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Happy New Year from the bayou!
Looking back at 2024, the sports world experienced quite a whirlwind of change. Some of it was for the good. Sadly, a good bit of the changes have been not-so-good.
We have a clean slate in 2025. It’s time to do some reflection on what went wrong in 2024 and what your aching and aging SwampSwami can do better in the coming year.
Let’s start with me!
Did you know that SwampSwamiSports.com has been around since 2017? Like those giant cockroaches living in your garage, you simply cannot get rid of me very easily!
In 2024, yours truly wrote 111 posts for SwampSwamiSports.com. You received each and every one of them for free, too! You definitely got what you paid for!
In addition, I recorded 110 audio podcasts for those 111 stories (the final story in 2024 did not contain an audio file due to a lingering WordPress malady).
Believe it or not, it takes a lot of time to come up with an decent idea and then to research, write, record the audio portion, edit it, and produce the final products for your viewing/listening pleasure. Friends in the journalism field understand how difficult it is to come up with original ideas and forge ahead to file a decent story on schedule.
On average, I spend about six hours per show (written and audio). Yes, that is a LOT of time for this unpaid sports guy.
Thanks to Apple Podcasts, the SwampSwami.com audio podcast is available worldwide.
A few copycat podcast hosting sites have apparently picked-up my audio show, too. Though I wish they would have asked for permission first, counselor Perry Mason told me to chill – at least for now.
If you prefer using Twitter (x.com), my handle is “SwampSwamiSport” (the name was one letter too long so they chopped the “s” off!).
It seems to draw a few new eyeballs (or bots?) with every new post.
What’s ahead in 2025?
In December, my website was hampered for nearly a week with a third party technical glitch. I’m NOT a programmer. This business major’s lone IT class resulted in a “C” effort in FORTRAN (a Stone Age computer language which utilized punch cards for input). As a result of being unable to fix my own website, a financial decision (whether to pay someone at GoDaddy to fix it) recently emerged.
With my micro budget and lack of IT knowledge, I am giving thought to possible alternatives this year.
Substack.com – A move to Substack and allowing them to take care of the internet postings seems quite attractive recently. I would not make it a paid subscription site, though. I don’t want anyone’s money or to create a bookkeeping or tax issue.
You Tube – If you’ve heard the term, “He has a face for radio”, well…that’s how I feel. You Tube is video intensive. That seems very unlikely to become a viable solution.
Adding guest stars for my Apple Podcasts – As a former radio guy, I do like this idea.
In the past, my computer had been limited with incremental storage space (yes, I am quite cheap!). Thanks to a recent upgrade by one of my thrifty-but-clever sons, the hard drive “space” issue was resolved. I need to invest about $200 for a moderate quality audio mixer to record guests and then edit the final product in a professional manner.
I am revisiting Santa’s stocking to see if he left a surprise gift for me (other than another lump of coal – which shows-up annually).
Should the length of my blog posts and audio shows be reduced? – On average, most of my posts are around 1,500 words. That has been a comfortable space to fully develop an idea.
It also yields an audio podcast file of about ten minutes, too.
Since I do not claim to have a Masters degree in Podcasting, it seemed like a quality 10-minute audio show was about right. Though Joe Rogan and others can blather on for hours, I believe that unscripted sports talk is best found on your favorite local AM sports radio station. Please DO support their advertisers to keep them on the air!
Should SwampSwami bring on a writing partner to add more variety? – I have a few friends who are quite talented and would make dandy contributions to this site. Unfortunately, most need to earn a regular paycheck, participate in family life, and/or attend to a myriad of other issues on a daily basis. It’s difficult to commit to a regular writing schedule. I am open to the idea, though.
Do you have any suggestions on how to improve (keep it clean)? Drop me a line at [email protected]. I read your emails and appreciate constructive feedback.
The good, the bad, and the ugly
Sharing sports content with you every week has been a fun and creative outlet after ending my full-time former career.
During college, I was fortunate enough to have worked as a part-time traditional announcer at a local radio station. The creative aspects of the radio business really “hooked” me.
Later, a pioneering New Orleans AM talk radio station was brave enough to hire me for a part-time weekend talk show.
The 1980’s show was general in nature but callers often preferred to chat about regional sports. PERFECT!
As I have aged, I am saddened by the lack of local radio stations which offer training and opportunities for younger talent. Though today’s “plug and play” satellite radio stations are more economic to operate, local sports isn’t covered very much (if at all). Is it any wonder why the ratings for AM sports radio stations have become dismally low?
Thanks to the internet, there are new creative outlets. However, that market is over-saturated.
It’s hard to stand out in a crowded field.
Apple Podcasts (which hosts my show – did I say it was free!) claims to have millions of podcasts available.
While that may be true, the vast majority of those podcasts are less than professional productions. P.U.
I am definitely old school when it comes to what goes on the air. One rule is “Is this OK for my grandsons to listen to?” Corny “Dad jokes” are plentiful here. The SwampSwamiSports.com seal of approval is that kids are welcome to listen here.
What’s coming to SwampSwamiSports.com in 2025?
Additional regional focus – Though a primary emphasis will remain on my home state of Louisiana, other regional and national stories still warrant timely commentary and coverage during the year.
Another Top 25 ranking will be added for FCS (small college) football teams in 2025 – A lot of work goes into the SwampSwamiSports.com Top 25 rankings for all 134 FBS large division football teams beginning after the first month of college football. By the way, my FBS rankings are batting a nifty 58.3% (21 wins vs. 15 losses) in the college bowl match-ups for games played through December 31, 2024.
I will continue to examine the never-ending merger attempts of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf – Money talks. LIV’s Saudi backers have more money than the PGA Tour’s new financial backers. If LIV finally gets a better TV deal in 2025 (leaving the CW Network and, perhaps, landing on Fox’ FS1 this year), the viewership for LIV Golf can only increase. I will cover golf closely in the first half of 2025.
Will I continue to pick on Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys? Of course! Several of my old friends are loyal Cowboys fans. I hate seeing them suffer so much. I will take jabs at ol’ Jer until he retires or steps away from the day-to-day operations. “Let us pray…”
How about my equally crumby New Orleans Saints? – Unlike Dallas Cowboys fans, a long-suffering but forever loyal WhoDat fan still has more confidence about the future of our favorite team.
I do plan to take plenty of shots (mostly deserved) at the Saints for their recent demise.
Will you finally do a few hockey stories in 2025?
One of my friends has continued to push me to become more interested in the NHL.
As I’ve stated in the past, hockey is fun to watch in person. Unlike basketball (where I can easily detect an exceptional basketball player from another), most pro hockey players seem to have virtually the same skill level to me. Yes, that’s an admission that I have lived south of I-20 for most of my life.
Perhaps I can coax Happy Gilmore to pen a few hockey stories in 2025.
Stay tuned!
I promise to give you my very best efforts every time again this year.
It’s my money-back guarantee! (Oh, wait…)