When Tweed Thornton gave me a call 10 years ago and said that I was going to go from community member and commenter to active contributor, I never would have pictured becoming Managing Editor of Hot Time in Old Town. I was a fresh-faced 20-year-old coming off my second year at the University of Missouri who liked talking and writing about soccer, but really no one to share that passion with. But With Hot Time, I had that outlet.
I took to writing and reporting on the club with relish, and even in some of the years I wasn’t around on the site all that much; I went back to school in 2016, I still maintained my connection through the Hot Time twitter, where to this day I live-tweet Fire games for both your and my entertainment. For the last several years I’ve been more involved and so with Patrick leaving last weekend, I find myself in charge of one of the oldest blogs covering soccer that’s still standing.
I wouldn’t be here without the help of everyone who came before me. From Tweed to Ryan Sealock and James Coston, Jeff Engelhart, Sean Spence, Bridget Gordan, and Patrick McCraney, I wouldn’t be here without all that you’ve taught me. Thank you to every single person who’s ever written for the site. I have inherited a beautiful legacy and hope to add to it.
With that out of the way, my vision for the site is simple. I want this place to be a blog where we can come together to learn about the game— its past, present, and future. I want it to be where you can click on anything written and come away with new insight, or ideas about the way the game can and could be played.
That being said, for now, not much is going to change about the content aside from the loss of Patrick’s excellent features which are moving along with him. That never has been nor ever will be something I’m good at, and I’m not even planning to try. As I settle in, I’m going to try to make game-day coverage the same or better than it has. All of that stuff is going to remain except maybe the Quick & Dirty Recap. Let me know in the comments if you think it should stay or go. As for other stuff, that’s a work in progress that will be ironed out over the course of the next weeks and months. Let us know what you want us to cover or talk about.
The next thing I want to acknowledge is that Our coverage of the Chicago Red Stars has been woefully lacking. We are actively looking for someone to cover the team, and If you want to write about them, or anything else in Chicago Soccer, The House, RWB Adria, Edgewater Castle, whatever. Email a profile and writing sample to hottimecontributors@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you and hearing your thoughts and brilliant ideas.
So that’s it. The first mate has finally become the captain and I couldn’t be happier or more nervous. Let’s do this, and go Fire and Red Stars.