Year one with Read and Reaction in the books

Today is the one-year anniversary of Read and Reaction.

When I launched this site last December, I had no idea whether anyone would care to read my writing after leaving SEC Country. I had no idea whether launching just after the season would kill things right out of the gate. Quite honestly, I had no idea how to set up a mailing list or how often to send updates.

But through it all, my goal was to exhibit genuine curiosity and try to teach something in the process. I hope I have accomplished that goal.

Throughout this year I’ve been blessed to contribute my thoughts about Gator football and have you read them. Some things I’ve gotten right. Some things I’ve gotten wrong. But I hope that you appreciate the effort that has been put into each and every article and the care that I’ve put into making sure there is either analytical or film data behind the opinions expressed.

No start-up venture can be executed alone. I owe a special debt of gratitude to David Waters, who urged me to start my own site and then has been supportive the entire way. Gators Breakdown is a blast to do because of the people involved and that all starts with David.

The site has had three writers besides myself: Devin Connell, Olivia Granaiola and Bill Sikes. It isn’t easy to put yourself out there. I know the doubt that every writer has before something he or she has written is published. These people have contributed a piece of themselves to Read and Reaction and I am forever grateful.

But the real reason that I’m writing this is you.

One of the great things about football – and all sports – is the camaraderie. Oftentimes, we think of that in terms of locker rooms and the friends we made when we were kids. But I can genuinely say that I’ve made some great friends through this process.

You know about Bill and David, but you probably don’t know about the people who have believed enough in Read and Reaction to contribute to my Patreon account: Jon Curto, Terry Tokash, R.J. Gilliand, Jacob Sistrunk and Edwin Hernandez. Your belief that the site is worth something monetarily is truly humbling. Thank you so much!

You also probably don’t know about the people behind the scenes on Twitter who reach out via messenger to ask me questions and suggest article ideas. Those questions and those suggestions have made the site better and I truly appreciate your participation.

And no thank you would be complete without thanking my family. Whether it is my kids letting me re-watch a Gator game on the DVR instead of watching Word World or my wife getting up on Sundays so I can sleep in after being up late writing a recap, they have given me the time to build this website and its content. It isn’t easy for me, but it definitely isn’t easy for them. Thank you!

This first year has been a blast, but in some ways I feel like I just started off on my own. I’ve made some missteps and underestimated how much time various things would take. I’ve had a ton of ideas that I just didn’t have the time or ability to execute.

But that just leaves me excited for year two.

Hopefully this upcoming year will include expanded coverage of the Gators with more and better writers, all adhering to the principle of remaining curious and teaching something. Hopefully year two will include some sort of live event where I can meet those of you who have been so supportive.

I know that you have a choice about who to read when it comes to Florida football, and I appreciate the privilege of getting to earn that readership.

When I launched Read and Reaction last December, I wrote the following:

I’ve poured my heart and soul into what this is going to become. But I’d be foolish to believe I have any idea whether you’re going to read, comment, follow or enjoy it at all.

I then launched the first ever article on the site, having no idea whether anyone other than my mom would read it. That article got over 1,300 reads, a number that still blows me away.

Last week, my two articles averaged many times the readership of that first article. That hasn’t happened because I’ve magically gotten better. It’s happened because you have read, commented, (hopefully) enjoyed and perhaps most importantly, shared my work.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for supporting me and this site.

Go Gators!