Thank You All for the Support in 2017 – We’re Shuttin’ Her Down for the Year

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I know, I know. There’s been a lot less dick jokes, and a lot more sentimental nice posts this week. But, what can I say? It’s the season of reflection, season of thanks, and season of love. All of those things that Hallmark makes millions of fucking dollars exploiting. You know the drill.

But, we’re also an authentic bunch. I think that’s how we win people over. Sure, we’re a bunch of degenerate internet personalities. We’re funny, but we also know our shit. We’re the team embodiment of ‘guys being dudes,’ or the cliche “we’re just regular people writing!” But, when we get serious, we can write some really good stuff. Or, as I said the other day, we are the full spectrum of Ke$ha: as fun as “Tik Tok,” but as damn beautiful as “Praying.”

“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick, Cadbury Pringlebatch, and myself at the SoBros Super Bowl party.

Maybe that’s why we connect so well. Hell, I don’t know. I’m still just amazed by this year that we’ve had, and being the OCD analytical type, I’m trying to figure out why. Plus, this season of reflection just seems to have my hormone levels in flux. I’m so sappy.

You can read more about what we’ve accomplished in 2017 here, and you can even get a sneak peek at what we’re planning for 2018 here. This post is just to simply say, thank you. Thank all of you wild ass people who have joined the circus with us.

Thank you all.

Namely, yeah – as corny as it sounds – but our readers, our viewers…the people who have supported us. They’ve bought our t-shirts, shared our articles, and have come out to our events. I’m incredibly grateful for the followers who have come along and helped us build this thing together. But, I’m even more thankful…pleasantly surprised, even…by the number of people I’ve met through this website who have become friends. It’s an amazing thing, and without each of you, I’m not sitting here teary-eyed writing this ‘thank you’ post.

But, there’s plenty of people to thank on the other side of this venture, too.

We’ve put in a lot of fucking work this year. A lot – like…we’ve averaged 112 articles per month over the course of the last eight months (and I haven’t even run the numbers for December (because December isn’t over)). We’ve uploaded 49 videos to YouTube, posted 34 videos to Facebook, several Periscope sessions, and 30 podcasts on SoundCloud. That’s not including the physical work – traveling to Chattanooga, to Cookeville, hosting five events in or around Nashville, and reviewing local establishments all for the #CONTENT.

That’s also not including the behind-the-scenes stuff like the hours we’ve spent ironing out the web site, the hours I spent talking to the Department of Revenue, the County Clerk, and chasing down lawyers to set up actual business shit, the time and money Cadbury has put into setting up our t-shirt operations, or the time it took to design stuff to sell.

What a body of work to hang our hats on.

If we never become anything more than this, I will still and always be proud of what we’ve come together to produce this year.

A live shot at all the action at the SoBros Big Hang II at Riverfront Tavern in Mount Juliet.

But, it’s also incredibly time consuming. I have a day job that I absolutely hate. It’s like Homer Simpson going back to the nuclear plant for Maggie. Except I don’t have kids. Instead, SoBros Network is like my baby. I don’t enjoy a lot of free time. Most weeks, every free moment I have is usually scheduled for some sort of work function – writing an article, tweaking the site, working on business shit, etc. It’s a decision every writer is faced with when they sit down to produce something for this web site.

Do you skip that hour of sleep or do you produce? Do you meet up with that friend you haven’t seen in months, or do you produce? It was a tough day, and you just want to kill some beers and watch football – but man, shouldn’t you be producing? If you have 30 minutes to spare, are you trying to cram in a new article or should you just read a book for a bit to reset? These are real questions that might not sound like much, but let me tell you, if you don’t manage it, it can accumulate into emotional stress before you know it.

So, you see it’s not just as simple as, ‘here’s the content. Let us entertain you!’ No, there’s a sacrifice…one that all of our writers have to make. I would love to be at a point where what we’re doing here provides for all of our team. But, the truth is, that’s not how things work. It takes a lot of effort, a lot of sacrifice, and a lot of time to build what we are trying to build the way we are trying to build it.

Which, by the way, is the thing I’m most proud of when I think about the year we’ve had. That over the course of all these years, we’ve built something that people want to be a part of, and want to give their time to pitch in and make it even better.

Poppa Bear and “Nature Boy” Brandon Vick on our content trip to Case de Montecristo in Nashville.

I look at how “Nature Boy” Brandon Vick has evolved over the course of his career here. He passed the 150-article milestone this year (163 pieces written, to be exact). Our readers voted him Writer of the Year in the entertainment category, and his ‘Best Movies of the Month’ tied for our Recurring Feature of the Year (Anthology). But, where he’s impressed me most is his constant desire to be better, his passion for what he’s doing, and his loyalty to the SoBros brand.

You can always see the gears turning in his mind when it comes to his brand on the web site – he’s always thinking about his next piece, his next podcast, and he’s always tinkering with ways to get his content in front of more people. He’s expressed an interest in things that most writers haven’t, and he’s applied things that he’s learned….stuff that most people don’t even think about, like scheduling social media posts to capitalize on when most of our users are online.

