If you’re reading this I want to first say thank you. If you have supported us in any way the past two and a half years, again, I say thank you. I wanted to write a blog and update you on where we have been, and where we are headed in the future. After all, everything that we put into this website and beyond is for you.
Past: Sportsnerdz.com started as an idea. Nothing more than two guys sitting around discussing the wide wide world that is the internet. My buddy, Jason Lloyd, who owns his own site titled: http://myhuntprofile.com/. Check it out if you get the chance.
I had never owned a website before, yet he had owned several. This one being his baby. So I thought to myself “Jason had a hunting and outdoors site, so maybe I could own a sports and sports gaming community”. From there Sportsnerdz.com was born. On July 3rd, 2013 Sportsnerdz.com became official. I had the name wrapped up, now I just needed to put my ideas to work in the digital form.
My vision for the site at first was I wanted it to be an “Ultimate Sports Community”. Where people could go and talk sports, read articles, play games, etc. Module after module, fail after fail, I stuck with it. Jason and I racked our brains trying to get people involved. Charleston, WV isn’t necessarily the capital of the world for sports, or for people to be interested in what you are doing period.
So, let’s touch on some of the failures. The first failure was launching the site and taking it live before it was ready. Not to mention the content just wasn’t there. Secondly, I used to copy articles from sites thinking that it would be easier for people to come to my site and read these articles without any annoying ads. A good gesture, but again, and even bigger fail!
Then came the “Fan Clubs”. Boy did I think that these would take me over the top! Fan Clubs were a place where either you, or I created a Fan Club and discussed only this team. Members could create one a piece, again, a minor fail. Since we have done away with members and opened everything up to the public. These never went in the direction I would have liked.
Then, THEN came the “Game Zone”. This was it! The module that took me over the edge of popularity. Over 4400 games to play like Bejeweled, Duck Hunt, Tetris, among a ton of other games. Me, being a dummy never thought “hey, most people use their phones now days. These games cannot be played on a mobile device”. A few people played them, including me, but this never took off like we expected. I paid good money for this module! As time past I started writing my own articles, realizing that the content needed to be organic from me. Not a third party. Trying module after module we decided that it was time to discuss the direction we wanted the site to go in on a more serious basis, and not so hobby-ish.
Realizing that the site was just a hobby, and that I did not have the time to write articles all day every day we decided to do away with articles, fan clubs, games, etc. The site would now be me Blogging my thoughts since that seemed to be the popular thing to do now days. How much more organic could the site get than thoughts from me, myself, and I?
Present: Now that the site was where I wanted it to be it was time to take things a little further. I had seen that a lifelong friend named Kenny Lavender was starting a radio station in downtown Charleston, WV. Now I had been offered what I like to call “garbage offers” within radio/podcast. I was offered a radio show that expected me to pay $800 to get started. I was also offered a podcast based out of Houston, TX.
These did not interest me in the slightest, but, when Kenny was looking for spots to be filled for his radio station I figured this was the best opportunity. I was asked to come on a show called “The Locker Room” with Ray Whiting. I accepted, loved every second of it, I assumed they loved me? Right Kenny and Ray? That was that.
It was time to start advertising and networking. A local store named Collectibles ran by Chad Rogers, whom I had spent too much money with over time, crossed my mind. Chad brings in local athletes from WVU/Marshall, former wrestlers, etc. I thought that I could start interviewing these athletes and it would be a good move for my site. I had always went to this events, but were never a part of them. In exchange for ad space and helping promote the events I was granted access to do a quick interview with these athletes.
I implemented getting questions from our social media which started off sort of slow, but has picked up with each interview. I now do interviews with these athletes, and help with the photo ops for Chad at his store which is now Sports Fanz in Teays Valley, WV. I have had the privilege of interviewing names like Pat White, Steve Slaton, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, Clint Trickett, etc. The next interview on January 30 will feature former WVU/Buffalo Bills great Darryl Talley. Chad, thanks again buddy!
