BloodyElbow.com: 2009 Edition

I let the new year pass without offering remarks about this past year or the one ahead. That act may have looked like laziness and perhaps it was, but I needed some silence. This past week was the longest I've gone without posting in more than two years. Even on vacations or alleged "time off" I was still checking this site twenty or thirty times a day, editing, posting or just re-reading. I decided this year I was going to unplug. I have yet to watch either K-1's NYE event or yesterday's Sengoku fights. I'll be catching up this week, but for me to let not one but two MMA events pass is exceedingly rare. I needed the space desperately and now that I'm back on the grid, it's all business.

The story of 2008 as far as Bloody Elbow is concerned has to do with the growth and development of the staff. The writers here have always been very good and reliable, but the team is now truly humming. The team has the size and scope to hit virtually every issue and to do so with erudition. I had apprehensions about not posting for a few days, but the handful of times I briefly checked in gave me clear indication my worries were for naught. I, therefore, want to take this opportunity to recognize their efforts, hard work, late nights, early mornings and time sacrificed away from friends and family to feed this machine we've all helped create.

As for what's ahead, all I can say is strap in. It's beyond annoying and often a lie when big sites say "we've got some stuff cooking", but it's true in this case. This site and its managers are working feverishly behind the scenes to bring some real value-add commentary, analysis, news and community response. On behalf of Team Bloody Elbow, I thank you for reading this site and remind you 2008 was just the beginning. Here goes nothing.