Twelve years ago, the William & Mary Sports Blog started in a Ludwell dorm room. Yes, Ludwell. We are as sorry about that as you are.
Two brothers, one laptop, zero website coding experience (thanks, WordPress!), and a shared belief that William & Mary Athletics deserved a little more ink than it was getting on the internet. That was the whole plan. The Blog went up in 2014, and we started writing about the things we cared about: Tribe football and men’s basketball, mostly, because those were the sports that got us hooked in the first place.
Twelve years later, a lot has changed. We’ve grown into alumni features, historical deep-dives, and the occasional opinion piece that a few of you had strong feelings about (we saw the comments). We’ve covered CAA titles and near-misses, coaching changes, AD changes, conference realignment, and most recently the football program’s move to the Patriot League. We’ve chronicled Saturdays at Zable, tip-offs at Kaplan, and plenty of moments in between. We know our women’s sports coverage still has room to grow, and that is one of the things we are actively working on.
Along the way, a group of passionate volunteers, fellow alumni, current students, and Tribe fans stepped up to help carry the load. That crew is the reason this Blog sounds more like a community today than a brothers’ side project. They have made it better than it has any right to be. Especially you, Collin Anderson! Everyone else, you know who you are.
We also want to take a moment to recognize the tremendous staff of William & Mary Athletics. The coaches, administrators, communications and media relations folks, and everyone behind the scenes who keep the Tribe machine running year-round. Long-time voices like Jay Colley, Kris Sears, and Pete Clawson, and so many others, are the reason fans like us get to follow our beloved Tribe the way we do. Their work is the foundation. We are just lucky to write about what they help make possible.
Some context on where we are right now. We are posting less than we used to. That is not a secret and it is not an accident. The two of us are now well into our decade-plus run as alums, with careers, families, and schedules that look nothing like the ones we had in 2014. What has not changed is the love for alma mater or the commitment to keeping this thing going in a way we are proud of.
A few things on the horizon worth mentioning. We are exploring the idea of formal student internship positions through the College, a way to bring current students into the Blog in a more structured way, give them real portfolio-worthy experience, and keep the coverage fresh with voices actually on campus. We are also experimenting with AI as a tool to help us do more, faster, without losing the voice and care that have defined this Blog from the start.
Twelve years in, we are still figuring it out. That feels about right for a project that started in a tiny Ludwell dorm room with no plan.
To everyone who has read, shared, commented, emailed, argued with us, and kept coming back, thank you. A credentialed media outlet, 500,000 lifetime views, thousands of followers, and millions of social impressions are numbers we never imagined when this started. They belong to you as much as they do to us.
Here’s to 12 years. Here’s to what comes next.
Go Tribe.
The William & Mary Sports Blog 