So after being on the radio and interviewing athletes I wanted to do these things that I loved on a more regular basis. A huge goal for us was to be “credentialed media”. The New Orleans Pelicans who were having their training camp at the Greenbrier Resort here in West Virginia would be a good start. Now we have been covering local high school games to this point (which I love) but on to the big boys is where I had to try.
I sent a email to the Pelicans Director Of Basketball Communications in hopes that we could gain our first access to cover the pros. Thinking it was a shot in the dark I received the email that stated we were approved and “The Pelicans would like to welcome you to their training camp in West Virginia” I thought it was a joke and could have teared up on the spot. I was in.
During our time covering the Pelicans we met some great people within the organization, not to mention meeting with the athletes themselves. We chat a bit with Pelicans head coach, Alvin Gentry, also. I asked the Pelicans Communications guy if we came to New Orleans would it be possible for us to cover a game. He said “sure, we would love to have you”! I was on cloud nine!
Up to this point I had been in contact with the New Orleans Saints Communications guy as well about covering their training camp at the Greenbrier. I figured since it is football season, and we are in New Orleans, let’s plan a weekend to try and cover the Pelicans game while taking in a Saints game that same weekend.
Now, up to this point things were going pretty well for Sportsnerdz.com (obviously). I needed to bring in another person or two to keep constant content flowing to the site. These professional organizations did not want to see a stagnant site I’m sure. I brought in childhood friends and avid sports fans, Neal Stone and Justin Lavender.
These two knuckleheads also do the radio show with me now that is now titled: “The Locker Room” with The Starting Five. We searched for a weekend that we could all agree on to go to New Orleans. The Pelicans were playing the Warriors, and the Saints were playing the Giants. For more on the details of our trip please refer to the blogs for each of these games. New Orleans was amazing.
Thank you Matt Mendleson and Matt Ryan. We were in these locker rooms with names such as Drew Brees, Benjamin Watson, Anthony Davis, Kendrick Perkins, Eric Gordon, etc. Back home to reality. Since then, we have been trying to cover as many events as we could. I have covered Pitt Basketball, and will continue to do so on a fairly often basis. All pictures, interviews, coverage from these games are located on the site.
Future: Being considered a “credentialed” site was never a thought when starting this ride. I always knew that I would wind up on radio someday, but to be in NBA, NFL locker rooms and firing questions to these high profile names during press conferences is an entirely different story.
We started doing what we do because I realize that not everyone in this area gets to go to these events, much less ask their favorite athletes questions. I have been able to meet some amazing people including: Evander Holyfield, Merrill Hoge, etc. The goal for the future stays the same. Get as much material as we can and bring in to life on our local radio and website.
We will continue to go to Pitt and cover basketball games, we are scheduled to cover New Orleans Pelicans training camp again, as well as go back to New Orleans in February. We will be at Saints training camp as well next season. The next objective is to cover a professional team on a regular basis between the five of us such as the Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers,Cincinnati Bengals, etc.
This would be do-able with each team playing just eight home games. Right now our site consist of Blogs, our popular NFL Weekly Pick’em has been a hit, March Madness Brackets, videos, pictures, and finally a stream to our radio show. Look for more modules to continue to be added to make this site a great place to see our coverage without all of the hassle. Our last goal is to do this full time and discuss it on Sirius radio!
Thank you everyone involved for your support! Sports Fanz, Sport-Clips, Collectibles Etc., WTSQ 88.1 “The Status Quo”, Becky Petry, Jason Lloyd, Kenny Lavender, Justin Lavender, Neal Stone, Ray Whiting, Matt Mendleson, Matt Ryan, and any one else I may have missed!
What else might the future hold? Just follow along and see! In the meantime feel free to support us by purchasing some apparel here: https://sportsnerdz.myshopify.com/
Written by: Joshua Petry
For more Blogs visit:https://sportsnerdz.com/blogs/
