BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
A weekly look at what’s new, what’s coming on our site …
• Please join Josh Yohe and me in welcoming Matt Gajtka to our full-time reporting staff, our second major hire since the site’s launch last July.
Matt, who already had been part of our family of contributors with his terrific coverage of the Riverhounds, will wear many hats as a staffer, and that’s part of what makes his hire so perfect for us at this stage of our continuing growth. His primary challenge — and I use the term advisedly — will be to oversee our new college network, which I’ll describe in a bit. But he’ll also write a weekly statistical analysis, with the sports varying, under a title we’re still trying to concoct. (I’m pretty sure he’ll reject my suggestion of ‘Gajtka’s Geekery.’) And beyond that, he’ll be involved with our regular coverage, including the pro teams.
Beyond all that, Matt just gets it. From the moment this site launched, I could tell he understood, inside and out, what I hoped to achieve here, from the tell-people-what-they-don’t-already-know nature of the coverage to interacting with our audience as no one else does (or wants to), and I’ve appreciated that almost as much as his actual contributions.
Trust me when I tell you the site just became a whole lot stronger, my friends.
• OK, to the college coverage: After meeting Friday, Josh, Matt and I came up with the following list: Pitt football and basketball, Penn State football, West Virginia football, Duquesne basketball and Robert Morris basketball and hockey.
We’re also planning a weekly notebook rounding up each of those schools’ sports, with a school assigned to each weekday. That will allow us not only to expand beyond games but also to expand into other sports, most notably women’s sports.
I’ll do most of the Pitt football and basketball myself, as I did when I was the only one here last season. I’ve made no secret of enjoying covering both. Josh will be involved, too. We’ll also be building a network of talent, some established pros, some up-and-comers who will try harder than any of us, to help readers feel like they’re right on campus.
I’m going to be blunt with you: I had no interest in doing colleges if we were going to do them half-arsed. It’s not in the personality. It was going to be all or nothing.
Here’s hoping we can deliver.
• On that note, Father’s Day is June 21, just a few days off. SO PLEASE BUY THESE …
Photo-illustration — DALI KOVACEVIC
No, seriously, we’re expecting Father’s Day to be a big thing for us, given all the father-son relationships forged in Pittsburgh sports, so we’ve customized our gift subscriptions page in style.
If you’re interested, just go to the page, fill out the form as you would with any gift subscription, and be sure to select the best possible ‘Desired activation date’ for your situation. If you want us to inform your recipient on Father’s Day itself, just choose June 21. From there, feel free to print out our customized Father’s Day card you’ll find linked on that same page. Print it out yourself and attach any message you’d like.
• Our one-year anniversary Lunatic Bash will be July 18 at Highmark Stadium. Any subscriber attending gets two free tickets to that night’s match between the Riverhounds and Louisville City FC. More details as we get closer. And no, it’s not limited to those with Lunatic Level — or three-year — subscriptions. All subscribers are appreciated and welcome.
• We never stop selling standard gift subscriptions. Click the box below for all options:
• If you are an active-duty military member or a veteran — or if you know one — let it be known that subscriptions to this site are free. Click the box below:
As a reminder: We take care of all active-duty military and always will. Our veteran subscriptions are funded by donations. Click the same box if you’d like to contribute.
• Our merchandise shop now has clothing, mugs, mousepads, flash drives and more:
• If you haven’t downloaded yet, here is our app for iPhone/iPad. And the app for Android. Overall app count: 9,030 active downloads from Apple, 3,379 from Android.
• As of this writing at 11 p.m. Friday, we’re at 12,195 paid subscriptions. We’re 10 1/2 months old. Our goal for the first full year — 10,000 — was topped in early April.
• If you can’t figure out something related to our site or app, please check our Support and App Support pages. About 99 percent of the questions we get can be answered right there. But if your issue isn’t there, email [email protected]
• Thank you, as always, for reading and for your support.
Matt Gajtka, born in Pittsburgh, raised in Weirton, W.Va., now makes his home in Bellevue. And here.
