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A Conversation with Former Orlando City Midfielder Jamie Watson

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Sometimes technology really pisses me off. After checking our settings religiously each week so that we don’t have another recording issue with The Mane Land PawedCast like we had back in June, we recorded what probably was one of our best ever shows this week. Former Lion Jamie Watson — now a broadcaster with Minnesota United’s crew — was gracious enough to come on as our guest and we were unusually succinct and less babbly than we usually are in our other segments. So, of course, you’ll never hear that audio.

Unfortunately, something glitched and my audio output settings reset and so we recorded a podcast in which you can hear me just fine, but everyone else is limited to barely more than a murmur. Since I’m not a fancy audio technician, I spent about 20 minutes trying different things to fix the audio before giving up. I could hear what was being said, but there was a lot of noise if I boosted the volume of my co-host and our guest.

I didn’t want to go to jail for assaulting your ears with that kind of noise, so I decided that we’d sacrifice all the great things Dave and I said on the podcast and preserve our conversation with Jamie in text form, so you can at least read what he said, even if you can’t hear his voice.

Because Jamie played for Orlando City (under Adrian Heath) and now works alongside Inchy in Minnesota (the team Orlando plays this Saturday), we wanted to make sure we got him on the show. Here’s how our conversation went:

Michael Citro: You have a history with both clubs and with Adrian Heath. I recently wrote a 2,000-word piece on Heath and how he was given only a year and a half in Orlando and I wanted to get your take on Adrian as a coach, as you’ve played for him and watched him in Minnesota from the sidelines. What is it about him as a coach that led to the Minnesota front office being patient through two tough years to allow him the time to be successful this season?

Jamie Watson: Well, first of all, I read that article and I thought you did a tremendous job with it, kind of illustrating how the whole thing started, how it kind of quickly changed the culture, how just here and there a few bad calls before there was video review really changed the complexion of the beginning of that 2016 season and ultimately how it led to Adrian Heath being let go. So I thought you did a fair account of it.

When I look at it I see the difference of the two (situations). You posed the question in the article, I believe, was it too soon (for Orlando to fire Heath)? Was it too quick? And I think the answer was a resounding yes. If you want to talk about too quick, look at FC Cincinnati with Alan Koch. I mean, there was even less of a plan there. So, I mean they quickly just jumped ship and just said, “all right, let’s just call it quits here,” after only like 12 games. But for Orlando City I think that Adrian Heath had done everything you could possibly imagine to buy good faith, and I think that was taken from him before he had a chance to implement what he wanted to achieve there.

And, it wasn’t that he didn’t have the background or the proof in the pudding or the proof of concept that what he would do would work. He did. He just wasn’t given that opportunity.

So I think the biggest thing when he came here to Minnesota was he wanted to make sure that there was an understanding with our owner and our ownership group, led by Dr. Bill McGuire, that there was a message that there was a plan. And at the end of three years, ‘if you don’t like where we are, and if you don’t see that this is going to get us where we want to be or where the club thinks we should be, then by all means let me go. Fire me after the three years.’

And so, the first year, getting 10 wins…Adrian half-jokingly, half-seriously said getting 10 wins with that first group in Major League Soccer was one of his greatest coaching achievements. And I think he’s right, because it was so much of a rush. It was December when he was hired and there was not one player signed to the team. The season was going to kick off March 3, I believe, so he had all of four months later with which to field a team to compete in Major League Soccer. An expansion team is very rarely going to jump in and have success unless you have an 18- to 24-month buildup and an owner who’s going to spend money like crazy, and you’re not on the hook to build a stadium right away.

So, the owner was patient and believed in what Adrian Heath wanted to do and wanted to achieve, and incrementally they got better and now you see Minnesota United getting ready to play in a Cup final against Atlanta. I mean, it’s something special but it just takes patience and a lot of times in sports you don’t get that patience.

Dave Rohe: What were the key factors going from Year 2 to Year 3 that made this success possible?

JW: I mean, they struck gold on all of their signings this off-season and then they struck even more gold with the draft. You look at the roster…Ike Opara…Ozzy Alonso…Jan Gregus, and then Romaine Metanire, who in my opinion has been the best outside back in the entirety of Major League Soccer, and then the draft. You’ve got Chase Gasper, who’s starting week in and week out at left back; Hassani Dotson, who for my money is Rookie of the Year this year; and Dayne St. Clair, who has done so well that he’s now the No. 2. Bobby Shuttleworth has gone to Sacramento Republic to get games and (St. Clair) looks to be the goalkeeper of the future for the club and possibly for the Canada men’s national team.

