A changing of the guard at TST

I get asked a lot how Turf Show Times got started. There wasn't a trigger, some incident that said this had to happen. As a St. Louis Rams fan, I was deeply unsatisfied with coverage of the team I was getting. That's kind of the story of our network. Newspapers and sports talk radio weren't cutting it serving up the same old reactions from the locker room and batting around the same hot takes. An email to Tyler, some experience blogging and a recommendation from Larry at Viva El Birdos, and TST was born. That was 2006. And here we are, getting ready to start our ninth season covering the Rams.

But this season is going to be a little different than in the past, better.

3k is taking over as the head honcho here, the site manager and EIC. I'm stepping down, or back at least. My role as NFL editor at SB Nation is growing and, as you may have noticed, NFL coverage NEVER EVER STOPS. I just don't have the time to dedicate to the depth and scope of coverage our loyal readers and Rams fans deserve.

As you've noticed, TST is off to a great start to the season, a much better start to the season than the Rams. 3k and the excellent team of authors and contributors here are going to make this place into something special. I wouldn't be able to walk away if I wasn't 100 percent positive that was true.

You'll still my byline at TST, because I'm still a fan (for some reason, in spite of a team that just can't ever seem to get it's act together on the field).

I'm proud of the work we've done here at TST. Rams coverage is exponentially better because of us. Fans of this team are more engaged and more connected to each other because of us. And the Rams, despite that inability to field a winning team, are still a much more fan-friendly organization, in part, because of us. As much as I like looking at those traffic reports for the site, those things listed above are our most important accomplishments. I've also made some friends along the way, including 3k, whose been around here since damn near the beginning too (and a couple tours in Iraq).

So please join me in congratulating 3k and the other contributors here. They're work has been fantastic. We deserve to see a lot more of it, and now we'll get that chance.