The timing of this announcement is far less than ideal (the offseason would have been preferable), and I apologize that it is out of the blue. But I wanted to let everyone here know that I will be leaving my position as publisher of Cardinal Sports Report at the end of the month.
I will discuss the reasons for this decision momentarily. But I first wanted to extend my deepest thanks and sincere gratitude to everyone here for being so awesome to me over the years. Obviously the Andy Fund of last February was truly remarkable and very meaningful to me on many levels. But beyond that, the daily interaction with so many of you here and all of the kind words and support for my work over the years has meant more to me than you might know. Really just so appreciative of this community. I've said it before: This is not the biggest message board on the Rivals.com network (though we have of course grown substantially), but in my opinion there's not a board on our network - and I spend plenty of time cruising around the various Rivals sites - that comes close to the quality of discussion here. It just has truly been a pleasure for me to work on this site.
Which is why the decision to leave my role as publisher was so excruciatingly difficult. To be honest, this is not a move I expected to make at this point in my life. But it was one I felt needed to happen.
I have struggled with controlling my weight and maintaining my physical health for many years now, and it has recently become very clear to me that I need to make some drastic changes at this point in my life to address these challenges.
Later this month I will be moving to North Carolina to spend a number of months at a center dedicated to treatment of weight and health issues, which should be very helpful for me.
I did give some consideration to staying on with Cardinal Sports Report and trying to run the site remotely, but I ultimately felt I a) really needed to devote the bulk of my time and energy to getting a handle on my health in these next few months and b) the site would suffer without a publisher who has boots on the ground.
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At this time, I also want to introduce my successor as the publisher of Cardinal Sports Report. I'm really excited to let everyone know that Jacob Rayburn - who has contributed several women's basketball articles to this site and posted on these boards as "Jacob1989" (and has followed Cardinal recruiting and athletes for many years) will be taking the reigns. I think Jacob is going to be a perfect fit - he has a journalism background (we hired him from his current position as a preps reporter for the The Santa Maria Times/Lompoc Record) and a strong knowledge of and passion for covering Stanford Athletics.
Jacob's first day with Cardinal Sports Report will be this Saturday. He will be based in the Bay Area. The two of us will work together for the rest of the month before he takes full control of the site on Oct. 1.
Jacob is in the final few days of his employment with his current employer, but when he has a chance he will stop by with an official introduction. And then he will of course be on the boards frequently after he starts with us on Saturday.
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As for my participation on this site, my contractual relationship with Cardinal Sports Report will conclude at the end of September, but I will still be here on the boards, having fun chatting with everyone here and following Jacob's great work. Plus, Rivals has allowed me to stay in on a part-time capacity working as an editor for some of the content that our national team produces, so I'll still be around the company as well. I look forward to watching this community continue to grow and, of course, our ongoing discussions about Demetris Robertson, Josh Rosen and Tim Tawa.
If you have any questions about the next steps for Cardinal Sports Report or anything related to the post (or, heck, if you are in the Durham, North Carolina area and have any interest in meeting up for a game at some point), please feel free to send me a private message on the board or an email at AndyDrukarev@yahoo.com.
And thanks again to everyone here for all of the support over the last number of years.
-Andy
I will discuss the reasons for this decision momentarily. But I first wanted to extend my deepest thanks and sincere gratitude to everyone here for being so awesome to me over the years. Obviously the Andy Fund of last February was truly remarkable and very meaningful to me on many levels. But beyond that, the daily interaction with so many of you here and all of the kind words and support for my work over the years has meant more to me than you might know. Really just so appreciative of this community. I've said it before: This is not the biggest message board on the Rivals.com network (though we have of course grown substantially), but in my opinion there's not a board on our network - and I spend plenty of time cruising around the various Rivals sites - that comes close to the quality of discussion here. It just has truly been a pleasure for me to work on this site.
Which is why the decision to leave my role as publisher was so excruciatingly difficult. To be honest, this is not a move I expected to make at this point in my life. But it was one I felt needed to happen.
I have struggled with controlling my weight and maintaining my physical health for many years now, and it has recently become very clear to me that I need to make some drastic changes at this point in my life to address these challenges.
Later this month I will be moving to North Carolina to spend a number of months at a center dedicated to treatment of weight and health issues, which should be very helpful for me.
I did give some consideration to staying on with Cardinal Sports Report and trying to run the site remotely, but I ultimately felt I a) really needed to devote the bulk of my time and energy to getting a handle on my health in these next few months and b) the site would suffer without a publisher who has boots on the ground.
##########
At this time, I also want to introduce my successor as the publisher of Cardinal Sports Report. I'm really excited to let everyone know that Jacob Rayburn - who has contributed several women's basketball articles to this site and posted on these boards as "Jacob1989" (and has followed Cardinal recruiting and athletes for many years) will be taking the reigns. I think Jacob is going to be a perfect fit - he has a journalism background (we hired him from his current position as a preps reporter for the The Santa Maria Times/Lompoc Record) and a strong knowledge of and passion for covering Stanford Athletics.
Jacob's first day with Cardinal Sports Report will be this Saturday. He will be based in the Bay Area. The two of us will work together for the rest of the month before he takes full control of the site on Oct. 1.
Jacob is in the final few days of his employment with his current employer, but when he has a chance he will stop by with an official introduction. And then he will of course be on the boards frequently after he starts with us on Saturday.
########
As for my participation on this site, my contractual relationship with Cardinal Sports Report will conclude at the end of September, but I will still be here on the boards, having fun chatting with everyone here and following Jacob's great work. Plus, Rivals has allowed me to stay in on a part-time capacity working as an editor for some of the content that our national team produces, so I'll still be around the company as well. I look forward to watching this community continue to grow and, of course, our ongoing discussions about Demetris Robertson, Josh Rosen and Tim Tawa.
If you have any questions about the next steps for Cardinal Sports Report or anything related to the post (or, heck, if you are in the Durham, North Carolina area and have any interest in meeting up for a game at some point), please feel free to send me a private message on the board or an email at AndyDrukarev@yahoo.com.
And thanks again to everyone here for all of the support over the last number of years.
-Andy