And that’s not even including this window, when they’ve just gone and signed a Young Designated Player, an 18-year-old out of Uruguay, a left back for competition…and they got a Finnish TAM player, Robin Lod.

You know, Orlando City had a big overhaul, but I don’t think all those guys have lived up to the expectations. By all accounts, I thought Orlando City was going to be incredible this season. I really did. I said this would be the season that they would make the playoffs, that they’d make a run. But man, it just hasn’t worked, has it?

Michael: Kevin Molino has had some knee injury issues in recent years. What’s going on with Kevin, how far along into his return to form is he, and what is he going to present to us should he be selected to play this weekend?

JW: Kevin Molino is getting back to where he was before he tore his ACL in Orlando. He was able to complete his comeback, make the Trinidad Gold Cup roster — which was a huge milestone achievement for him at the beginning of the summer. Unfortunately he tore it in Orlando, ironically, of all places in that second or third match of the season last year. It was heartbreaking for Kevin, especially to do it a second time.

I’ve done it once before, the ACL tear, and it’s a brutal, incremental, long, slow grind to get back. Because to get back in four weeks or six weeks — that’s easy to stay motivated. But not when the first task you want to do is just to lift your leg again. That’s how slow of a crawl it is. So, for Kevin Molino to be able to do that twice — you almost have the game taken away from you twice, and not by any of your own undoing, simply the fact that this massive injury happened.

So I think Kevin’s passion for the game has never been higher than it is. It’s been restored to a level in which his body is catching up to where his mind and his heart is and he looks really sharp. And I think you guys are going to be able to see the Kevin Molino that you knew and loved and that grew before your eyes in Orlando from the USL to MLS. He looks really good and I can imagine he’ll probably play some part in the match-up. Kevin Molino is looking to go strength to strength and I know him and Adrian Heath will certainly be motivated for Saturday night.

Dave: What has it been like for you to make the transition from player to reporter? How are you liking the new gig?

JW: I appreciate that question. It’s great. It’s honestly the next best thing to playing. I didn’t know how difficult it was going to be. It’s not just like showing up and getting in front of a microphone and the next thing, you’re great at your job. I mean, you can ask Miguel Gallardo this. It’s not easy. There’s a lot of preparation that goes on.

Just kind of the quick story of it: Each week you go play a game, you’ve to learn roughly 28 guys on a roster. Instantly 10 of those guys won’t matter because only 18 guys can make a game day roster. And then potentially only three of those seven (bench) guys could get into a game as part of the 11. So, at most you’re going to use half of the players’ information that you spent studying on and learning their life story. So, if a player scores in the game and he starts crying in the corner, you realize, ‘oh it’s Kevin Molino off the back of a second ACL tear and this is why it means something.’ For every one player that you learn all that information on, there’s another player that you learn that information on that gets pushed right outside of your brain. So, it’s really fun and I get a lot of enjoyment being with the club where I finished my career. I get a chance to see a lot of people around the team that I used to play against.

Working with Adrian Heath, he’s been fantastic. I don’t know if this story’s been told a lot or not, but Adrian Heath had the utmost respect for me when he let me go from the club. And I do think that Adrian Heath did everything he could not to let me go before the club went into the season going into Major League Soccer. But I also understood that I wasn’t the hill that he was going to die on. ‘It’s me or Jamie.’ He was outnumbered by the people who were brought in to make those decisions. So, he really looked out for me as I made the transition to Minnesota and then he joined on here and same with Ian Fuller and those guys, were really great with me and they did everything they could to help me out. I mean, it’s not very often a boss fires you and you still like him afterwards. So, that’s how much respect with which he handled the situation and I always appreciated that. And I think that’s one thing most players here would say about Adrian — that he respects them as people. Because he gets the most out of his people.

But, ultimately, at the end of the day, he is the coach and he’ll do what’s best for the club. And that means making some tough decisions on fan favorites sometimes. I was fortunate to be a part of a great group in the USL before the change to Major League Soccer. I desperately want Orlando City — and I think James O’Connor can do that — I want club to get back to who they were. That’s the reason everybody fell in love with the club. That’s why they sold out every game (in 2017).

