Through the early Flacco years the Ravens were regular playoff participants, punching their ticket to the postseason dance each of Joe’s first five seasons. And with the team’s success, good fortune followed 24×7.
A few years prior, we had changed our name from Ravens24x7.com to Profootball24x7.com. The move was made in part to accommodate some gentle nudging from the Ravens who suggested that we benefitted from their brand; and to align with a bigger, long-term goal, to expand our own brand to other cities.
Attempts to expand proved to be more challenging than we anticipated. Finding that singular reliable managing editor to spearhead things in their respective city was frustrating. A few expressed interest and we started to make some inroads, experiencing a bit of traction in DC and Philadelphia. But the success was fleeting. The managing editors lost patience. The financial upside didn’t materialize as quickly as they hoped. And so, they bailed.
Realizing that the task of opening new sites in other NFL towns would be a daunting task, we shifted our attention back to Baltimore and in doing so, we dropped the name Profootball24x7.com, reverting back to Ravens24x7.com. The goal then became one of growing our brand, expanding the type of content we offered and in doing so, attract new customers.
But I couldn’t produce my own content, manage our staff of writers, edit their content, implement new ideas to include YouTube and social media, and handle the business side of things alone. I needed help. And it arrived via one of my favorite mistakes. I’ll allow our Senior Editor Derek Arnold to explain that mistake along with how he joined Ravens24x7.com over a decade ago.
Throughout this series, TL has talked about how he hopes to inspire people to take a shot on doing what they love, rather than continuing with the drudgery of a job or career that leaves them unfulfilled, bitter, and dreading Monday mornings.
I was that person in my mid-20’s, and while plenty of hard work went into getting myself out of that situation, there also involved a stroke of such serendipitous good luck, that I honestly still can’t believe my good fortune when I reflect upon it.
Like many, I made the mistake of choosing my college major and assumed career path based not on what interested me, but on what we’re led to believe will make us happy – jobs that bring in bigger paychecks. So, after four years of undergraduate work at UMBC that produced a degree in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, then five more at the same institution pursuing a Master’s in Environmental Engineering, I had a good job at a local engineering firm, where I helped developers and other industries stay within the bounds set forth by the United States Environmental Protection agency, Maryland’s Department of the Environment, and others. And while this job periodically allowed me to escape the limits of my fluorescently-lit cubicle and “work outside,” it wasn’t nearly as glamorous as I’d hoped.
I was the person I alluded to in my opening paragraph, sitting in my car at 8:50 every morning and dreading that walk into the office. I looked at those above me on the corporate ladder and decided, unequivocally that, like Johnny Moxon in Varsity Blues, “I don’t want your life.”
Ever since 2007, during my first eight-hour days trapped in cubicle land, I’d been working on my own Baltimore sports blog. Having already been inspired by Tony Lombardi’s work on Ravens24x7, of which I was an avid reader, I realized that, with an internet connection and some informed opinions, there was no reason I couldn’t write about the Ravens (and Orioles) as well. And hey, maybe someday I could make a few dollars doing it, to supplement whatever other income I hoped to manage to cobble together for myself.
This all took place in the days before the “gig economy;” if it had existed then, I’d almost certainly have been a Door Dash and/or Uber driver. As it turned out, I had another idea. I was unmarried and childless at the time, and my long-term girlfriend (now wife) supported me as I went part-time at the office gig and attempted to start up my own dog walking and pet sitting business. While this venture never produced much more than beer money, something else happened in the meantime.
Inspired by Paul “Fitzy” Fitzgerald, who was making hilarious YouTube videos about his New England Patriots (such as this):
My friend Kris Jones and I decided that Baltimore needed our own Fitzy. We went out to Best Buy, bought a video camera, fashioned a makeshift “green screen” and “Goob” was born. Many reading this will remember Goob. If things like Instagram or Tik Tok were around, I’m convinced Goob would have been an even bigger star. As it was, the videos – along with the growing community of Ravens/O’s Twitter back in 2010 – brought a big new audience to our sports blog.
Insanely enough, Kris actually won DirecTV’s Ultimate Displaced Fan contest in 2010, as he was at the time located in Raleigh, NC. He was kind enough to bring me along as his guest, and we attended Super Bowl 45 between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers in Dallas, TX (unfortunately, the Ravens blew a 21-10 halftime lead in Pittsburgh in the Divisional Round, also blowing their best chance for a home AFC Championship game in the Harbaugh era).
Watching the Steelers lose the Super Bowl in person was a wonderful experience I’ll never forget.
Additionally, though, as part of the prize, Kris and I got to go around Radio Row all afternoon, accompanied by a pre-scandal Ray Rice.
(Yes, that’s snow in the background. Remember that? It snowed all Super Bowl week in DALLAS, and everyone there was freaking out about it. By Sunday, it had all melted, but Super Bowl week was a bit of a mess.)
