Site Rhythm and Niche

March 10, 2023

I have been running this site for a couple of years now, and now that we are upon the precipice of Louisville’s third season, I will again lay out the basic rhythm for content on this site. This year there is even more Lousville-exclusive NWSL content from a variety of content creators. First, let me remind you to where I feel like there is good work being done and therefore, don’t feel the need to play on those spaces.

  • If there is a reporter of record for Louisville it is Bekki Morgan. Bekki now writes for the Equalizer, which requires a subscription, but is worth it for Bekki alone. As of today, Bekki writes preview/recaps on BGN, but I will let you know if that changes. Bekki writes the definitive match recaps for each of Louisville’s matches and is a skilled interviewer, two things that I am not particularly good at.

  • Bekki and Tom Benson have returned to host the Butchertown Rundown podcast for a second year and have added Kaitlyn Whiteside as a third host. The podcast will run every other week and might have a few more “Extra Cuts” like this one with new Assistant Coach Bev Yanez.

  • The Lavender Louisville podcast is set to launch soon and will run every other week with exclusive NWSL Louisville content, but on the opposite week of Butchertown Rundown. Cody Ruth and Joe Havelda are the hosts and I look forward to hearing their contributions to the lavender landscape.

  • Benton Newman and Zach Allen-Kelly host the Vamos Morados podcast which also dedicates about half of its content to the NWSL team. There are many other Louisville oriented pro soccer podcasts available as well, but I have been a guest on their podcast, so it gets special mention.

Here’s a reminder where I fit in:

  • The day of open practice expect a preview of the match of the upcoming opponent. From time to time I will reach out to writers who cover other NWSL teams and potentially get their perspective of the upcoming opponent. However, expect my takes to be focused on Louisville and things to watch for in the upcoming match.

  • The day of the matches I will publish player ratings from the match. These typically are available about an hour after home matches and 30 minutes after away matches. The purposes of these player ratings are to apply an eye test to a player’s performance, but to take their statistical performance into account while doing so.

  • The day after a match I will post a “Post Match Thoughts” analysis, which is meant to highlight specific areas in the match that I find interesting. Sometimes these could just be random thoughts, or sometimes it could be a further statistical breakdown. These entries assume that the reader has watched the match and my comments are intended to get the readers to think about their own takes on the previous day’s match. There are no sacred cows and I will hesitate to pull my punches on these posts.

  • The day after the match I will also update The Goal List which is Louisville’s goal history from their inception with handy links to the videos of the goals. I also update Goal Pie Charts which is a simple pictorial analysis of some attributes of the team’s goals

  • From time to time, I will write a more esoteric piece when the mood strikes.

  • I will also try to inject some silliness and fun from time to time with some lighthearted posts.

  • If there is breaking news, and I feel like I have a unique perspective I will post commentary on those items as well.

  • I semi-regularly contribute to The State of Louisville and those pieces are typically written for a broader audience. Zach Allen-Kelly is sometime a co-contributor on those articles.

  • I plan to return to handing out a “Player of the Month” award in the guise of “The Vineyard”. Yes, the wine is real.

This rhythm could change from time to time, but I wanted to give any reader a quick breakdown of how I see the site working over the course of the season.