Everybody in Orlando could see what this club was and I feel like the trajectory has changed a little bit. But I want it to get back to somewhat of the course it was on, because a lot of people put a lot of effort into it to get it to that point — fans included. It took a lot of hard-earned money and time and effort to show the support for it. And it kills me not seeing the stadium sold out. I hate not seeing the wall completely full.

But I know it can get back to that and I do think James O’Connor is the kind of coach and is the man who can help get them back to that point. I have all the faith in him from having played with him, seeing how he is in the locker room with guys. He is no-nonsense, he will hold you accountable. I still remember the things that he would say to me on the field. I played for 12 years and there’s very few things I do remember teammates saying. Most of it’s from him because he knows how to get the most out of people. He demands that. And I hope that he’s given the opportunity to be able to right the ship, because he’s given you glimpses and signs of it. And on a night where there was maybe a little bit better performance, the story could have been Orlando City playing against Minnesota United in the Open Cup final. They just didn’t take their chances on the evening, you know?

Michael: What does it mean to you to see Exploria Stadium rocking, as someone who was here before the MLS years and who helped build the foundation for everything that came later?

JW: It was a lot of people. Much like every other club, everybody’s a piece to the puzzle. Some people have to put up the money to have to be able to fund the team and make these things happen. Or maybe the corner pieces that you can’t really do without. Or maybe a big piece right in the middle. And some are pieces are off in the distance. And if a couple of pieces are missing you can still make out what the picture is, and it’s not make or break. But every piece is needed to complete it.

I’m very thankful for my time having been there. There’s a reason I’m still outspoken about it, because it was that great and I hope we get back to that point. Look, however it ended, good, bad, or indifferent, everybody cares about this club. You can’t be a part of Orlando City and not feel the passion that the Iron Lion has, or the Ruckus has, or The Wall has, or that stadium has. It drives inspiration to a player. I know how great it can be and I was lucky to be a part of that because I know it can be something very, very special. And I don’t think it’s far off from getting back to that point.

It’s just going to take a little bit of something, a little bit of patience, a little bit of time, and a little bit of faith and the right people doing it. Hopefully people will get the opportunity to right the ship and I’ll be the happiest person when it gets back to that point and, like I said, I think that could be sooner rather than later.

Michael: Obviously Dom Dwyer and Adrian Heath have a great admiration and respect for each other. Knowing them and what a tough season Dom’s had on the field, what do you think we’d see from him if he scored on Minnesota? Would his celebration be muted? Would we get the back flip?

JW: Dom is free to do whatever he wants. It’ll never change the good times we had together as a group. I know without a doubt that Adrian Heath was incredibly instrumental in Dom’s career and Dom was very instrumental in Adrian’s rise with Orlando City and how well the team did. So there’s a lot of respect both ways. If Dom wants to celebrate with a flip, go for it, because I know right now he’s wanting to score more goals and contributing more than he has been lately. So I know it’ll mean a lot for him to get back on the score sheet. And I want to see him back on the score sheet. I don’t want it to be Saturday night unless it’s in a losing effort. But I also wouldn’t be surprised to see him keep the celebration muted out of respect for Adrian Heath. Either way, it’s not going to change anything. Hopefully he scores a hat trick and Minnesota wins 4-3 so everybody can be happy. (Laughs)

But I love that guy. I hope the fans stick with him because I know he can get turned around. I know he’s desperate to score. I’ve talked to him. He loves it in Orlando. He loves the fans there. It’s just that sometimes when you’re a forward the goal seems like it’s 30 yards wide and some days it feels like it’s three feet wide. Once the dam breaks, it’ll start coming in floods again and it’ll be all normal again. He’ll be Dom effin’ Dwyer, scoring when he wants. 

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Reflecting on Eight Years with The Mane Land

A look back over my time with The Mane Land (so far).

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Nick Leyva, The Mane Land

As of last week, I have been a contributor at The Mane Land for eight years. That’s longer than I’ve ever been at any of my actual jobs in my life. There are literally only a couple of people who have been with the site longer, but I’m still amazed at how long it’s been. This is not to say I’m going anywhere, but rather I wanted to take the opportunity to look back at the past eight years, and look ahead to the future.

Unlike some, I didn’t come to be a supporter of Orlando City until it was announced that the club was joining MLS. At the time, I was contemplating picking a club to follow in MLS, but being in Tallahassee, there were no nearby options at that time. I considered FC Dallas and D.C. United, given the two were geographically closer in proximity to me than any others. Fortunately, it was literally while I was considering my options that the announcement was made regarding Orlando City’s jump to MLS. It was an easy decision.