I also look at the year that Poppa Bear had, and just how important the skills he possesses are to the SoBros brand. His weekly SEC Power Rankings column is one of the cornerstones of this website, and we have people that read it every week like clockwork. People have reached out to us saying they love his writing style because you feel like you’re having a conversation. Plus, Poppa Bear is hilarious. I’ve always known him to be a very gregarious kindred spirit, but I never realized how important that would be for us. That is, until I saw it in action when we went down to Chattanooga to cover the Scenic City Invitational.

I’m a walking ball of stress, trying to get our itinerary together, making sure we’re in the right spot at the right time, trying to schedule our content, unsure of how the whole fucking thing is going to go. Then, there’s Poppa Bear, just out making friends, charismatic as ever, drawing people in. I remember having a moment….we’re sitting at a table with about a dozen people we had just met in the couple of hours prior…and Poppa Bear is telling a story. I look around the table, and I notice that everyone sitting there is hooked. They’re all just looking at him with this smile on their faces, like, “this dude is funny and cool as fuck.” That’s when I saw it. I was like, “damn – how did I never see this happening?”

He’s been like that at every event we’ve hosted. He treats people like that on Twitter, and people like it. Plain and simple. I don’t know that there’s a better ambassador for the SoBros brand on our team than he is.

Adam Ogilvie, Poppa Bear, myself, and “Nature Boy” Brandon Vick at Bobby Beadle’s wedding.

These things tend to expose themselves over time. You bring someone in to write articles, and if they’re happy, if they like doing it, you develop a relationship that allows you to start seeing some of these skills and strengths that enhance the original vision of what you set out to do. Something I never really thought of happening was the open exchange of ideas we have across our staff. We have so many people that have unique skill sets, that what we’re doing now has been enhanced in ways I couldn’t foresee.

You guys probably won’t see the level of impact that Cadbury Pringlebatch has had on the business. But, it’s been immense. I said, “I want to one day make our own shit so that we don’t have pay a middle man to do it for us.” That’s a huge undertaking, folks. That’s outright daunting. How do you go from having no experience whatsoever to doing something well enough to sell it to people with your name attached to it? I didn’t even know where to start. But, Cadbury on the other hand, essentially said, “fuck it. I’ll do it.”

Months later, he’s put together quite the setup in his garage, and we’re in the ‘trial and error’ phase of our development there. That is something that is textbook ‘business critical.’ He’s been instrumental in every major production we’ve put together. Sure, he’s a strong content guy – his piece on Basil Marceaux(.com) won Article of the Year (Funny As Hell Category) at the SoBros Awards. But, he’s always behind the curtain, thinking of ways to push this business to profitability. He’s attended business meetings with me, he’s generated leads on both the content and business fronts. There’s no way we’re where we are without him.

In that same spirit of ‘hidden talents exposing themselves,’ we brought Ralph Wiggum and Smokey on board this year. I’ve been friends with Ralph for 12 years now, and he was instrumental in getting our site migrated to a self-hosted platform. ‘Instrumental’ is actually an understatement. We don’t have a new website without him, to be frank. I remember all the work that went into it, and I remember telling Ralph, “this doesn’t have to be your role here.” I believe in the guy, and I believe he’s one of the funniest people you’ll ever hang out with. So, I said, “if you want to, make some content for us.” Boy, he delivered. The guy has a knack for writing viral content – to this day, no one has a higher average of page views per post. So, he’s proven himself to be a veritable jack of all trades.

Smokey, on the other hand, worked out in reverse. Our readers, mostly based in Tennessee, wanted Vols coverage. So, I took to the streets of Facebook to find a Vols writer. Smokey responded, wanted to give it a shot, and boom – we’re rolling. Then, we bring him in, and he just happens to mention that he has a wealth of technical skills. In addition to having his finger wholly on the pulse of Vols, he saved the web site from crashing on numerous occasions this year. I’m still amazed by this….because if left to me, and if we weren’t fortunate enough to have Ralph and Smokey interested in this company, I have no idea what I would do.

“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick and Cadbury Pringlebatch getting ready for our review of the Corsair Brewstillery.

I’m also proud of how Rubber Rooster and Bobby Beadle stepped up to challenge themselves and their content this year. Rooster’s ‘History Lesson’ remains our most-read recurring feature on the web site to this day, averaging hundreds of readers with each piece. But, we all knew she was capable of much more than that. She’s one of the most intelligent people you’ll meet, a respectful debater, and has a sense of humor that fits right in with us. It’s almost as if her skills were made for the SoBros podcasts. But, she also identified an area that she wanted to pursue, and she went after it. That’s how Rubber Rooster Plays got started, and it remains the most-viewed feature on our YouTube channel.

Bobby has that same sort of confidence and desire. We brought him in to help produce the SoBros Jam Session. But, he quickly proved himself to be much more. Bobby is an outright entertainer – he’s charismatic. He’s incredibly talented, he’s funny as hell, and he has that same sort of companionable nature that a lot of our team shares. So, when he came to me and said, “I think I could be doing more for the site,” I said, “by all means, go for it!” And so, SoBros Outdoors was born. I can’t wait to see where this new venture goes in 2018.

