Happy Birthday, I Bleed Crimson Red

One year ago today, the domain www.ibleedcrimsonred.com was registered. The blog was actually begun on April 1st and the very first post was on the growing number of publicly traded companies announcing charges against earnings due to the newly passed ObamaCare law. I am a grizzled veteran of sports and political boards and blogging, but I wanted my own platform to air my points of view on current affairs.

I originally intended IBCR to be a political blog with a strongly conservative message, but three days after I registered the domain, the Deepwater Horizon MODU platform suffered a blowout, caught fire and sank. Eleven men were lost, and the well she was drilling eventually poured more than 200 million gallons of crude into my beloved Gulf of Mexico. That spill dominated the news and dominated this blog from late April until the well was plugged in September.

The message then shifted to the November midterm elections, where readers got a steady diet of news and commentary about how a true, grassroots movement of ordinary Americans were rising up to spank the liberal establishment in Washington, DC.

Blog traffic was slow at first. I spent many days in May reloading the stats pages, skeptical about the notion that if I built it, you would come. You did, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the many wonderful comments from readers all over the world.

There hasn’t been a down month yet. Every month has seen an increase in traffic over the previous one, and April 2011 has already exceeded March 2011. In fact, the year to date traffic figures have already exceeded the entire year of 2010, and the trend is straight up.

I have to extend a great big “Thank You” to Auburn University and Cameron Newton. You have been providing me with easy, free blog content for the last five months. I also need to give props to Milton McGregor, Robert Geddie, Ronnie Gilley and the whole BingoGate crowd. Oh, and thank you too, Uncle Bobby.

You’ve let me explore topics like NCAA compliance, agents’ influence in college football, political corruption, bank and securities fraud, common street thuggery, the FBI’s interest in college football and the intensely competitive nature of sports in the Southeastern Conference.  By all means, ladies and gentlemen, please keep it coming.

I’ve been accused of being obsessed and a hater. I’m neither. I’m a blogger, and I’m going to cover the material that people want to read about. Last summer, it was the oil spill. Last fall, it was the election. Since November 4, it’s been about the NCAA, the FBI, the SEC, trials indictments and wiretaps. This time next year, who knows what the topic du jour will be. Auburn is not special. They’re just in the news and people are starving for information. I’m happy to oblige and the fact that Bama’s rival is the one getting the full-fisted rectal exam is just gravy. Lagniappe. Icing on the cake.

I’m planning some big things in the next 12 months. I am still working on the details and putting together the evil “Master Plan,” [muhahahaha!] but when it all comes together it’s going to be an exciting experience for you and I, both.

But today, I just wanted to note the one year anniversary of this blog and tell you all how much I appreciate your visits. 

Y’all rock.

If you’d like to extend some well-wishing, how about clicking on one of those ads over there in the right side panel, or how about buying a brand new Bama hat?  I have this HUGE PACER bill coming due next month…

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