Kenosha Sports Extra recently eclipsed the 500,000th click or hit mark or whatever you call it. Half a million reads. And I’m grateful. And I purposely didn’t make it breaking news headlines because that is reserved for times when you think you really have something folks might want to hear. This is more of an appreciation than breaking news and while there have been some well-read stories, the people who actually look forward to something new have made this very rewarding. Six plus years ago, I shared with Adam Kavalauskas at the Gratzi, what I had in mind. Simple. Extremely user-friendly and damn near idiot-proof. You’re the pro. Couldn’t have been more spot on to what I had in mind. And I hope you are OK with it, cause it aint likely to change. Working with Adam and his team is the ONLY way this happens. I’d like to say he went above and beyond to make sure I had this thing figured out, but if you know him, you know he does that with everybody and everything and that’s is not some paid endorsement, that’s just a fact. Gratzi……Gratzi
I love watching the numbers. And I promise you I know next to nothing about what any of that actually means. I just know how the numbers react to what is written and when it’s posted and what magnitude the story holds. And whatever the numbers are and whatever they really mean has never been the objective. It is great to have an outlet. My radio time has expired…at least for the time being. The podcast people are WAY past anything I could produce and it is that time for everyone to have a voice…and that is a good thing. So writing has become the outlet. It keeps the creative juices flowing and maybe highlights some local things and local people that folks enjoy reading about. That has always kinda been my wheelhouse…likely always will be. In the podcast world, I’m dead last in a race run by millions. In KTown sports and history and culture, I’ll put my knowledge up against most.
It boils down to about 1600 reads for like 310 plus stories. I think I’ve written 304 of em. The highest number ever recorded for one story is big. And more importantly, it’s Cholak. With a 1600 plus average, the story that was a tribute to Mike Cholak currently stands at 12,661. A highwater mark by about double. No one I’ve known in my entire life would want to be on the top of that list more than Cho Momma. Logging in at second is a tribute to Steve “Blade” Hess. No one I’ve ever known in my life could care less about where those numbers shake out. Two great friends, dearly missed…and I’m glad someone took the time to read my thoughts on these two Kenosha legends. And I’ve learned some things. If you want to hear opinions about your professional sports teams, you already have your lanes established. Better to stay in local. And when you post is as important as what you post (for something other than huge news). I pretty much only use Facebook. It’s easy… reaching the demo I prefer to reach. And people don’t mind “dude” and “ain’t” and “WTF” in today’s blog world. And that is good…I was never very accomplished in the AP writing style. I write like I think. I type all wrong…is what it is.
I don’t tie my name into things too much…ain’t about that either. Folks that know me, know me…others that don’t and read regular, it’s not like they are looking to seek me out to be friends. It’s OK to let the words do the work instead of “building the brand” and then filling in the content on the fly. I don’t mind sharing things about my life and my family. Kinda the reason we are all here. My wife is the engine of everything I do….that we do…my gratitude goes way past words. Just like everybody’s life, it all evolves. Last Friday I got to introduce the Bradford Girl’s Softball State Champs at halftime of the boy’s game of the Tremper/Bradford girls/boys hoops doubleheader. North Side was PACKED. I’m lucky enough to have been their PA guy and was lucky enough to be asked to bring them up to get their rings. It wasn’t about me getting to do my thing in front of a bunch of people. It was about everyone in the building. A KTown moment. I’m glad I know 40% of the room. I’m glad when people want to hear about stuff like that. When I started KSE, did I expect this wrinkle to a unique path…nope…it all evolves.
In closing let me say, make no mistake, there is plenty of an ego feed here. But not a need for notoriety and not really for justification…hard to explain…maybe it doesn’t need explaining. When I first talked to Gratzi I said “I want to be able to stand behind what I say with written proof”. Kinda like a lifetime “I was right (and wrong)” card. With as much as people in KTown talk, it’s fun to give a real-life play-by-play of it…I’m a local sports radio guy by nature. Here’s the play-by-play and color commentary…all you gotta do is click the button. If not, no offense taken. You are a niche market…but what a cool-ass market you are. These are people and events of our lives and are worthy of being discussed. The motivating and mitigating factors of the people from KTown in that fieldhouse last Friday night. It is great to be exposed to and even better when you can contribute to it. That’s kinda been the whole program from the start. Not hard to remain true to the core. So thank you. However many clicks is a lot of reads…and that means this means something. Gratzi.