As I do in many aspects of my life, I immediately started researching my new club, which led me to the content being produced by The Mane Land. There was also an article on the site titled “Join The Mane Land Staff.” I had often over the years internally bemoaned that I rarely used my Bachelor’s degree in English, and the desire to write welled up in me so much that I emailed the staff. 

In response, one of our former editors, Andrew Marcinko, contacted me and said “I think your voice would be a great fit on TML.” He asked me to submit a Fan Post (those went away with our presence on SBN), and then another piece for review. Following that, our founder and managing editor, Michael Citro, emailed me to welcome me to the staff. I had no idea at the time how big a part of my life this blog would become.

I started out writing Monday’s Lions Links — often one of the more difficult days to write — and a feature piece. It’s been many years gone by now, but there was a time when the feature piece was “Pride Pub,” an ongoing series that paired craft beer and good food based on Orlando City’s opponent. I can tell you that the research for that was very enjoyable, and I still use some of the recipes I found to this day.

Eventually, I started contributing more match coverage and analytical pieces. Staff came and went, but I never thought to leave since I was enjoying myself. Sometime after that, I was promoted to senior columnist, for which I’m grateful. I can without reservation say that I’m a better writer thanks to my time with the site, and from working with such excellent staff.

In November of 2016, Michael asked if I wanted to give co-hosting The Mane Land PawedCast a try. My first recording was for Episode 71. We just recorded Episode 354, and with the exception of maybe two or three episodes, I have been on every single one of 283 episodes over the last six plus years. Michael and I have spent a lot of time talking on and off the podcast over the years, and I’m proud of what we have produced and to call him my friend.

We recently added an Orlando Pride-specific podcast called Skopurp: An Orlando Pride PawedCast. For years we wanted to give the Pride the time and attention the club deserves. Now, it is a reality, but one that I ask you to listen to and share. I’ll even put out that although Michael and I are the current hosts, we merely consider ourselves stewards and are hoping to get others to come onboard and eventually take it to the next level.

When I started with The Mane Land, the site had just made the move from a free WordPress site to the SBNation network. It was a big deal, and for many years it was a good partnership. Of course that all came to an end not too long ago, and our blog went the independent route thanks to the incredibly generous support of our readers and listeners. In fact, if you want to be one of those supporting our efforts, please go to our Buy Me A Coffee site to become a member. The move has allowed a flexibility we didn’t have before, but I really want others to have the same sense of joy and accomplishment that I have as a member of our staff. 

At one point we had nearly twice the staff that we do now, and as you know, many hands make light work. The opposite of that is also true. I genuinely believe that there must be others out there with the same passion for Orlando City as I have — with the same desire to have their voice heard, whether through the written word or on a podcast. I promise you there is an opportunity to contribute here with us. Our internal discussions are informative, engaging, and often funny. Please consider joining us, as I did eight years ago. I haven’t regretted it and I know you won’t either.

I want to thank all of those who contributed to The Mane Land over the years. There are many that I am still in touch with, though they are no longer a part of the staff. Of course, the current staff are a pleasure to work with, and I appreciate their dedication to what we are trying to do.

Finally, I want to thank the readers and listeners over the years. From those who regularly comment on our articles, to those that I’ve personally met at matches or even randomly on the street, you are a big reason that we do all of this. You are a big reason why I’ve been doing this for the better part of a decade. it is always a genuine pleasure hearing your thoughts or simply sharing a moment of joy together — U.S. Open Cup final, anyone?

So, thank you. I look forward to many more years of this journey together.

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The Mane Land Announces Membership Program

Maximize your Mane Land experience with our new TML membership program while supporting our independent efforts.

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Hello, readers of The Mane Land and listeners of our podcasts. Before you start reading this, please note that the most important part of this post is at the end. So, don’t stop until you get to the bottom.

You may recall that when we left SBNation to become independent, we really weren’t sure the best way to go about that. Many of our readers and listeners generously offered to help us make that transition, but we still weren’t sure the best path forward, so we took a poll.

The poll was pretty much split down the middle between those who preferred a one-time, Kickstarter-style campaign (which we did, and those of you who stepped up to help completely blew us away!) and those who favored a Patreon-style, subscription-based membership with extra perks. In fact, the member subscriptions option got a few more votes in our poll.

