Gobbler Country looking to hire new Manager
Woah, I knew those guys kicked the hornet's nest a little bit with that ECU article a couple weeks ago, but it appears that it might have ended up costing them all their jobs. The article, while still there if you really dig to find it, has been absolutely buried in the timeline, has had comments closed for a while, and it appears that none of the guys who were in charge of allowing that to print haven't posted any comment on the site in over a week. And now one of the overall heads of SB Nation is openly advertising that they are looking to hire someone else to run the site.
Crazy stuff, but I would have to say justifiable for the way they made the fanbase look as a whole. Just have to say, seeing crap like that makes me really appreciate the quality of a community that Joe & Co are dedicated to creating here at TKP.
Comments
from the gobbler country manager job listing:
i'm sorry, i didn't realize The Key Play was hiring...
That's sort of like the ECU QB saying he expects to win against VT.
Except without the tools to make it happen.
Assuming this is the article in question ("What Rivalry?"), it seems to have been removed, or at least I'm getting a 404 on it. Still appears in the archives list for now, but probably not for long.
Also, is anyone here considering applying? I don't know how these things work, but if a TKPer took over Gobbler Country I'd imagine that could lead to cross-promotion opportunities, and it might help curate the online reputation of Hokie Nation, as most of the contributors here seem to have a much better grasp on etiquette than the previous head honchos over there.
Wow, it really is 404'ing right now. Crazy stuff. It was still there when I posted this thread not too long ago.
I'm curious to know which article it was. Now I'd like to read it.
I guess this is how they do marketing on SBNation.
EDIT:
Thanks to the magic of google caching everything...
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:R3N-mOqDKwoJ:www.go...
Are we sure this is the one? Someone check me...
It's a pile of crap, you've been warned.
Because the Internet is forever:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Awww.gobblercountr...
Yup, got it. I was expecting more verbal fireworks but it certainly wasn't nice.
I didn't get to read it. What was the gist?
Basically that it was beneath VT to play scrubs from ECU.
It was very insulting towards ECU in a very non-funny manner. I don't know if the poster was trying to be funny... but he failed miserably.
"Look at me be an asshat!"
Oh, and I forgot the part where an alleged VT fan called us the Chokies...
I know it's taboo for many, but there a ton of hokie fans that use that term.. Tends to be the more long term ones, since they have experienced a lot of that, but still widely used.
Honestly not sure why it's so bad, expresses an action (which tends to happen).
Because this:
Really? Why would you use a derogatory term for your own team?
I don't get it.
self deprecating humor? levity maybe? i don't know why he used it but i know why i use it. it's a reputation (maybe even a stereotype) that we've rightly earned and it's applicable more times than it should be. it might be taboo to some but not to me (and every one of my hokie friends) and it doesn't make me any less of a diehard hokie fan.
i might be alone here but i'm not sure i understand the level of angst over the GC post. it wasn't crafted in the same creativity (light hearted spirt) as the TKP Foe-Rensics posts but i think that's what they were going for. it wasn't as bad as some people are making it out to be.
Personally, I think the post was moderately bad, but the comments from the "managing editor" were the worst. He was an asshole to anyone that commented saying it was offensive in any way, especially to ECU fans. He belittled the original creator of the site and has since deleted his comments.
i did not read any comments so i'll take your word that he was hostile. no place for that from a manager.
there is some nasty stuff that goes back and forth between schools and to me, this was a ho-hum article in the grand scheme of things. i know we're not "other" schools but still, we're not nebraska either. :-)
He literally was telling people they were idiots, he was right, and his proof was GC readership was up. He even called TKP a home for Homers and softies.
Ask Dan Snyder. Zing!
Because your pissed that we blew a game on a national stage thr we should have won, UGA, Kansas. Our bowl record is horrible. When we fuel good teams we would get to a big bowl game and just come out flat and play nothing like we did the entire season.
Edit: always hate when I hear the term though I fully understand it
Three down votes for explaining why I believe the term is used???
yeah i thought you were calling the team pussies. have an offsetting upvote from me too
edit: removed picture
edit2: i didn't downvote you, though it kind of sounds like that from what i wrote
Well originally you said "Because your pusses." Now that you fixed it, I upvoted just to even it out.
Autocorrect a lot of times focuses on words you use a lot. Seems he writes about pusses a lot, hmmm...
Can't deny it!
It's the same reason why I can call my brother an asshole, but if you call him an asshole I'll fight you.
By way of example, back in '92 (my freshman year) the school actually had two newspapers. The CT was the main one, and while I don't remember the name of the second, much smaller paper, I'll never forget the spoof they did on the Old Hokie cheer; as I recall, it went like this:
Chokie chokie chokie, die!
Tech Tech VPI!
Up by 20 lose by 10!
Will we ever win again?!
Now before you go crazy downvoting me, remember that (a) I didn't come up with it, and (b) it was well-earned. That team found some infuriating ways to lose games on their way to 2-8-1. The only wins were against JMU & Temple, and the lowlights included:
ECU: Up 24-16, lost 30-27
UL: Up 14-3, lost 21-17 (god I hate loserville)
NCSU: UP 13-10 with a minute to go, game ended in a tie, 13-13
RU: Up 28-7, and later 42-23, and still lost 50-49
SoMiss: Led 12-3 late in the 3rd, lost 13-12
loluva: led 7-3, lost 41-38, and it wasn't that close.
