A Rock Chalk Farewell: It’s Been A Good Run

“All good things must come to an end.”
-Way too many people about way too many things.

From Andy:

First, so that I don’t bury the lede in reminiscing, effective tomorrow (Feb 1st), Mike and I are stepping away from Rock Chalk Talk. And before you ask, we are not being asked to leave, but are instead pursuing other opportunities that will require us to step away, so this is a happy announcement.

When we first took over Rock Chalk Talk back in 2014, Mike, David and I were just a few of the guys on the internet that called this wacky place home with a bunch of other hopelessly downtrodden Kansas football fans and eternally optimistic Kansas basketball fans. Along with Steve, Warden, and Grad (and a few others that I can’t seem to recall at the moment), we were drifting along on the back of the fantastic community that Owen built with the help of link-dump articles and gamethreads, and we felt it was time to revitalize the community that we loved so much.

I first came to Rock Chalk Talk in the midst of the fantastic 2012 tournament run, both for the men and women. In fact, I remember (maybe not 100% clearly on all the details) that the first thing I ever posted was a fanpost that served as the gamethread for the women’s first-round game, and there were two of us in there talking back and forth about CBS Sportsline updates to the play-by-play.

From there, I moved to Florida, and in 2013, when Owen needed help with the link-dump articles during the summer, I saw it as a great opportunity to both stay up to date with the team and remain connected to a community that was as passionate about the Jayhawks as I was. Little did I know that this was the beginning of a wonderful 8 years of my life. Thanks to my coverage here, I started a podcast, deepened my understanding of a BUNCH of different college sports, picking up watching cricket (thanks Fetch), branched out to cover the Big 12 as a whole in both print and audio, started a podcast network, attended Big 12 Media Days in person, and a whole host of additional things that I never imagined I’d ever be able to do. Now, I have an opportunity to continue to pursue those dreams in a different venue and in a different direction, but I’ll forever be grateful to the community that we have here and the start that I received as part of it.

I don’t know what is next for RCT, but I do know that I’ll stick around as a member of the community as often as I can. I hope you all realize what a profound effect you all have had on my and my family, from enlightening me to the truths about Panama and Lyme disease, to the very best discussions about real life, politics and religion that can be found anywhere on the internet. No seriously, I don’t know of any other place that can have such a wide array of discussions and generally stay as respectful as this place has, and for that I’m truly grateful.

My next step will be different, and I only hope that I can be part of a community there that is half as great as this one. I won’t shill for the new gig here, but if you are interested in hearing about it, make sure you are following me on Twitter (or just ask me about it in the comments sometime).

I’ll let Mike go ahead and finish up here with a few words, but before I do, thanks again for everything you have given me these 7+ years.

From Mike:

Thanks Andy. I’ll keep mine short and sweet. I’ll tell you guys what I told the mothership: a professional opportunity has opened up for me, one that I feel will require me to relinquish the duties at RCT.

Andy informed me a few weeks ago that he thought he had something in the works as well, and it turns out his opportunity came together as quickly as mine did, and it was just coincidence that this is happening at the same time. I hate that this is happening so suddenly, and in the middle of the season, but it is what it is.

Thanks for a fun ride, and thanks especially for all the inside jokes. I think my favorite will always be the Iowa State Hawkeyes, but who can forget Panama, Lyme Disease, I live this (stuff), Fizzle’s Fantastic Food Takes, Mauling, the XBox guy, Tyshawn’s dunk, the hot dog sandwich, the Olive Garden... is that about it?

I will not be blogging anymore anywhere, so I have nothing to plug. I’ll just be lurking. Possibly commenting. We’ll see. Regardless, I love you all. I’ve made some real life friends here (even if Grad never wants to hang out anymore) and I anticipate continuing to communicate with the guys that I’ve spent the last seven years building this site with. (Wow that was really poor grammar.)

As for the rest of you? I’ll see you in the blogosphere.

Rock Chalk