Gate 21

Happy Birthday to Gate 21! One Year Old and Counting…

November 16th, 2008 |

Author: lawvol

Aww, you shouldn’t have…

Yes, it’s true. Despite the limits of good taste, the conventions of grammar, the call of life’s obligations, and a complete lack of quality and talent, Gate 21 is one year old. As the birthday header makes clear, our mascot Gus is really excited. (To see the Birthday header, click here.)

It’s hard to believe that it has been one whole year since the very first post here at Gate 21 was published—a post that was monumental in its complete lack of substance. Well, at least it’s good to see that some things haven’t changed around here.

When I first typed those opening words: “Good Afternoon and Welcome to Neyland Stadium…” I really had no idea what I was getting myself into or what Gate 21 would become. I didn’t even know what I was starting—but, as I am wont to do, I decided to jump on in with no concept of what I was about.

The Words That Started it All:
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Those first few weeks of posts reflect that lack of direction…

Still, despite my cluelessness, here we are 12 months, over 300 posts, more than 86,000 visitors, countless wasted hours of my life, and endless examples of poor writing later and the Gate is still here—serving as the entry into my bizarre, inane, and orange tinted world.

Since starting out, I have learned a few things along the way:

Timing is Everything: The informational cycle in the blogosphere spanning from “cutting edge” to “washed-up and out-to-pasture” is just slightly shorter than the attention span of a 4 year old with ADHD who just consumed four bags of Skittles and washed them down with a Red Bull;

Know Your Audience: You can’t be everything to everybody, choose your niche and dedicate yourself to never failing to fail in that one area;

Never Take Yourself too Seriously: Always keep your tongue planted firmly in your cheek and show your willingness to fall on the sword (even if it is because you tripped over it); and

When All Else Fails, Cheap Sight Gags Work: Yes, the Tennessee Home for the Visually Offensive has served the Gate well.

Over the course of the last year, the Gate has also changed in more ways than I care to recount.

GUS Basic Happy Birthday to Gate 21! <em>One Year Old and Counting...</em> Gate 21

Our Mascot: Gus

In total, there have been more than twenty different headers from the boring original, to the current standard, to the patriotic, to the ridiculous, to the world of livestock, and a few others in between. We also added my tribute to Sam & Andy’s, our mascot, and Defender of the Faith, Gus, and so many other distractions and eyesores.

Blogging—at least blogging with some purpose—is a lot of work, much more than I ever realized. It entails endless hours of writing, editing, site maintenance, research, graphic design, code crunching, and observational brainstorming. Oh, and contrary to what you probably think, there is no money in it—the Gate currently makes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac look like a good investment.

It is, however, a hell of a lot of fun…

You don’t do this because you want to get rich, you do it because it intrigues you, then you enjoy it, then you love it. It’s kind of like being addicted to crack (I think) or Tennessee Football (I know) sometimes you want to quit, but you can’t.

Fortunately, I’ve had a little help from Home Sweet Home and the Blazer Chronicles—which, on the whole has increased the quality of this joint immeasurably. In all seriousness, I have written a lot of complete crap over the course of a year. There is a lot of stuff which is hardly worth reading. There are a few things, however, that I am proud of. Hopefully, the few of you out there that regularly step inside Gate 21 enjoyed the good with the bad.

Hmm… I guess Mike Hamilton doesn’t care much for Gate 21…

Most importantly, however, I have made a lot of good friends over the course of the year, and got reacquainted with a few that I had forgotten about. From fellow bloggers, to commenters, to flamers, I have genuinely appreciated the support and the criticism.

This first year of editing and publishing Gate 21 has been as much a learning experience as it has anything. That is obvious, considering that I started a blog which was originally focused exclusively on college football with only 2 weeks remaining in the 2007 season. Hopefully, everyone out there in internet-land has enjoyed it a little. If not, well, sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Anyway, thanks to all of you that have taken the time visit the Gate, thanks to all of you who have commented on a story or post, thanks to all of you who have either directly or behind the scenes given me a little help along the way.

This first year has been fun, hopefully the second will be even better.

