The Ole Miss Spirit and On3 – Why?

The dust is still flying from, putting it mildly, a hectic and tumultuous few days, but I felt it was time to get some things aired out.

First, I don’t have the time nor inclination for long term bitterness or anger, no matter the situation in my professional life. I’m not going to lie – the last few days were tough, real tough, but I’m not a dweller. I don’t harbor resentment, although that would be easy to do, and I don’t live my life in the past. Learn from it, sure. Live in it, no way.

Starting over at my age after building something for four decades is a pain in the posterior, but sometimes life throws you curves and if you can’t hit the curve, you can’t play in the majors.

I am blessed to have a wonderful family whom I adore and who adores me. I have – despite some struggles in the last few years – a decent health record. Looks like I’m going to live a few more years anyway.

I suspected but didn’t know for sure, I have a very loyal and large group of true friends – folks who are there during good times and bad and their thoughts, prayers, guidance, comfort and offers to help me in any way they can recently have been appreciated beyond words. I knew they were sincere and that, as they say, is the truest form of flattery and the purest form of friendship. It’s real.

In this short life of ours, what more can a person ask for and I mean that from the depths of my soul and with all my heart.

So, at this crossroads of a 40-plus-year career in newspaper sportswriting and publishing The Ole Miss Spirit, I was unceremoniously left to ponder, what’s next? Retirement? Start over with an independent website? Join one of two or three functioning networks?

Then a lightning bolt, an awakening even, came to the forefront immediately in the form of the relatively new network On3, the brainchild of one Shannon Terry. Thank goodness and Elvis.

So let me clue you in on Shannon Terry. Even though he is quite a bit younger than me and I consider him a peer in some respects, he is a true giant in our industry. First, he published the largest site at the University of Alabama. Then he had a major hand in leading, developing, marketing and basically inventing the Rivals network, which he made valuable and then he sold. After that, Shannon ramrodded the 247 model and network, which he also made highly successful and sold.

Shannon is literally the Jackson Pollock of our industry. His paint is strategically, forcefully and purposely splattered all over the fan site landscape.

His latest offering, On3, is a culmination of over three decades in this fansite arena. He calls it his legacy.

This latest Terry project is the sum total of many years of trial and error, what works and what doesn’t in our industry. It’s cutting-edge technology, which we won’t get into here, but as we delve more into roaming around this site, we will explain. I promise you, nobody else in the industry is doing what On3 will be doing in the next few months. Not even close.

While I consider Shannon, as I said, a peer in some respects, I also know the score. In the most flattering, but serious, sense of the word, he is the boss. This network is his vision, his financial investment, his baby and eventually his masterpiece.

Those who know me well and have been with me a long time know I don’t hand out praise and compliments easily and without justification. Those things have to be earned and Shannon has earned all of it and some.

I would be a raging fool not to take his direction, his input, his insight and his guidance in this venture, so it was a total no-brainer as to the next step I was going to take in my career.

It’s nothing but On3 moving forward, my friends, and I hope you will give it a chance to marinate and allow yourself to grow in this community as you become more adjusted to it. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Special thanks to Shannon, and his spectacular team, for having faith in Ben and I and for backing us up completely.

Special thanks to all of you who have followed us here from our other ventures. We will work tirelessly to keep your trust as we cover our favorite subject – Ole Miss athletics. All we ask it a bit of patience as we acclimate ourselves to the site, learn all the nuances of technology and take some direction from Shannon and his team on how On3 wants things done in terms of tone and tenor.

We want to build something lasting and substantial that represents On3, Ole Miss and The Ole Miss Spirit in the best possible light.

And a very special thanks to Ben Garrett. Where would I be without one of the bright stars in our business and industry? I shudder to think. With Ben and I, loyalty is number one. Love you, my friend/little brother.

We will be announcing more staff additions soon – we hope, but we want to make sure with every move we make that it is the best we can do to provide you with the best and most complete info on Ole Miss sports there is.

Thanks. Onward with On3.

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