It’s Not Good-Bye, But See You Soon

Dreams do come true!

But at some point, you have to wake up from those dreams. The past year, running Down the Drive, has been nothing short of a dream for me and I am incredibly thankful to everyone who read my articles or engaged with my tweets. Covering my alma mater, covering the Cincinnati Bearcats has been amazing. But, as I describe below, I am stepping away as Site Manager and stepping aside from the site (FOR NOW). Before I get into the specifics, I just want you to know, if you are reading this, I appreciate it! I am thankful and appreciative of everyone who read my articles or engaged in the comments section, twitter, or email.

Look closely at the picture up top - look below Mardy Gilyard’s arm, and you’ll see 5 heads across the bottom. That was (still is) my crew in college. I’m the middle head - with the beaming smile and red hat.

I attended UC from 2006-2011, and always had a beaming smile (and always with the red hat!). During that time, I attended almost every home football game and dozens of road trips, including the 2 BCS bowl games. I remember being at the Orange Bowl, thinking this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Then, the next year having a blast down in New Orleans. I went to games at West Virginia (shout out to Lamonte Nelms’ father), Louisville (sucks), Pitt (it was so cold), Rutgers (Labor Day 2009 was fun), and post graduation, some bigger games like Tennessee, Michigan, and Ohio State.

I also attended almost every possible home basketball game. Whether it was the loss to Wofford my freshman year in 2006, all the pizzas that The Bearcat handed me over the years, the memories of being in the front row and talking to Jeff the Usher, heckling the other team’s walk-ons and getting flipped off by Tu Holloway - it was an amazing 5 years.

Why am I saying all of this?

Because all great things must come to an end.

Because I want everyone to know how much I love the Bearcats and how much writing for Down the Drive has meant to me. Roughly one year ago, SB Nation hired me to run this site. I spent so many nights not sleeping and ignoring my wife so many times, just so I could sit in front of my laptop and focus and write and cover Cincinnati athletics the way I wanted to.

My job and my focus was always to provide entertaining content for fans to enjoy. Whether it was about tying history into the present or giving my opinions on the latest news and stories.

I have made the decision to step away as Site Manager. Clayton Trutor, who has been writing for the site for a few years now, will step in to take my place and has already done an awesome job over the past week! My hope is that, after a short break, I continue contributing to the site on a more part-time basis. So this isn’t really good bye. It’s see you soon!

The reason I am stepping away is because, any day now, my wife will be giving birth to our first child - a daughter, whom I am excited to raise as a future Bearcat. My hope is she will play for Michelle Clark-Heard, 18 years from now, but I guess we’ll see what happens.

Family is the only thing I love more than the Bearcats and I hope that came across in my writing. Writing is a passion of mine, it’s a hobby. I never looked at Down the Drive as a job, because while I worked as hard as I possibly could to build this site, it always felt natural. I got to write and talk about what I love.

I will forever be grateful to the team at SB Nation for the opportunity, but more importantly I am beyond thankful and appreciative to everyone who visited the site.

THANK YOU for reading and engaging with my tweets. I cannot put into words how much the past year has meant to and how appreciative I am for all of the interactions. I know a lot of people didn’t always agree with what I had to say and that’s fine. I loved friendly arguments, as long as you come with sufficient rationale for why I’m wrong. Whether it was my thoughts on John Brannen and my optimism for both the present and future, the Miami Ohio football series, or Desmond Ridder’s performance or whatever else, thank you for it all!

Those interactions don’t have to end! My personal twitter is @msschneid and I have my own blog, mikedropsports.com. I’ll continue popping up on Down the Drive and I’ll continue passionately writing about and supporting the Bearcats.

Thank you all!!! Stay safe. And forever and ever...GO BEARCATS!!!!