In the meantime, in the words of Joel over at RTT, his sidekick Jackson the Mule, and our mascot Gus, all I can say is this:

“Woo!”

Thanks for a great first year. Hopefully there’s even more to come in the next 12 months.

– Go Figure …

Audio Clips Courtesy of: The University of Tennessee / the Vol Network / IMG

**Disclaimer and Notice: All Audio Clips remain the property of the licensing authority and their respective universities and/or institutions. Gate 21 makes no claim of ownership to these clips, and they are displayed on this website for the sole purpose of entertainment and social value. Any questions or concerns regarding the display of such audio should be directed to the administrator of this site.

About the Author: "Lawvol" -- I'm just a guy living in North Carolina who has an unnatural fascination with the color orange. Just because I'm a Tennessee alum and die-hard Volunteer fan doesn't mean that I can't poke a little fun at the Big Orange and anybody else for that matter. Feel free to complain all you want. >> Read more from this author

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Posted in Audio, Blogging, Flashback, Site News, Tennessee Home for the Visually Offensive |

Tags: Basketball, Blogosphere, Celebration, Football, Gate 21, Gate21.net, Gus, Happy Birthday, Lawvol, Mike Hamilton, SEC, Tennessee Football, Tennessee Home for the Visually Offensive

10 Responses to “Happy Birthday to Gate 21! One Year Old and Counting…”

Oskie

says:

17 November 2008 at 12:36 am

Happy birthday, man! That’s great stuff, and you’re one of my faves. Here’s to many more!

Reply More from author

lawvol

says:

17 November 2008 at 12:35 pm

Thanks. Glad you’ve enjoyed this first year.

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thetennesseethumper

says:

18 November 2008 at 9:05 am

happy happy! gate 21 shares a birthday with my granny, a UT alum, whose husband played for Gen. Neyland. so, whatever that means…(?) anyway, love the site, keep up the great work. congrats!

Reply

hooper

says:

18 November 2008 at 10:13 am

One down, 20 more to go before Gate21 is 21! No problem, right?

Reply

Senator Blutarsky

says:

19 November 2008 at 9:06 am

lv, sincere congrats.

You can never have too many college-football-blogging lawyers, right?

I hope there are many more birthdays in Gate 21’s future.

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Ghost of Neyland

says:

19 November 2008 at 10:59 am

All I can say is this: In the UT blogosphere, I enjoy reading everybody when I have the time to read. Nobody is more informative than Joel. Will at SESB is super-knowledgeable about the Vols and about college football, and his points are as good as anyone’s. I laugh out loud at LWS and Fulmer’s Belly, and YMSWWC is consistently strong. Curveballs for Jesus is a great up-and-coming (tee hee) new blog, and I’m sure that I’m leaving others out.

But when it comes to sheer reading enjoyment, this place is my favorite in our blogosphere. I love the other blogs, but since we came along about the same time, I just feel a kinship here, and it’s important to me that we put out a good product.

Even when the Vols suck like they do now, sometimes I think “at least this may be good for the blog.” And like fantasy football in the pros, it keeps it interesting even when we’re playing boring, losing football.

I want to say one more thing that’s a testament to you and yours. When I pass by Gate 21 this year at the three games I’ve gone to, I used to think of Heath Shuler, but now I think of this site. When I come to this site, I think of this site, not the real Gate 21. You have transcended a part of Neyland Stadium in my mind. That’s just weird.

Great, great job, man. Like you said, we may never be rich or famous, but we sure are having a lot of fun. This is a great site. And you’ve helped us at 3SIB immensely in our first year, too.

Go Vols!!

Reply

Ghost of Neyland

says:

19 November 2008 at 11:00 am

Wow, I sounded really gay for you there.

I miss your musk.

Reply

lawvol

says:

19 November 2008 at 1:12 pm

Thanks to all of you for the kind words. Gate 21 is perpetually a work in progress, and I hope it continues to get better. I am especially appreciative that many of you that have commented are folks that I consider to be some of the best in the blogosphere — whether focused on Tennessee or not.

Thanks for stopping by.

Oh, and Ghost, I hate to say this, but I really just want to be friends… =)

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