Some of the women who made news in 2013. (Enlarge the photo to get the total poster-worthy collage experience.)
Women ruled in 2013.
Nine of the 15 most-viewed articles I produced this year were about female athletes (or non-athletes).
From South Whidbey’s exiled hoops star Hayley Newman at #3 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/02/01/exclusive-south-whidbeys-best-player-walks-talks/) to Wolf grad turned competitive bodybuilder Cavan Simonson at #9 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/11/03/cav-cav-kicks-some-well-toned-tushie/), it was a woman’s world.
Tragedy made an impact, in stories a person would prefer not to write.
The unexpected death of South Whidbey High School boys’ basketball coach Henry Pope (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/07/25/whidbey-loses-a-basketball-giant/) was the #1 most-read story of the year, while former CHS volleyball coach Kim Meche, and her battle with the cancer that eventually claimed her, nabbed slots #6 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/04/11/night-coach/), #10, and #13.
You didn’t need to be an athlete, as proved by appearances from a mysterious Navy wife at #2 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/07/28/exclusive-the-navy-wife-behind-i-support-the-olf-tells-all/) rock goddess Savanna Dohner at #11 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/11/18/music-has-my-heart-and-it-always-will/ and all-around goddess Zoie Tingstad at #15 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/10/18/say-a-prayer-for-zoie-please/).
And it wasn’t just the stories, as the feminine businesswomen ruled as well, with Kelsey Simmons Design having the most-viewed ad (by a large margin) among my 46 sponsors.
Helping her cause — a birthday article on Kelsey that topped out at #51 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/11/18/awesome-just-turned-30/), a feature story on her business (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/06/22/kelsey-simmons-is-awesome-by-design/) that ended up at #33 (Larry Bird’s number, which always bodes well), and a story on her wonder dog, Sitka, (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/09/26/worlds-most-talented-dog-missing-find-her-and-get-a-free-dinner/) that trumped mama by ten slots.
Dogs. Fluffy, fluffy doggies. They’re popular.
While stories about women were the most-read, the best way to get comments (lots and lots of comments) was to write about the always-popular topic of Coupeville vs. South Whidbey, especially if you were prone to pokin’ the Falcons, as I was.
The five most-commented-on articles I wrote all concerned South Whidbey, with the ensuing brouhaha launched on the Hayley Newman article providing the only time I have had to ever shut down a talk-back. The Falcon faithful and their crayons…
I mellowed (a bit) as the year went on, however, and tried to send a (small) olive branch or two South Whidbey way, with a feature on personable, graceful Falcon soccer star Maia Sparkman (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/06/30/the-falcons-are-alright-maia-sparkman-sparkles/) getting big hits.
Small steps.
As we move into 2014, what have we learned?
McKayla Bailey, aka The Photo Bomb Queen, always gets big page hits for her photos. Always.
Belgium is my go-to country (thanks to Iris Ryckaert), second only to the USA in terms of readership. Suck on that, Canada and Britain.
No one knows anything. Several times I watched stories I expected to be big die a hard death, while stories I had no hopes for turned into blockbusters.
And last, but not least. Always, always write about women. Always.
Coupeville Sports 