June 13, 2015
Saturday site stuff: Welcome, Matt Gajtka
by Dejan Kovacevic • Site stuff • Saturday site stuff
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
A weekly look at what’s new, what’s coming on our site …
• Please join Josh Yohe and me in welcoming Matt Gajtka to our full-time reporting staff, our second major hire since the site’s launch last July.
Matt, who already had been part of our family of contributors with his terrific coverage of the Riverhounds, will wear many hats as a staffer, and that’s part of what makes his hire so perfect for us at this stage of our continuing growth. His primary challenge — and I use the term advisedly — will be to oversee our new college network, which I’ll describe in a bit. But he’ll also write a weekly statistical analysis, with the sports varying, under a title we’re still trying to concoct. (I’m pretty sure he’ll reject my suggestion of ‘Gajtka’s Geekery.’) And beyond that, he’ll be involved with our regular coverage, including the pro teams.
Beyond all that, Matt just gets it. From the moment this site launched, I could tell he understood, inside and out, what I hoped to achieve here, from the tell-people-what-they-don’t-already-know nature of the coverage to interacting with our audience as no one else does (or wants to), and I’ve appreciated that almost as much as his actual contributions.
Trust me when I tell you the site just became a whole lot stronger, my friends.
• OK, to the college coverage: After meeting Friday, Josh, Matt and I came up with the following list: Pitt football and basketball, Penn State football, West Virginia football, Duquesne basketball and Robert Morris basketball and hockey.
We’re also planning a weekly notebook rounding up each of those schools’ sports, with a school assigned to each weekday. That will allow us not only to expand beyond games but also to expand into other sports, most notably women’s sports.
I’ll do most of the Pitt football and basketball myself, as I did when I was the only one here last season. I’ve made no secret of enjoying covering both. Josh will be involved, too. We’ll also be building a network of talent, some established pros, some up-and-comers who will try harder than any of us, to help readers feel like they’re right on campus.
I’m going to be blunt with you: I had no interest in doing colleges if we were going to do them half-arsed. It’s not in the personality. It was going to be all or nothing.
Here’s hoping we can deliver.
• On that note, Father’s Day is June 21, just a few days off. SO PLEASE BUY THESE …
Photo-illustration — DALI KOVACEVIC
No, seriously, we’re expecting Father’s Day to be a big thing for us, given all the father-son relationships forged in Pittsburgh sports, so we’ve customized our gift subscriptions page in style.
If you’re interested, just go to the page, fill out the form as you would with any gift subscription, and be sure to select the best possible ‘Desired activation date’ for your situation. If you want us to inform your recipient on Father’s Day itself, just choose June 21. From there, feel free to print out our customized Father’s Day card you’ll find linked on that same page. Print it out yourself and attach any message you’d like.
• Our one-year anniversary Lunatic Bash will be July 18 at Highmark Stadium. Any subscriber attending gets two free tickets to that night’s match between the Riverhounds and Louisville City FC. More details as we get closer. And no, it’s not limited to those with Lunatic Level — or three-year — subscriptions. All subscribers are appreciated and welcome.
• We never stop selling standard gift subscriptions. Click the box below for all options:
• If you are an active-duty military member or a veteran — or if you know one — let it be known that subscriptions to this site are free. Click the box below:
As a reminder: We take care of all active-duty military and always will. Our veteran subscriptions are funded by donations. Click the same box if you’d like to contribute.
• Our merchandise shop now has clothing, mugs, mousepads, flash drives and more:
• If you haven’t downloaded yet, here is our app for iPhone/iPad. And the app for Android. Overall app count: 9,030 active downloads from Apple, 3,379 from Android.
• As of this writing at 11 p.m. Friday, we’re at 12,195 paid subscriptions. We’re 10 1/2 months old. Our goal for the first full year — 10,000 — was topped in early April.
• If you can’t figure out something related to our site or app, please check our Support and App Support pages. About 99 percent of the questions we get can be answered right there. But if your issue isn’t there, email [email protected]
• Thank you, as always, for reading and for your support.