Hey everyone… for the last time.
What a ride this has been! About an year ago, on January 6, 2003, to be more specific, we started a new section here at TheBalrogsLair.com, called News & Analysis. The idea behind it was simple — reflect the latest in wrestling, and provide you with the views of a simple guy towards the wrestling product and the weekly WWE shows. Whether I accomplished that or not is up for you to decide, but for those of you who kept coming back, and for those of you who spent the time to write e-mails, I thank you very much.
You see, after one year, I think it’s time to move on. Better yet, move forward. It was a lot of fun doing this section, and it was a hell of a lot of fun talking to all my readers and hearing your opinions or how you felt on a certain wrestling topic through your e-mails. I’ve been here at this site for a very long time now. I started out with a column, then moved forward to writing these reports. It seemed that whenever I had a commentary piece for you to write though, you enjoyed it. I’ve never gotten so much feedback like I did on my several commentaries. (Funny enough, all of them based on Triple H.)
At any rate… It was fun. It was worth spending the time each week to write those up. I enjoyed it, and I really loved what I was doing. That’s what drove me to start N & A. That’s what made me sit in front of this computer in the past one year and “talk to you.” It was that passion for writing, that desire for wrestling, and that great communication with other fans like myself out there. I have to say that at the moment, that’s just not there. There’s a lot of reasons as to why, but I’m not going to bore you with that. I don’t want this column to be taken the wrong way. I’m not stopping because I hate wrestling, or because “it turned its back” on me, or telling you there’s something better to do in the real world. None of that bullshit.
What happens from here on? I can’t tell you that. I will probably remain at TBL, I don’t know. I have an idea about the future, but it’s not up to me if that will come true, so it doesn’t really depend on me, but it depends on other people. The best I can tell you is that after one year and a half at TBL, I see no reason to leave. But for the time being, as far as my status at the site goes and how I feel about certain things, the best thing to do is end N & A. Besides that, I just feel that after one year, the section lost the spark it once had. I want my writing to be good and for you to enjoy it, and I hope that in the future you will still be looking forward to articles written by me.
There’s several people I’d like to thank that made this section possible. I’d like to thank Martin Hawrysko, who had a lot to do with the creation of this section, and the idea behind it. Of course, I’d like to thank Joe Balrog as well, the owner of this site who allowed for the section to happen. Worked out for him too, I hope. I’d like to thank Trevor Hunnicutt, for providing me the best wrestling arguments, and conversations online, and always commenting on my writing, and what the section was all about. If there was really one person I’d have to single out who’s helped me the most to find myself as a writer and decide on what’s best for this section, that’d be Trevor. I thank you very much buddy. I’d like to thank all the people that I got to work with in the past, and of course the current people that work on TBL. Roland G., for his “rage” and for all of those plugs that he somehow always managed to keep fresh and new by adding a spice each week. I’d like to thank Chris Vining, who has a very interesting wrestling ideology and way of thinking, one that I’m still getting accustomed to and have learned to enjoy very much. Of course, I’d also like to thank Shawn Stinson, who’s been around for a while, and Rico Sparko, who managed to keep things fresh with his columns. On the non-TBL front, I’d like to thank Mike Valente, my ABW Radio colleague who has allowed for me to find a whole new side as far as wrestling conversations go. And last, but not least, I’d like to thank the most important people out there — you, the readers. You were the ones who made this section what it is, because it was your e-mails, your Instant Messages, and your support that made me want to go on and live through all the crap I’ve had to deal with, whether it was server problems, or personal problems. You’ve shown a lot of respect and appreciation, and I thank you very much.
I apologize for never being able to get Part 2 of my 2003 Recap up. You can check out ABW Radio for a full recap of the year, and our own awards of that topic. I’ll catch you all later, I hope this is not the last you hear from me, the writer who’s been on this site the longest from the current writers. It’s been one hell of a ride.
After one year and 80-something reports, I say goodbye. Have a good one.
Thanks for reading. See ya.
