I used to taunt sports fans on Twitter with short clips of Boyz II Men singing “End of the Road” after their teams lost in the playoffs, Finals, Super Bowl, bowl games, etc. The Boyz would sing those lines you’ve heard thousands of times as you were going through rough breakups:
Although we’ve come
To the end of the road
Still I can’t let go
It’s unnatural
You belong to me
I belong to you
Although we’ve come
To the end of the road
Still I can’t let go
It’s unnatural
You belong to me
I belong to you
That said, it’s the end of the road for me here at Busted Coverage, which I founded way back in December 2007 and pretty much gave my life to over the last 12-plus years. I’m leaving the site effective immediately after this post is tweeted out. It’s time for someone else to step in and run with the job and see where it can take them.
This site took me to places I never thought I’d see or experience in my life. The site introduced me to people I otherwise would’ve never met in my life. Weirdos. Brand managers pimping their goods. Frat guys wanting to suck down Busch Lights and blackout. Regular guys wanting to sit in bars & talk about their miserable lives.
As for me, no tears, no fetal position listening to Boyz II Men YouTube videos. I’m leaving on my own terms and that feels pretty good considering what’s happening across the industry.
The crew over the years:
• Kevin The Intern. He was a Purdue student and said he wanted a role. This was like 2009. He stuck with me until he got married. I think it was a 4-5 year run. I went to his wedding and his wife sends me birth announcements. Pretty sure he cried when I told him I sold BC back in 2011. He didn’t think I would bring him along for the ride. Of course I did and would do it all over again. Kevin’s loyal to the core. I took Kevin to Vegas for an AFC/NFC Championship weekend bender where I thought he was dead in his hotel room at Bill’s, now The Cromwell. I beat on his door to the point where I thought he’d been murdered. He eventually woke up and told me he’s a deep sleeper.
• Matt McCormick. Old newspaper friend. I think he emailed me wondering if there were any roles he could fill so I had him post the Daily WTF for like 3-4 years. Paid for very nice family vacations with that money. He went on a Tough Mudder brand-sponsored trip to Lake Tahoe that was one for the ages. My out of shape ass completed that shit and sucked down the finish line beer before I went to my room and curled up in a ball. Couldn’t eat. Couldn’t drink. My ass was finished. Matt finished and ate dinner. He was in shape.
• Joe Student. Real name. Old newspaper friend. One of the greatest guys I’ve ever met. Best man in a wedding qualities. He’s the guy I spend an hour on the phone with.
• Rob Mayers. Super talented guy who went on a BC Alabama-LSU trip I assume he enjoyed. I don’t remember what was in the bottle, but LSU fans told us to take a pull before we could properly get the party started. Rob did the right thing and left the Internet for a steady job, got married and now has two kids.
• Danny the Intern. Pretty sure he begged me for any role I’d give him. The kid would listen, not act like he knew everything and was a pleasure to work with. He now works for TNT and the NBA stuff they have going on when Rona’s not ruining life. I’d hire him again in a heartbeat.
• Blake Krass. Up-and-coming content guy. He’s the kind of young guy who could take over the site.
• James Lumalu. Absolutely great hire out of Los Angeles. Not much bothered the guy. The site was never better than when it was Danny, James and I just pounding out craziness on a daily basis. Very few guys in the content game understand the content game. James understood it.
• Paul Eide. Podcast Paul. Super Bowl Paul. Porn Star Podcast Paul. I met Paul on the Tahoe Tough Mudder trip. The rest is history. There are times we can fight like brothers, but that’s what brothers do. And then we’ll end up sucking down ridiculous drinks on Miami Beach like back in February & eating incredible Cuban food at 3 a.m. Paul normally includes me as his plus-one for brand-sponsored trips. I’ve lost count of the NASCAR trips we’ve done. There was the Minnesota Super Bowl trip we couldn’t duplicate if we tried. I needed a vacation after the Indy 500 trip. Goodyear Blimp ride. College World Series weekend. Battle at Bristol. Holy shit, Battle at Bristol. One of the craziest three days of my life. Our journey to the 50-yard line during the Battle at Bristol pregame is the stuff 30 For 30s are made of. The Los Angeles Gatorade event trips were incredible, including the time I met Cam Newton and had the Cam Pants. There was the L.A. hotel suite all-nighter where we drank every single bottle of booze out of the fridge. It was the closest I’ll ever get to Motley Crue hotel antics. The Turn 2 Tavern at Kentucky Speedway was another of our favorites. God that was a blast last summer.
Put it this way, I’d let Paul give the eulogy at my funeral. I’d be dead and miss it, but the eulogy would be off the charts.
Guys who’ve passed through the site: Peter Burns created a morning post that eventually morphed into Morning Screencaps. And then one day he went onto bigger things with SEC Network; CBS Sports HQ reporter Will Brinson took over the site for a week way back in like 2009 when he ran a weed blog…that’s right, Will had a weed blog before going all mainstream; Trevor Smith, my Vegas guy, had a quick stint. I would wake up at 6 a.m., start working on the site and he’d be crushing beers and video poker all over the state. He’s in the Nevada Broadcaster Hall of Fame. No shit. Super big J.
Thank you to the fans. It goes without saying the site would’ve been an immediate failure if the fans misunderstood the madness from the start. It wasn’t the biggest following on the Internet, but it was big enough to keep me around all these years. I’ve had guys dying of cancer tell me reading BC got them through horrible treatments. Humbling stuff to say the least. I never took you weirdos for granted. I sincerely appreciate all the support you guys have given me over the years.
It was a great run. Nothing but positive energy on the way out.
Joe Kinsey