The boom in popularity of our site during the Nashville Predators’ run to the Stanley Cup Final showed me that we needed more Preds coverage on the site. So, we brought in this guy named Herbie Brooks, good friend of Poppa Bear’s, who vouched for Herbie by saying, “Herbie doesn’t half-ass anything.” Boy, was he right. I’ve been incredibly impressed by the way Herbie’s hit the ground running on this season. Hockey Tonkin’ is one of the staples of our weekly content now, and when he’s not writing, he’s live-tweeting games. His social media game is on point – probably because he’s just the right combination of funny, sarcastic, and informative.

Then, we have a whole ‘nother class of rookies we brought in this year. It’s amazing that we’ve been able to find these people who so closely fit within this group. Reading Jonas Brotherly is like reading a gin-infused foray into comics. The guy is hilarious, and writes things that people sort of naturally gravitate towards. Only Ralph Wiggum averages more page views per post than “JoBro.”

We’re also fortunate to have Adam Ogilvie on board, who can cover baseball in a way that doesn’t completely bore me (Sorry, just being honest here). It’s an area of the site we needed to develop, but I know nothing about MLB. So, there’s no way we could build that division of the site without him, and to be honest, there’s no one I’d rather build that content vertical around than Adam. He writes with incredible charisma.

In similar fashion to Adam’s arrival, we also brought in Wes Calhoun this year to cover the NBA and college basketball. I simply didn’t have the time or the knowledge to cover basketball, but it worked out well considering Wes’ game is completely on point. He’s an electric writer who brings humor to every piece, along with in-depth breakdowns and analysis. Actually, now that I’ve written that, “Electric Wes” might have to stick as a nickname. I’ll have to see what he thinks.

Wes Calhoun, Poppa Bear, myself, and “Nature Boy” Brandon Vick at the Big Hang II.

Finally, our newest writer, Mama C, provides a little more depth to our site and offers something completely different from any other writer: the “mom blog!” And, people love it. I happen to know Mama C very well, and know how much work she and the hubs put in to building a strong family. They stay overwhelmed, but never lose sight of what’s truly important in life, and that sort of love comes across in every sentence she writes for us.

And, that’s just our staff.

We have significant others who have to put up with our bullshit. I’m sure there are other ways they’d love to spend their nights than listening to us talk business, go live on podcasts, or just be rowdy assholes in general. I know for a fact that the First Lady has spent a lot more nights than I care to keep count of watching the Kardashians alone because I was up working. If I didn’t have her supporting me, I would be even more of a train wreck than I already am. I can’t imagine a life without her.

My family has been incredibly supportive as well, which is kind of shocking. My mother has specifically told me that she will not share a post on her Facebook if it’s coming from SoBros Network. I don’t blame her – there’s lots of f-bombs and dick jokes on this web site. But, at the same time, she’s also spent time with me planning the SoBros office, offering some tips on screen printing, and on occasion, she’s been known to say, “I found something silly that would probably go well on your web site.” She knows how hard I work on this, actually telling me I need to slow down and enjoy life a little more. But, her and my dad always made me feel supported.

Myself, 2017 ‘SoBro of the Year’ Paul Heggen, and Poppa Bear at JB’s Pour House.

I lost my father in 2014, but he was still around when this SoBros thing was just an idea. In fact, he designed our first logo. I miss him every day, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to call him and share something new that we’ve accomplished. But, he never hid how proud he was of me, and I’ve always felt confident that he would at least be proud of how hard we’ve worked to create something like this.

I know he’d be incredibly happy to see me find something I love doing so much. He was one of my best friends and advisers. Though I know he’d probably shake his head at some of the things we’ve written, we’d have to be honest with ourselves, too. It’s not like I’m the first Keeley to have an inappropriate sense of humor. I didn’t just get that from nowhere.

It seems like my family has lost quite a bit over the last few years, actually. I lost my grandfather back in September, a World War II vet who sacrificed for his country and loved his family deeply. That’s an overarching theme here if you’re paying attention – love. I am fortunate enough to be showered with love (not literally, gross). I come from a family that cares deeply about each other and has a history of “following their arrow,” and doing what they love. My hope is that one day I can add to that legacy.

All of this has ignited a fire within me, and now, I won’t stop until we make it. We will all build this thing together, or I will die trying. But, what I’m realizing now because of what an awesome 2017 we had, is that because of you all, this bitch doesn’t seem like a gamble anymore. It seems like more of an inevitability. If we keep working the way we have this year, and if things keep growing at the rate they are growing, we’re going to be just fine.

Tonight, I’ll be raising a glass to our readers, our supporters, our writers, our families, and our friends. Yeah, I’m going to be raising a lot of glasses tonight.

As far as what you can expect from us over the next week or so – maybe we pop in. I do love doing this after all. But, don’t count on it. For once, I’m actually going to listen to the people who have told me to quit working so hard. I’m actually going to try and step away from this. We’ll be scheduling some ‘Best of 2017’ posts on Facebook and Twitter, but expect us to hit the ground running on January 3rd.

Thanks again for everything. 

And, now that I’m feeling good and fired up, I’ll leave y’all with this:

^Mood. See y’all in 2018.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

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