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It brings me...us...great pleasure to announce a few new additions to the Turf Show Times staff mafia family. Please join us in welcoming a trio of writers whose passion for the sport - and the St. Louis Rams - is unrivaled.
Without further ado...[a few guys who probably need no introduction]
Welcome to TST, Will Horton [TST user taiko, @RamsHerd], Tim Shields [TST user Shields3L, @Shields3L], and Nathan Kearns [TST user Nathan Kearns, @nkearns12]! Will and Tim join us from RamsHerd, and Nathan from Ramblin' Fan.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better, more knowledgeable bunch.
@TurfShowTimes @NoPlanB_ @RamsHerd @Shields3L @nkearns12 That's a whole lot of good insight in one swoop. Good stuff, guys.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) March 11, 2015
See?
This site will only get better as a result of their contributions. Looking forward to [continued] learning from each of them.
Here's a bit about each of them.
Will
When I moved to St Louis from southwest Florida, there was no football, and it was bad. Worse, even, than being a Bucs fan. Five long and joyless years passed before the Rams arrived. Suddenly the world was filled with color and its Sundays were filled with football, glorious football. That the Rams were bad then was never an obstacle. I love analysis and problem-solving, and if nothing else a bad football team provides ample opportunity for both.
I started my Rams blogging career here in the fan post section of Turf Show Times, writing as taiko, but quickly spun out my own site at RamsHerd.com as part of the now-defunct FanBall network in the summer of 2009. After five years of infographics, long-form pieces and excellent contributions from fellow writers under that banner, it is good to come back to the mothership and join the best Rams coverage team there is.
Tim
Tim is a St. Louis native and became a Rams fan upon their arrival to the city. He took a much bigger interest in the team with the arrival of Dick Vermeil. He got to be a ballboy at training camp during Vermeil's first season. He also got to be on the sidelines during the 99 season. (He was the husky 12-year old serving Kurt Warner water and vying for time on TV. The GSOT era really sparked his passion for football. He became an all-conference left tackle in college. Afterwards, he worked for an NFL agent and then for an NFL financial advisor before finally settling into a career of coaching. Next fall will be his 4th season coaching at the college level. Being a Rams remains as the one terrible habit he cannot shake.
Nathan
Born in Lexington, Kentucky, I was deprived during my early-childhood of any professional sports, limiting (if you want to call it that) my fandom to the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Fell in love with the St. Louis Rams in the late 90's, growing in that passion through the ups and down of the past two decades. In high school, I wore the number 81 in honor of Torry "Big Game" Holt. Spent my 21st birthday in Seattle on the 50 yard line of the Seahawks-Rams game at the end of Bradford's rookie season *tear*. Graduated from John Carroll University in 2012, the alma mater of our beloved London Fletcher and the great Don Shula. Favorite St. Louis Rams' players are/were Torry Holt, Kyle Turley (shortlived), and, of course, Steven Jackson. Was editor of Ramblin' Fan for nearly three years. Have contributed at Sports Illustrated, Athlon Sports, Yahoo, and FanSided.
Welcome aboard, fellas.