The good news is that the next year the team went 8-3 to earn a trip to the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, where we beat IU to finish 9-3. And not only have we been bowling ever since, we're 17-4 against the hoovers during that stretch.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand, my friends and I have referred to us as the cHokies any time we give one away, dating back to that '92 season. But it's like Duffman explained, it's one thing if I say it but if some dbag from loluva starts yapping then it's game on!
Ah yes, that season was one of the 55 minute team. Too many leads squandered in the second half. The NC State one was particularly frustration, squibbing the kickoff (similar to kicking it oob against ECU this year.) Thankfully we have grown past that, and OUR freshman year was the last time we have to be bowl-less for many years to come.
For the purpose of seeming less negative and adolescently hormonal about Hokie losses, I much prefer the names:
-Heartbreak Hokies
-Heartattack Hokies (don't we always play close games, regardless the percieved caliber of opponent?)
Thanks for filling me in. Sounds like they got what was coming to them.
I used to spend a good amount of time there, until furrer4heisman called it quits. Good thing for TKP!
I gave them a whirl after I quit TSL. At the time ('11 season) there just wasn't enough community participation for what I was looking for, I do remember French posting blog entries over there though. I then came across some site where the article at the top of the page was titled something along the lines of "Damnit, every time Logan Thomas trucks somebody I'm giffing it." That site was TheKeyPlay.com, and I never looked back.
I did peek in at GC in the lead up to this season when my football fever is the worst and saw a lot of negativity in the stories and comments. The negativity from the commenters was being encouraged and egged on by the mods, including what I took as thinly veiled swipes at TKP. I was not surprised when the article came out and I guess karma's a bitch.
I do like the title they put with their TD gif: "Michael Brewer is some kind of sorcerer."
Maybe that place can actually write a decent piece now.
I guess GC went downhill, but it was never bad when i used to frequent it (before i found TKP)
Normally I'd jump at the opportunity to take the job, but I don't possess near the inside knowledge as the writers here do (the x's and o's)
Hopefully someone decent takes the spot and I can admire from afar.
also: KYLE FULLER DOING FULLER THINGS AGAIN TONIGHT
They've been advertising that job for about a week now. I guess nobody wants it.
It does have one guy interested in it. The only comment on that page is from this guy:
STREAKING THE LAWN
Funny comment in that article by the guy who runs the UVA blog:
"Am I eligible? I am interested in taking Gobbler Country in a slightly different direction."
Are they looking at TKP as the model?
Now, see, I'm curious about how all this could work.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Joe & Co. know the TSL guys. If a TKP/TSL-friendly operator were set up at Gobbler Country, then the trio could literally control the flow of information and the direction of the dialog amongst the fans of Hokie Country. Full blown media domination!
Of course, that'd be a crappy thing to do. But it could be nice if our media/social outlets were operating under the same spirit.
I don't know the TSL guys. I met Will for the first time at a bar in Columbus and bought him a couple of bourbons. He's a nice guy who works hard. I've met Ivan Morozov (TSL's photog a few times) a couple of times.
I'll be blunt, I have no real interest in helping Gobbler Country get on its feet, or controlling information flow. My focus is on making this website the best it can be. SB Nation has plenty of talented writers, resources, money (http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/vox-media) and SEO game they can devote to their cause.
Ivan is a great American.
So am I to take it that you wouldn't accept it if one of us were to become the editor of GC and siphoned off the SBNation money to TKP?
was he sober?
Ivan is awesome. I absolutely love his annual wall calendars. Which reminds me that I need yto order mine for 2015.
It could work like this:
Shouldn't that thing be on a treadmill?
You two guys...I'm at a high-school-girl-level of 'can't even'...
Heather? Is that you?
I actually disagree...
As much as the information that gets put on here is truly awesome, and the community on here likely won't be topped for a long time, I actually enjoy reading from multiple perspectives about the same stories. TSL has their take, TKP has their take, and GC has theirs. Reading all 3 should give you a good sense on where the mindset of the VT community is as a whole.
What has bothered me the most about GC in recent times has been their overwhelmingly negative viewpoint on anything VT related. If there was a possible negative slant, GC would take that viewpoint and drive it into the ground. I'm still disgusted on how they basically spent a month after the Buzz Williams hire with a not so veiled character assassination attempt trying to convince anyone who would listen about how terrible a hire it was and how it was ruining our wonderful basketball program.
I don't care who takes over and runs that place. I just hope that its done so by someone level headed enough to put out good quality.
Fair enough. I'm looking for TOTAL MEDIA DOMINATION. You know, like the Big Ten has. NW'ern, OSU, and Michigan grads seem to be all over the TV.
I'll play devil's advocate a little, though: If TSL and TKP provide level-headed insights, then wouldn't GC's negativity offer the dissenting perspective?
Speaking of: How do we make sure that someone at Gameday waves a VT flag in the background - like the dudes for Washington State?
Washington State Alumni Take Pride In College Gameday Flag Tradition
TKP map?
You're onto something nerf! Whoa - what if we had someone on TKP make a TKP flag and wave it at each tailgate?
Legs, legs, and legs.
Let's make this happen.
(I was thinking of using TKP map to locate people near the Gameday site to get them to wave the flag...)
But, Yes, a TKP flag at tailgates would be sweet also!
I said it before and I'll say it again. I expect the next move from TKP to be an online sports network. Joe, make that happen.
actually, I used to have a TSL subscription and used to go to GC and virginiatechfan.com but in the end I just don't have the time anymore. the growth TKP made this season with Alex, Mark, Brian and the others contributing so much content and the TKP community insight/inside info (#sources) is just staggering. I can barely keep up most days now, and that's a good thing.
It's not just GC, either. Other sites on SBNation seem to do the same.