Thursday Sports Entertainment News Report 05.16.13: The Final Edition

Greetings, folks, and welcome to the FINAL edition of Thursday Sports Entertainment! That’s right, it’s the end of an era. No more Sean Kelly for you on Thursdays. Somehow, I think you’ll sleep tonight.

I’m gonna skip the news and get straight to the goodbye. While I don’t have time to write a weekly column anymore (more on that later), I thought you deserved an explanation from me. I know if my favorite columnist left without a proper goodbye, I’d be right pissed. (I am your favorite, right?) So, without further ado, here we go…

HASTA LA BYE BYE

Well, this is the last news report I’ll be writing for 411mania. The end has come sooner than I thought it would, but nevertheless, here we are.

You may have heard the rumors that WWE approached me about working for their Creative division. That they liked my out-of-the-box ideas and appreciate that I tend to view storylines from a business/financial perspective. You may have heard that I accepted this position and can’t write for a wrestling website because that would be a conflict of interest.

Those rumors would be false. Here’s the real story:

A few months ago I received a promotion in a new department at work. With that promotion came a lot more responsibility, and with that, a lot more work. It’s a great job and I’m working for some really awesome people, so this isn’t me complaining by any stretch. But the reality is that my days are just packed at work and there’s barely any time to read a wrestling column never mind write one. (Not that I would ever write these at work, right?)

That alone I could probably handle, but my home life is changing as well. You see, my wife and I recently learned that we are expecting our third child. With this happy news comes a little concern, as her pregnancy is classified as high risk. While I don’t expect anything bad to happen, she needs to stay off her feet as much as possible as a precaution. This means that daddy has to step up and pull double duty at home for a long time. That, coupled with my work responsibilities, has basically killed the free time required to write a recurring column.

So the changes in my life are positive and I am very happy. But something had to give, and this column was it. It’s too bad, because I really planned on giving this at least another year or two before I even thought about stopping. But a wise man once said “life gets in the way of the plans you make,” and that’s just how it is. I suppose this isn’t a bad way to go out. It’s better than burning out like the great Chris Hyatte, or stomping off in a huff like Wes Kirk. And the thought of half-assing it is abhorrent to me. Going out while I still love writing is pretty cool, if you ask me.

So Sean Kelly will shed no tears. Who am I, Ric Flair? I WILL NOT BLUBBER LIKE A CHILD JUST BECAUSE I NEED TO STOP WRITING THE THURSDAY SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT NEWS REPORT!

But seriously, I really enjoyed writing for all of you and I hope you enjoyed reading. Many of you have been really nice, funny and sometimes mean (but funny-mean, so it’s okay), and I will miss the regular interaction with you. In my note to Larry, I asked if it would be possible for me to still contribute from time to time, whether it be for Fact or Fiction, Top 5, PPV roundtables, etc. I hope he says it’s okay, because the thought of severing all ties with 411 is depressing.

So since this is my last Thursday Sports Entertainment column, here are my thoughts, ramblings, whathaveyou on writing a column for 411mania:

1) Writing a weekly column is a lot harder than it seems. It takes hours of work. Not only do you need to write the content, but you need to do the HTML formatting, find pictures, etc. which can be time consuming. And if you need to create any of your own images, that takes even longer. Writing a weekly column is a big commitment, and I have gained tremendous respect for my fellow 411mania contributors. I remember after the 411/Inside Pulse split that Larry was writing several columns every week. I don’t know how he did it. Much admiration to him.

2) While we’re on the subject, I’d also like to thank Larry for giving me the opportunity to write here, basically uncensored. I will always appreciate it. Also – props to Steve Cook for responding to my request for feedback early on in the process. Both guys are cool cats.

3) Did you ever notice my little homages to 411 writers of yesteryear? Each week, I would sign off with something like “thank you for making Thursday Sports Entertainment your go-to destination for Wrestling News, Opinions, etc.” Some of you may remember that “Wrestling News, Opinions, etc.” was the name of the column written by loveable curmudgeon Eric Szulczewski. Also, every one of my columns would end with “This is Sean,” which is a tribute to how my personal favorite Chris Hyatte would sign off with “This is Hyatte.” Respect your history!

4) I would never half-ass it. Ever. I would say my columns averaged at about 3,000 words apiece. Sometimes it would be a little less, sometimes a little more, but I always tried to give you something above and beyond a simple copy/paste news column.

5) I prided myself with being reliable. Whenever I had to miss a column, usually due to work or family-related travel, I always gave as much notice as possible. In the 15 months I’ve been doing this, I’ve probably missed 7-8 columns, which isn’t half bad if you ask me!

6) Sometimes I would write stuff just to get a rise out of certain people. For example, maybe I’d be a little harder on Randy Orton than I normally would because I wanted to watch 1degenerate jump to Orton’s defense. (Worked like a charm).

7) I’ve learned that no matter how clear I try to communicate an opinion, someone will read it/interpret it the wrong way. Sometimes it’s because I could have been clearer, sometimes it’s because the reader is nuts, but it always happens. Always.

8) Coming up with fresh ideas/concepts is really freaking hard. I tried my best to come up with some interesting, different segments for you every week. Some were successful, some probably weren’t. Here are some of my favorites:

– Proud Paul’s Travels

– The Alike App that finds a wrestler’s celebrity twin

– Wrestler Net Worth

– My entrance song parodies of Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, and Big Show

– My first time watching Impact

– And of course, Awesome Ladybug Girl

Those times with Victoria sure were fun, and I’m glad they are documented for posterity. We’ll continue to watch wrestling in the future, of course. Maybe Larry’ll let me do an occasional Awesome Ladybug Girl review of big WWE events. We’ll see.

So, readers, will you indulge me one more week? Please take a few minutes to write a comment on what my time here meant to you. You can say how much you loved me, how much you hated me, or that you didn’t care. Just be honest. Reflect on the stuff you liked and didn’t like. Was I the Steve Austin, Christian, or Braden Walker of 411 to you?

The reason I ask is that I have no idea what kind of impact I’ve made. I have no clue how many hits my column has gotten. I could have 100 readers or 100,000. Who knows? But I’d sure like to know what Thursday Sports Entertainment meant to you. At least I could go out knowing whether or not this was time well spent for you.

On Twitter, Stone Cold Steve Austin likes to send out Cyber Stunners to all of his fans. Inspired by the Rattlesnake, I’m going to take a page from the book of Team Hell No and extend to you a big ol’ CYBER HUG! GET IN HERE YA FILTHY ANIMALS!

SIGNING OFF

Thank you for making Thursday Sports Entertainment your go-to destination for Wrestling News, Opinions, etc. Seeing as how there will be a vacancy in the news department, I would highly encourage all of you to at least consider contributing to 411. Many of you are hilarious in the comments section and would be surprised at how rewarding a wrestling column can be. So give it a shot. You never know.

It’s been fun,

This is Sean.