The folks who took part in our GoFundMe fundraiser were fantastic and are now immortalized on this very site on the “Our Founders” page. But we had always planned to give folks the option to choose whichever method of support they preferred and we tried to communicate that throughout the process. It took a little longer than expected to get up and running, but our membership subscription program is now in place! (You may notice the fancy new banner ad about it on the home page, echoed below.)

Supporting TML helps build a better TML for you to enjoy, so you’re really subscribing to your own Orlando soccer fandom.

Part of that delay was thinking up something that didn’t encroach on the benefits we gave our Founders. Those folks helped us get started and deserve the exclusivity of the perks they got. The other part of the delay is that there just aren’t enough hours in the day. (However, for you guys, I’m willing to be cloned.)

We have utilized the popular Buy Me a Coffee platform to run this program. You can find the basics here. The Mane Land premium membership program includes three tiers of membership, as well as the option to click on the “Support” tab for those who just want to help us out whenever, without joining the program or adding any recurring “appointment-based” payments to their budgets. We love that feature of Buy Me a Coffee (or “Buy Us a Beer” in our case…you drink what you like).

For those who do choose to become members, we hope we have provided value and we are planning to add benefits along the way, in addition to providing special giveaways, events, etc. (more on that below). We have also provided subscription options — with monthly or annual memberships. The annual cost essentially gives you 12 months for the price of 10.


Current Benefits

The current membership benefits depend on which level of support you choose — Homegrown Player, TAM Player, or Designated Player level. Each level includes all benefits from the lower tiers, with additional benefits for each higher level.

Homegrown Player: This is a basic set-it-and-forget-it level of support for The Mane Land, providing a way for our readers and podcast listeners to contribute to the success of TML‘s independence goals. We want to compensate our current volunteers, replace lost income of those who previously received small stipends from being part of the SBNation network, add photographers, attract new writers, and expand our coverage. Additionally, each Homegrown Player Level member will be recognized in a Lion Links column, which is still typically our most widely read post of each day and one of the top daily links columns among soccer sites. Homegrown Player Level members will also be included in any future prize drawings we have or events we host and may be subject to future benefits as they are added.

TAM Player: In addition to Homegrown Player benefits, TAM Players will receive a new weekly e-newsletter in their inbox (unless you opt out…some people hate email). These will be informal missives from myself, other TML writers, or a combination, discussing what’s on our mind regarding Orlando City, the Pride, OCB, or soccer in general. Think of it as an extra post from our site that may cover multiple topics. Additionally, you’ll get a 10% discount from our web shop items that we control (presently, that means everything except our listed MLS Shop items). We will definitely have more benefits coming for this level soon and will look for opportunities to include additional benefits as they become available.

Designated Player: This limited availability level of support includes all perks from the Homegrown and TAM levels, but it goes beyond. Your discount at our webshop (for items we control) will be 15% off. Additionally, we’ll send you Zoom links to watch us “make the doughnuts” whenever we record the podcast. This includes when we interview guests. You’ll see how the sausage is made behind the scenes and everything that we say, some of which will end up on the cutting room floor before the final podcast is sent out. This includes both The Mane Land PawedCast and SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride PawedCast. And after two months of membership you can commission a bonus episode of either podcast simply by letting us know what topic you want us to cover. Think of this as an extended Ask Us Anything. We’ll do a whole show about your topic and you can even join us to discuss it if you wish.

The DP Level will certainly have additional benefits tacked on as we move forward. It is currently limited to 40 members but could be expanded slightly depending on demand and our Zoom attendance.


Future Benefits / Benefits Under Consideration

While we won’t be able to schedule these due to the random nature of items falling into our hands, there will be periodic prize giveaways in drawings that include all of our members, regardless of level. The catch is that you get one entry per level of support, meaning Homegrown Player Level members will get one entry per prize drawing, TAM Player Level members will get two entries per drawing, and Designated Player Level members get three entries for prize drawings. Some of the kinds of items we have come across in the past include match tickets, trinkets, posters, scarves, and so on.

We are planning to add a message board to our website, well…soon-ish is the word that comes to mind. The plan for the message board is to build our community and further the discussion about the club. As part of this, we’re planning an exclusive, members-only area of that message board that TAM and DP members can access. This will be a place our staff can share informational nuggets we can’t necessarily write stories about for various reasons and interact with our members on a daily basis.

Other things in the works include meet-and-greets/watch parties where you can chat with TML staff members and catch a road match with a bunch of like-minded Orlando City/Pride fans while we all cheer on the team together. There may also be other informal outings with one or more members of the staff, organized fantasy leagues, random Zoom calls for Q&A sessions, and perhaps even some organized group outings for Orlando City / Pride matches, national team games, etc.


