Here I am, writing at MFUSA for the first time in what seems like a very long time. I don't think it actually has been that long, but when you've poured so much into a space for two and a half years, even a few days can seem like an eternity.
I'm very much alive, which you know if you follow me on Twitter or listen to the podcast. The reason for my moderately extended absence is that, at this moment, most of my energy is going into an incredible new project that both Keith Hickey and I have been drafted into. It's called KCKRS, and while it's almost nothing like MFUSA, it's invigorating on a thousand different levels for me both as a writer and as an observer of soccer culture.
Let's go ahead and get this out of the way: MFUSA is not going anywhere. Even if I thought it was time to pull the plug on a personal level, this site has enough going for it that there's no reason to shut it down completely. Jason Kuenle pops up on occasion with his excellent insight. Ben McCormick has added a great new element with his coverage of the Baby Nats. The American Soccer Show will always land here on Monday mornings in addition to its dedicated Libsyn blog and iTunes. Hell, Keith might even stop by the lay out a Match Fit Reserve entry every now and then, and probably should. Edit - I didn't mean to leave out Chris Ballard by any means. I'm just tired. Chris is awesome.
As for me, I like the idea that if I get certain itches, I can always come here to scratch them. KCKRS is not the place for the thoughtful pieces you have come to expect from me, so MFUSA will continue to be my outlet for things that don't fit there. I do have the weekly column at USSoccerPlayers.com, where I ramble about various American soccer-related issues, but I'm certainly more free to spew nonsense here. That's a comfort, and one on which I hope to find myself leaning again - as regularly as possible - in the near future.
The bottom line is that KCKRS (and USSoccerPlayers.com before it) represents an opportunity to leverage what I've built here into compensation. Paid work is the holy grail for any blogger who sees him or herself as more than just a hobbyist, and I'm certainly of that ilk. It distresses me that there's just not enough time to keep up MFUSA as I did before while also doing my thing elsewhere for a little scratch, but it's not a situation that can be helped (right now anyway). Take heart that, as those of you that have read any amount of my work should know, I'm not one for seeing things in black and white. Taking on a new challenge means adjustment, and for the moment, that's as far as I can allow myself to go. The blog will live on.
So, that was a lot of words to say something very simple: Read KCKRS, read my column at USSoccerPlayers.com, and be on the lookout for things to sporadically show up here under my byline. MFUSA might not be the multiple-post-a-day machine it was not too long ago, but what it will be won't be so bad. With a little patience and some better time-management on my part, it might even make it back to semi-relevant status.
Confidence is high. I repeat, confidence is high.
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