Kris went on shows with such sports media stars as Jim Rome, Jay Glazer, Tony Bruno, Michael Irvin, Mike Florio, and locally Scott Garceau and Jeremy Conn. Without fail, those national personalities and their producers raved about how well-spoken and natural Kris was on the microphone.
So, what does this have to do with RSR? I’m glad you asked. A few months later, in Spring of 2011, I was back at my part-time desk job goofing around on the internet (as far as I’m concerned, that’s what 80% of cubicle life in the USA is) and saw a YouTube video that caught my eye.
There was Tony Lombardi, head honcho of the best Ravens fan site on the web, asking for resumes to come work with him. I was floored. This was it. Our shot! I called Kris and sent him the link. An hour later, we’d both sent Tony our resumes, with heavy emphases on what we’d both just been through in Dallas. Also, an hour later, the video was gone, erased from the 24×7 YouTube page.
Was it a mistake?
My imagination?
I’d later learn that it was, in fact, the former. Tony had been toying with the idea of asking for applications for some help but didn’t mean for said video to be visible publicly. But because it was, even for that hour – and because I happened to see it – my life was forever changed for the better.
A few weeks later, Tony, having seen our applications, invited Kris and I to have lunch at Mother’s in Federal Hill. We chatted and decided that 24×7 could absolutely use some younger blood and a character such as Goob (and our large Twitter following) to help build their brand.
In August of 2012, I was brought on to 24×7 in a part-time capacity, still working at my corporate gig part-time, and also servicing a few dog walking clients. Kris, largely due to his sales background, was hired full-time with the understanding that he would have to sell advertising on 24×7 to supplement his salary. He spent the magical 2012 season covering the team, watching practice, and interviewing players in the locker room as they marched toward their second Lombardi Trophy.
As for me, I was learning the back end of the website, discovering how to monitor the ad impressions our sponsors paid us for, what worked and didn’t on social media, and making Kris’s uh…remedial (we went to the same High School…one of us paid attention in English class) writing worthy of appearing on the site.
An aside: Much of what you’ve seen from the Ravens’ social and video teams in recent years was, whether they admit it or not, inspired by Kris/Goob. I remember pitching ideas to Kevin Byrne, then Senior VP of Public Relations, of humorous content for the locker room. Kevin’s response: “We like it…but why would we let you do it, when we could do it ourselves?”
Thanks in large part to the Ravens’ success, business was good, and Tony was able to afford to bring me on full time in early 2013.
The rest, as they say, is history. Kris hung around for another year or so, but ultimately, his financial aspirations couldn’t be fulfilled at our small company (you should see the boat he just bought!). We still talk all the time, go fishing, watch games together, and I’m still honored to call him one of my best friends. However, as so many of us know, sometimes it’s best to not work with your friends!
When Tony brought me on, I was, as mentioned, still unmarried and childless. I got married in June of 2013, and we welcomed our son, Brooks, in 2017. I told myself that I would enjoy the ride for as long as it lasted, but that I shouldn’t be surprised if my wonderful fortune would eventually run out. Yet, here I am, a decade later, still with 24×7, considering myself one of the luckiest people alive.
When I meet new people, and small talk turns, as it inevitably does, to “what do you do,” I find myself blushing. I feel a bit embarrassed to tell people that I have the best job in the world, but that’s exactly what I consider it, and saying anything else would be dishonest. I read about sports all day. Not just sports, but about the teams in which I’m most passionate, whose wins and losses determine my mood for the entire day/week. I do so from the comfort of my own home, from where I’ve been working “before it was cool.” From where I’ve been able to watch my son grow from baby to toddler to pre-schooler and now first-grader, keeping him home with me at least a couple days a week as he’s grown, watching and playing with him rather than completely outsourcing his earliest years as so many are forced to do.
I remind myself regularly how fortunate I am to be able to do what I love. I never want to take it for granted. And I thank my lucky stars that Tony screwed up the public/private settings on that YouTube video over 10 years ago…thanks TL!
So, there you have it, one of my favorite mistakes – that phantom YouTube video that I honestly don’t even remember posting at all. Since then, Derek has become my right-hand guy. He’s my voice of reason. Whenever I get a little too fired up about something related to the business of RSR, I reach out to Derek to vent and make sure that my emotions aren’t blurring my objectivity. He’s the TL Whisperer.
Adding Kris and Derek weren’t the only additions we made in 2012. There were a couple others, one of which could have been costly. I thought we’d have time to get to that near organizational dagger, but we’ll hold that back for Chapter 14.
Derek Arnold contributed to Chapter 13
(Next up, that aforementioned dagger and the Ravens come “name” calling, yet again…)
One Response
And, the remarkable beat goes on…….