching my own news outlet, and, at least in the early days, keep me hammering away at my keyboard.
I was much chippier in the earlier days of Coupeville Sports, starting tiffs with athletes, coaches and supporters from South Whidbey, ATM and King’s, to name but a few.
Some of it was entertaining, much of it was good for fueling readership growth, but ultimately, it wasn’t the path I needed to be on.
There’s a reason other local blogs like Island Politics have vanished from the scene. If all you pump out is bile, eventually you’ll choke to death on it.
And, while Coupeville Sports was, at worst, .02% of an equal to the slimy cesspool the IP morons created in their basement/dungeon, I’ve tried to go in more of a positive, constructive direction as I (slowly) mature.
Most days, anyway…
Now we’re heading into year #7, and league #3. From the Cascade Conference to the Olympic League and now on to the North Sound Conference, at least for a bit.
Coupeville is among the smallest 1A schools in the state and there is a solid chance the Wolves will be on the move again shortly, most likely down to 2B.
For at least one year, though, it’s reunion time, as CHS links back up with former rivals South Whidbey, King’s, Granite Falls, Sultan and new foe Cedar Park Christian.
Football practice kicks off today, with all the other fall sports set to open this coming Monday. Middle school sports start soon after.
A new school year brings with it the possibility of new stars, new story-lines, new surprises.
Having gotten past a slight bump in the road recently, I am recommitted and re-energized, and, as always, deeply appreciative of my readers.
Your support, both financially and emotionally, is what drives me to keep going, documenting the ever-unfolding story of athletics on the prairie.
Coupeville Sports, from day one to wherever that finish line may be, will remain free to read. No pay wall, ever.
And while I may be the one writing the blog, it remains very much a community effort.
The more info you pass on to me, the more complete my coverage can be. If there is ever a question, “Should I tell him about…” the answer is always “Yes, you should.”
When it comes to what appears on Coupeville Sports, if you like something, say something. Maybe just as importantly, if you don’t like something, say something.
Praise or criticism, free food or angry glares, it all provides me with a compass to use as I chart our journey.
Where the path we’re blazing is going to end up, none of us know. But it should be interesting getting there.
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