It's not about clicks... it's about making the audience happy. It's not about being robots over here. It's letting you feel the emotion about what we write and we try our best to present it differently and originally to all of you, every day, every way... all the time. That's it... that's why we're here.
It didn't start that way. I mean, it started with me screaming at the TV because they Yankees lost and Joe Girardi was 'bindering the crap' out of the Yankee relief. We lost, and BYB was born. (Read WHY LAST NIGHT WAS IMPORTANT).
We don't just write about the New York Yankees anymore. We write about baseball in general. We write about what we're thinking about. If there's a confrontation, opinion or decision about something... we tell you why we like it or don't like it. Not only that, we don't all toe the same line. Some of us LOVE Mark Teixeira. Others think maybe his time is up. Is that wrong? Nope. Do we all still get along at BYB? Yup.
We won't ignore life stories. We never have. All the other blogs? They will. That's because we're BYB. I personally wrote about Tanner Huddleston in SENDING PRAYERS TO THE BIGGEST YANKEE FAN EVER! because his story and struggle was important for people to know about. That God for good friends in Marci and Ty Hensley for bringing that story to life here at BYB.
Dan Lucia threw all his emotion into WHAT KEEPS ME GOING, a story about his cousin Michael. When Dan told me his story, it was crystal clear to me, there was no need to ignore something like that in my editorial process. It's a definite story that needs to be told. No question... no worry. "Do it!", I said.
We're written about Shane Varga here. Another cancer victim who fought all the way back. Read THE FIGHTER, a story about a man and his support system family that never thought of death as an option. As Shane said to us in our interview with him "I don't have the option to be negative. With negativity comes weakness and my body will always be in a fight to survive. I can't let my guard down. To sum this all up for you; I refuse to die. I want to live for my family, and now especially for my son. I won’t put them through that."
We celebrate Jack DiSalvo here, a former coach who's name now lives on in Hawthorne, New Jersey because he was so inspirational and motivational to the kids he coached. Despite losing his life... his name is now a Scholarship and run through his son Brian. (Read STRIVE TO COACH THE JACK DISALVO WAY!)
And so in a nutshell, what other blogs would every write about guys like these? None of them. That's what makes BYB different. We serve you with Yankee news. We try to make you laugh and think about strategy and the handling of a bullpen. But we all live our lives differently and when something important comes down the pike, we refuse to ignore it. Look, our writers have developed into pretty significant voices in the blog world. That's because they work at this every day. If they have an important story, it's got to be shared.
We care about our audience and what we present. That's because you all support us and have since we arrived in 2010. That's why I put together unique merchandise for you all. You asked to shirts, you asked for tank tops, for sports performance clothes, underwear and we made them for you.
Do you know how cute it is to see kids and babies wearing our stuff?
These new shirts are selling pretty well. That's because they aren't cotton, but instead, a Dri-fit type material that, in a workout, or hanging watching a ball game, they won't sweat your pits off!
And of course, the ever popular BYB T-shirt is getting a lot of play this year. Someone told me to put my name on the back and we'll sell a few. While we're not making a HUGE dent in sales, I hope you all understand that my hearts in this, and we did it because we dare to be different, and dare to share our BYB product with all of you.
You can buy all of those products HERE. Just click and go. Our products are top quality and all prices are reduced!
What's my point to all of this? Life. Life's valuable and every single thing you do determines your path. I'm not about to get all God on you, that's not the purpose of this. I am here to tell you that BYB will never shy away from the hard times and glorious times of peoples lives, and if that means we celebrate an achievement in one my writers lives or we talk about the fight of someone that is close to us, that will never EVER be overshadowed by a Yankee score or home run.
That's because ultimately it's about the struggle within each of us and our families and how we operate day to day, week to week.
I have personally got to know all of you in some capacity over the years. I like many of you. I like what my writers present every day and I adore watching their children grow up and achieve great things too. Values are important and I surrounded myself with pretty wonderful people. We've had babies here, we've watched our kids hit home runs in their little league games, and we've seen family members fight disease and rise above the hardships of life. And in a nutshell.... that's what's most important to me. Yes, the Yankees winning every game and going to the World Series is amazing.
I'm a fan, I always will be. But if a guy like Tanner or cousin Michael is fighting to survive and they put on their best game face and give every ounce of life... I want every single one of you to know about it, to support it and to fight with them. Even if you don't know them. Ultimately I want you to feel our emotion and feel like you you've known them for years!
I was personally touched by Dan Lucia's story about his cousin yesterday. It effected me the way it did when I met Shane Varga a few years ago. You just want to grab the guy and his family and tell them you can fix it, even if you're not sure how. It's the emotion of that, that really has catapulted BYB to the forefront. It's what makes what we do here so different, so important, that on the days I get frustrated and want to pack up because I writers block... I stop and think differently and write something like this.
BYB is now a movement. BYB is different than any other blog out there. And we're damn proud of that. More importantly... we're damn proud to serve you and we're very proud to tell the stories of all of these people who fight for themselves and their families every single day. It's not always about a Yankee win folks. Sometimes it's about life wins.
Happy Sunday. Never lose hope. Never lose fight... always love each other. I really hope you read this post today and share it. That's very important to me.
I leave you with this inspiring tweet from Lisa Varga, Shane sister and my friend:
Always be kind to everyone. Even if you think they don't deserve it 💕 You never know what's going on in someone's life. #Love #Kindness— Lisa Varga (@TheLisaVarga) May 15, 2016
- Robert Casey, Founder & Chief of BleedingYankeeBlue.com
Twitter: @BleednYankeeBlu
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