6/2/16

Mack’s Morning Report – 6-2-16 – The Last Waltz


  
Good morning.


I had hope to make it through this season before I retired. Sadly, that’s an impossibility now.

I want to thank everyone that’s been a part of this site, especially the two writers currently left (Reese Kaplan and Thomas Brennan) and the guy that helped me start this whole thing (David Rubin). I have no idea what Reese and Thomas plan to do past today. The site will remain open if they chose to write additional posts. I hope they do.

In between, there have been some great writers on this site, but, it’s hard to keep them motivated when you aren’t paying them anything.

I also want to thank the readers who, back in the heydays of the site, averaged 5-6,000 readers a day. You all have been very special to me.

As most of you know, I had a 32-year career in broadcasting before I started this ‘hobby’, It was designed to give the Mets fans a dedicated site for the Mets affiliate teams that no other blog covered. Now, many do, mostly read and written by the younger crown that is into the new stat metrics I never bothered to learn. I though the old fashioned stat line was good enough to attract a large audience. It once was. It isn’t anymore.

This isn’t my first exit from the site, but it will be my last this time. In fact, my plans are to turn off the computer completely.

Oh yeah... one more thing. The draft posts I talked about earlier this week are already written and will post up as promised.

Lastly, I have no regrets in what I have done or what I am doing now. I look forward to my next ‘hobby’… feeding the dog, Netflix, and watering the plants.


Let’s Go Mets.

Mack 

18 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Mack has provided great service and dedication to the hard core Mets fan community, engendering robust and sometimes contentious debate,but with an emphasis on cordiality in a day and age of abusive, careless posts.  He provided me an opportunity to write for the site two years ago, and it was delightful, mostly.

So I wish a great man well, all the best. The website was a wonderful and worthwhile endeavor.  Everyone's voice and input mattered to the Mets - we bloggers were the silent partner influencing the Mets' decisions.  For the better.

It would be entirely unexpected, but it would be a really nice gesture if a member of the Mets organisation saw Mack's farewell post today and asked Sandy Alderson to drop him a thank you note for caring so doggone much about this team.

Mack, it has been a pleasure.

Anonymous said...

Mack, I hope that after some time off, you find a weekly gig at some other site -- seems like Mets 360 would be perfect for you -- and we can still enjoy your writing and your thoughts.

And btw, learning some of the new stats would not be a bad thing. You might even like some of them. But mostly, yes, keep your eye on the ball.

Thanks for many hours of reading pleasure. It's been nice being a fan with you.

James Preller

Ernest Dove said...

Its been an absolute pleasure to have written posts on macks mets for the past 3 years. I never had to worry about being put down or made to feel bad about any of my posts because the readers are incredible.
Mack, you've been great to me.
I still hope we can meet up one day at tradition field. Catch a Lucie game. Eat up some $1 hot dogs and (a few) $1 beers.

Love you my friend and thank you.

Bob Sugar said...

Thank you very much Mack. Best to your wife Sue as well. I read your site every day during the season and enjoyed it. The extra bonus was commenting on the team with other Met fans. Go live a good life

Brian Joura said...

One of my goals as a writer is to give the readers ... something. That something can take many forms and it doesn't even have to be baseball-related.

The main reason I came to this site on a regular basis is that you gave us that something. It could have been a story from your past or an update from the minors that no one else had or insight into who was ready to make a contribution.

Selfishly, I'll miss that.

The Dim said...

It was always with profound enthused
That i've read countless of your posts, the comments made, the back and forth. But at tge end of the you've made us feel part of a blog team.
Best of luck
Go Mets
Dimitri C

Anonymous said...

I guess I can't let this one pass by without comment. But regarding Tom's comment up top -- "we bloggers were the silent partner influencing the Mets' decisions" -- well, I find that wildly delusional.

Probably my last comment here.

Peace all & Let's Go Mets!

Jimmy P

Zozo said...

Good luck and God bless Mackone of the first things I would do in the morning was read Macks Mets, now I might have to start drinking coffee to get my blood flowing.
Thanx buddy

Tom Brennan said...

I am, Jimmy p, as Steve Martin once almost said, a wildly delusional kind of guy. I will leave it at that.

Hobie said...

Bless you, Mack.

That first cup of coffee won't taste the same without looking over the brim at that Mack's Mets logo.

All the very best.

Eddie from Corona said...

Mack I was not one of your earliest readers but this Site had become my first read every morning for the past few years... Thank you for that...
I hope someone picks up the mantle but to everyone I have appreciated all that has been shared the past few years...

Jon Messinger said...

Hi Mack!
as a long time reader, I will greatly miss you
and the Mack's Morning Report; as with many others,
the intellegent thoughts and comments have been my
first Mets read every day, and I'll be very sorry to
see it and you go. hope all is well with you, and you
can spend many years feeding the dog, watching Netflix
and watering the plants. take care!! Jon

Michael S. said...

Mack,

Best wishes and God bless to you my friend. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts on our beloved Mets. It's very sad to see you go. I'm glad that we were able to keep things fun while we watched the organization go from the low point of 2010-2011 through the building process to where they are now. All the best to you and your family.

- Mike Scannell

Reese Kaplan said...

Obviously I'm never one to hold back an opinion and Mack gave me a respectable outlet to vent. In a way it was a realization of a childhood ambition to be a sportswriter, though except for the day I conned the El Paso Chihuahuas out of a Press Credential to cover the 51s when they were in town, I don't delude myself into thinking I'm any kind of real journalist.

Still, there were times, particularly when I had writer's block, trying to figure out what to write twice weekly, that I would flash to a time when my father would have me write up coverage of the Mets or Knicks and then compare what I'd done to what the real sportswriters chose to say the next day. Little did I know there would eventually be a platform that would allow me to build on that childhood practice.

What made the time here particularly enjoyable is that Mack let each of us have our own say, whether or not he agreed with the content. He didn't set many rules such as no first person or no editorializing. In fact, the only things I remember in terms of rules were always to use the player's first and last names the first time he appeared in your article and to check the copyright on any photos. Other that that he let us sink or swim on our own and it's been a great learning experience.

I'll continue to post, even as a one-man-show, on Wednesdays and Saturdays until we see if anyone else steps up and volunteers to contribute to keep the site alive. As a full time working professional I can't commit to a 7-day endeavor but, like many of you, always started my day with a caffeine-infused beverage and Mack's Mets, 365 days per year.

Thank you Mack for all that you do, have done and will do in the future. You will be sorely missed.

IB said...

Best of luck, Mack. It's been a lot of fun and amazingly informative.
Take care!!!

Dallas said...

Hope you are OK Mack.

Anonymous said...

This was my first read every morning for many years. My favorite Mets site. It expanded my Mets world and helped me learn about the whole minor league organization. The content here had t be top notch to attract the quality of commenters. The only place I know of where the comments section was better than many other sites main content.

You will be missed.

Since68

TP said...

Mack,
Thank you for all your efforts, which made following the Mets all the more enjoyable. Additionally, thanks to the other writers as well. Godspeed to all.