Justin’s Journey as a Bulldog: Blogging

Every fan of every team has a story. It doesn’t matter what kind of fan you are or what team you cheer for, each and every one of us has a story about why we love the teams we do. The fans of Mississippi State University are no different. We all have our reasons, and they are all unique. Today, I will share mine. I tell you all about how I became a blogger

The Blogging Life

You might be wondering why I am not giving you a blow by blow account of all that has happened in the Mullen years. After all, this is arguably the best time in the history of the football program. The answer is simple. It’s an incomplete chapter.

I don’t like trying to completely reflect on something until about a year after it has concluded. Who knows when that is going to be at this point. So instead, I will tell you how I became a blogger.

More from Mississippi State Bulldogs News

• College football schedule week 4: 3 must-watch under-the-radar games
• M&WN Staff – Week 3 SEC Picks and Best Bets
• Mississippi State football film study: Why did MSU’s defense fail vs. LSU?
• SEC football standings after Mississippi State football steamrolled by LSU Tigers
• College Football Schedule Week 3: Under the Radar Games to Watch

Things have a funny way of working themselves out sometimes. How I started writing for this site is no different. Back in October of 2013, our editor was at a bit of a cross roads. None of the people who were regular writers for our site were doing so any more. He was basically doing all the posting for maroonandwhitenation.com all by himself. On top of that, he was also a contributor to the SB Nation site forwhomthecowbelltolls.com. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to just pack up this site or try to find some additional help. He was leaning toward closing up shop and focusing on FWtCT. Then he found out FanSided didn’t have an active Mississippi State site, so he was going to give it one more shot.

It was about that time that my old Twitter account got a follow from @mandwnation. I thought it was pretty cool at the time that one of the larger blogs decided to start following me. About a day after that, I got a direct message from our editor Josh asking me if I knew someone who went to Olive Branch High School. The person Josh asked about graduated a year before I did. At the time, I just thought he was seeing if it was a small world. It turns out, that guy was Josh’s brother-in-law. Josh saw his brother-in-law scrolling through Facebook at one of our games in 2013 and saw my name on his timeline. The name looked familiar because I had tweeted to him some previously and I also posted a few Fan Posts over at FWtCT. My favorite was this one where I gave a blow by blow account of how the 2012 Alabama game was going to unfold (though I was way off). My old Twitter account had a link to an exercise blog I started but hadn’t written on in a while, so he checked that out as well. He saw enough that he liked and decided to ask if I would come on staff and do some blogging for him. I was thrilled.

I’ve always loved writing, it’s a serious passion of mine. I wrote that exercise blog because I wanted to write about something I knew about (though you couldn’t tell now, trying to get that back under control) and people would want to read. Only problem was it is hard to stay motivated to write when you’re the only one writing and very few people are reading. When Josh came calling, I finally had a chance to write about something I love (Mississippi State) and actually get people to read.

Instead of writing under my actual name, I decided to write under an alias. It wasn’t that I didn’t want people to know I was writing, but no one would really remember who I was if I initially started writing under my own name. I wanted to take some time to get my work out there and then switch over. So I chose to write under the alias of The Grass of Davis Wade Stadium. I stayed that way until close to the end of baseball season last year. That was when I decided to reveal who I was.

Blogging and Fandom

How much of a fan hasn’t really changed since I started blogging. I’m still just as passionate about the Bulldogs as I ever was. What has changed is my knowledge of everything about Mississippi State. I can type pretty fast, so if I don’t need stats or look anything up, I can crank out most things I put on here in about ten minutes or so.

The difference though is when I am trying to make a point and have to use a lot of different stats and history to prove my point. Some of those pieces can take me quite a while to write. As a result, I’m a much more knowledgeable fan than I ever was. I don’t want to write something that is based off of a falsehood, so I try to get everything I write correct as much as possible. I’m human so I still make mistakes, but I do everything I can to try to prevent those mistakes from happening.

Humbled

The one thing that is very hard for me to wrap my mind around is that there are some of you who read our blog and actually look forward to seeing something I write. Honestly, I can’t wrap my mind around that. The only reason I know this is because some of you have contacted me and told me that, and I am truly flabbergasted that I can have that kind of an impact. I do this because I love it, and to know there are at least a few people out in the world who actually find what I write of high quality is the most humbling thing I can think of. I truly am grateful just to be able to do this, so anything I can do that you guys like, just makes it all the better for me. Thank you guys for reading and making this one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done.

Tomorrow, I finish up with how I have lived in a House Divided