The Most Important Part of This Post

Remember at the top of this post, when I said the most important part is at the bottom? Well, that seems like a long time ago, now, so it’s OK if you’ve already forgotten.

The most important part of our membership program is you. We want your feedback so we can make this program something that interests and excites you. We want to know what you like and dislike about this program. We want to know if there are some things we didn’t think of that interest you. If you like what we’re offering, tell us! If you hate what we’re offering, we want to know what you’d prefer instead or in addition. If you want to go drinking with Dave, we can probably arrange that, but it’ll be a unique tier and we’ll have to figure out the cost of that.

No idea is too crazy to suggest, even if it’s too insane for us to actually offer. Let us know what you want from your subscription and we’ll see if that’s something we can do. We’ll make it easy for you by putting the form right here below this post, which is now concluded.

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Welcome Home!

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Where do I even start? When we were told in January that SBNation was pulling its support of The Mane Land and other MLS and NHL blogs — and many podcasts — I was devastated. The site had become my new baby in September of 2014 and after eight and a half years, I wasn’t ready to let it go.

I was in a pickle. I couldn’t afford to lose the monthly stipend I had been getting from SBNation to manage the site and provide a steady stream of content. It wasn’t that it was a huge monthly sum, but it mostly covered my car payment. That car was purchased when my salary was higher. The pandemic hit my day job like it did to many, and after a four-month layoff, I got my old job back but not at the same rate. So, imagine taking a pay decrease at work and then, on top of that, losing the amount you spend per month on your car payment. There was simply no way to launch The Mane Land independently, I thought, because I simply couldn’t cover the startup costs. Even with some generous offers from the staff to pitch in, there simply wasn’t a way.

Once we took the news public, there was an outpouring of support on social media. We appreciated both the pledges to help out that we got from the community and the signal boosting that the national media gave blogs like ours. Those national folks rely on local reporting for background.

Encouraged by this outpouring of public support, I met with the TML staff and we threw some ideas around. We polled our Twitter followers to see how our community would prefer to show their support. We got pretty close to a 50/50 split between those who wanted to provide a one-time donation via a Kickstarter or GoFundMe crowdsourcing effort, and those who would prefer some sort of premium subscription add-on service like Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee.

We didn’t get a lot of responses to that poll, but we decided as a group that since the results were so similar, we would offer both and let the public choose one path, the other, or even both. (Stay tuned for news soon-ish on the premium subscription level, but rest assured, everything you’ve been getting for free at TML will remain free!)

I was, admittedly, skeptical that we could raise enough startup money to create a private business, pay for hosting a new site and two podcasts (having long wanted to give the Orlando Pride their own unique show), registering a domain, paying for some design work and consulting, and any unexpected expenses that might come up. However, I thought we’d at least give it a try.

Then the amazing Orlando City, Orlando Pride, and TML community got involved. You guys pushed us past our bare minimum goal in just four and a half hours when our fundraiser went live on March 1. We reset our goal and you met that by midnight. We reset our goal again, to the dream total we discussed on our initial staff Zoom chat and you met that by that first weekend.

Stunned. Humbled. Amazed. Touched. All of these words apply to how that made us feel, but they don’t quite cover it. I think we all felt an enormous responsibility, as well. We felt a mandate to provide you the best site and the best coverage we can.

We got everything we needed to run the site for two years, even if we don’t earn a penny after our launch — and we plan to try, via advertising, a Patreon (or similar) program, an online shop, affiliate links, and anything else we can think of. But we decided to leave the GoFundMe open through the end of March, just in case there were folks who wanted to contribute but needed to wait for payday, or if more people wanted to become founding members of this new site.

Now, here we are. You guys did this. We’re here because of you. And this site isn’t quite what it will become. I’m still learning my way around WordPress, after being away from it for years. There’s more to build, and some of the things you’re seeing on this site now will be improved in the future. We’ll continue to tweak it, add things, and upgrade as we go.

For now, I just want to welcome you to your new online home. On behalf of our entire staff, I thank our founding members, who are now immortalized on this site in our founders section. If you weren’t able to contribute to our transition from SBNation’s network to an autonomous and independent, new version of The Mane Land, you can thank the folks on our founders page, because without them, we wouldn’t be here. And if you still want to help out, we’ve got more things on the way.

Vamos.

Michael Citro
Managing Editor

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