I’m going to keep this short and sweet, because the site’s been up for a few days now, and Ryan and I have been making changes to its design. Plus, if you’ve been following me during my days over at Alligator Army, you know I’ve been promoting the site for a week already, and I promise, this is the last time I’m going to do it. Self promotion only lasts so long, and trust me, after this, good, quality writing will take over.
But having said that, I hereby officially say: WELCOME BACK! It’s been exactly a year and a half since my last post here, and at that point, the site was already being consumed by cancerous malware, so nobody was on here anyway. But I’m back, and although Ryan Moyer has agreed to stay on as admin, he is essentially stepping down as the site’s overlord due to having a real job. So while Ryan owns the domain, for all intents and purposes, this is my site.
Quick aside. Speaking of Ryan, let’s all give him a big hand here. He’s the one who created firesteveaddazio.com (aren’t we glad THAT’S all over) and the original IAKOW.com, he’s the one who gave me my writing start, and he’s the one who built the site back for me after I told him what I had in store.
For those of you who don’t know, this site is going to serve two purposes. First, it’s going to be a general Gator blog, much like Onlygators, Hail Florida Hail and Alligator Army (my last stop). Second, IAKOW will soon (hopefully) become a recruiting hub, featuring breaking recruiting news, as well as talking to high school recruits to help pitch the Florida Gator program to them. Those of you who were here for IAKOW’s first go-around remember my interviews with then high school seniors DJ Humphries, Colin Thompson, and Marcus Roberson. The goal is to get even more high school recruits to do interviews. However, I have grown up a lot since IAKOW was eaten up by malware. I am no longer the 17 year old high school senior with about a third of my free time to spend writing here. Now, I am a 19 year old college sophomore with far less available time to blog my thoughts on all things Gators, and that’s why I am looking for help. I am going to need at least one, and probably more, staff writers to help out when there’s breaking news and I can’t post it. Don’t be freaked out by the number one that I listed, because there’s really no cap to it. If I get applications from as many as 40 people, and they’re all good, then we’re going to have 41 staff writers here.
So tell your friends, tell them to tell their friends, etc. that I’m looking for people to help out. I’m looking for good, quality, and honest writing (all obvious), so if you’re interested, send me an email @Florida49Georgia10@verizon.net (yes, I am a bit nostalgic) simply letting me know you are interested in contributing to IAKOW and then with your writing sample below it. You can include pretty much anything you want in your sample article, except for the obvious no-nos (c word, n word, stuff like that. Yes, the last time IAKOW was up, some guy really did email me a sample article that wasn’t actually bad, but had both of those words and more in it. Just making sure there’s NO misunderstanding). We’re going to try to keep the site at a PG-13 level, both for staff writers (yes, including myself) and commenters as well. If you think what you said might cross the line, ask yourself if it would make it in a PG-13 movie or not.
Again; if you’re here, you’ve probably read me before. I’ve been around the block, from Bleacher Report to FireSteveAddazio/IAKOW 1.0, back to Bleacher Report, then to Alligator Army and finally back here. This is hopefully my final stop, as I may only be 19, and thus incredibly young to be running my own Gator site, but I do know what I’m doing from years of experience. And so I hope you will all tell your friends to come check me out, and if they’re interested in becoming a staff writer, shoot me an email with an audition article.
While neither Ryan nor I can be on IAKOW 24/7, there are other ways to contact us and interact with a huge Gator community. Join our facebook group here. It’s closed, but only so we don’t get a swarm of rival fan bases invading it. Send a request and I’ll accept you. Follow us on twitter: my personal account @IAKOWNeil, and the official group account @IAKOWeather, where we will be tweeting everything we post, from breaking news to our personal thoughts on anything.
Coverage of everything relating to the Florida Gators resumes tomorrow, beginning with my pre and post game thoughts on the football game against South Carolina tomorrow night at 7pm EST on ESPN2. It’s expected to be a rough go for the Gators, as the team is now down to its third string quarterback, Skyler Morninwheg, who has never taken a college snap. But in any case, we’re here to tell you all about it, no matter how ugly it might be. It’s great to be a Florida Gator, and in all kinds of weather, at that. Even in the darkest of days.
