When Bull Run was started back in 2009 it was one guy with a penchant for typos, suspect grammar, and a free blogspot site versus the world. Things have really changed over the past few years.
Today Bull Run is on SBNation which is one of the premier sports commentary sites on the web. While passing the site on to Vox Media meant giving up my "ownership" of the name and content I don't regret it for a second. SBNation has helped get Bull Run tied in to some of the better known fan sites on the web and it's helped grow this site's readership by almost 400% in the last three years.
The other benefit is that it has helped draw in more contributors, some of whom (who?) actually respect the English language. For a while we have had four familiar faces with some other writers in niche roles. This past year, and in particular this summer, the site has added many more faces.
To keep that community-driven site feeling going, it's time our readership gets to know the writers behind the stories you will be reading this fall. Please welcome our new and returning contributors.
1 - Tim - (UB Engineering Alumnus) - Twitter ( @BullRun_Tim )
Sadly while I was on campus in the late 90's I did not make it to very many games. UB had just jumped to division one and were still playing home games against Main instead of Baylor. I was in the pep band for the half credit and managed to make it to a handful of football and basketball games. Overall I really feel like I missed out on an important part of "the college experience".
I never really started following UB Athletics until the team hired Turner Gill and a move to Minnesota put me safely out of the reach of the Buffalo News. After finding ubfan.com I got tied in with other Buffalo fans and enjoyed the run up to the 2008 MAC football championship.
The next summer I was underwhelmed by the press coverage of Buffalo so I started up Bull Run.
2 - Conrad - (UB Graduate and former student employee of the Athletics Department) - Twitter ( @conradmostiller )
Conrad is one of the original Buffalo fan bloggers. He started up "8 Wins is Enough" right around the time I started Bull Run. Neither of us knew what the other was up to until a couple of years later when 8WIE was over with and I was nearly burnt out on Bull Run. Conrad joined up and breathed new life into the site.
He has an eye for the plight of the student athlete and brings great perspective in that arena. He is also one of the more creative and funny guys we have on staff.
3 - David Brand - (UB Graduate and former scholarship Athlete) - Twitter ( @jdavidbrand )
David is a former UB hockey player and a man who has stayed tied into the athletics department despite the fact the school dropped hockey 20 years ago. He was the first former athlete to reach out to me when Bull Run was in it's infancy and he has become our chief community organizer. He brought the BRUPEG to Bull Run and set our video webcast "Last Bull In" on solid footing.
4 - Matt- (Buffalo native, and Big UB fan!) - Twitter ( @gritzmac )
Compared to my other sports allegiances, UB is a pretty new thing for me. In middle school, I was vaguely aware that they played D1 football, but also very aware that a win was a rare thing. My fandom, though, started with basketball. I took classes at the Amherst campus over the course of middle school and high school, and my dad would usually pick me up having just killed some time at Alumni and listening to the end of the basketball game on the radio. I remember in particular waiting out both the double-OT loss to Kent and of course Leon Williams in our driveway long after we had gotten home.
I started going to basketball games the next season and football the year after that and started posting on UBFan.com in summer of 2008. I've been a frequent commenter on Bull Run from the beginning but joined Tim, Conrad, and Dave as a writer in October 2013. When you see my name on the site it will likely be attached to a piece about the 'non-revenue' sports, though during basketball season I devote a lot of time to both the Men's and Women's teams.
5 - Johnathan Snyder - (WNYSports Writer and Big4 fan and College Golf Coach) - Twitter ( @J_Snyder613 )
Johnathan is a Big 4 Basketball Guru who is the founder of WNYBig4Talk. While his main site covers all of the Big Four programs he does a lot of his Buffalo coverage right here on Bull Run. Including some wonderful video post game wraps ups that we call "Bull Run TV". He is also an assistant Golf coach at Daemen.
6 - John McWhinnie (UB Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Class of 2016) - Twitter (@J_McWhinnie)
Growing up in the Adirondacks/Capital Region, I was never really that exposed to UB sports unless there was a game on TWC Sports (which was very rare), so I didn't know too much about UB Athletics coming in. But, since I've lived in Amherst I've soaked up as much of the history and information as I can. Actually, my wrestling coach in high school wrestled at UB, and he was part of the reason that I'm a student here now, so in a roundabout way, UB Athletics is part of the reason I'm a UB student.
I joined Bull Run earlier this year after some things I wrote about the draft caught Tim's eye. I'm Bull Run's resident NFL Draft expert,; Mel Kiper without the hairdo, if you will. I'll also be covering most of UB's sports teams to some extent, but, my focus will be on football and, wrestling in addition to the Draft.
7 - John - (General Sports Enthusiast who writes for fun ) - Twitter ( @Furgele228 )
John is a self described stats geek who loves college football. He is a Buffalo fan living in the capitol district who also writes for a horse racing website, saratogaracetrack.com.
8 - Daniel - ( UB Engineering Student ) -
Dan has previously covered UB football for WRUB, the student radio network. He hs reached out about providing coverage this year on Bull Run.
9 - Kevin - ( Former UB Student and Bull Run Prodigal Son) - Twitter ( @KevinMassare )
Kevin was one of the early basketball writers on Bull Run, covering the sport at a time before i had learned to love it. After some time away from the site he reached out this summer with an interest towards covering UB basketball.
10 - Brandon Barnes - (Current UB Student ) - Twitter ( @barnyard_barnes )
My Name is Brandon Barnes. Former WRUB sports commentator and host of the incredible Brandon Barnes Radio Show. I love sports all sports. My main interests with UB athletics are the Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams. A student from 2009 to 2013 my area of study was Communication. If you want to read more pieces from me visit my blog, bebandschwam.blogspot.com. Or my twitter, @barnyard_barnes
11 - Calvin (UB Grad School, Mechanical Engineering Class of 2006) [SBNation Profile]
It was a long journey for me making it to Buffalo. I grew up in Kenya, went to college in India and then to grad school at UB. While it wasn't love at first sight, WNY eventually grew on me and I adopted the city of Buffalo as my hometown. Even though I've been a resident of New England for close to a decade now, my original ties run deep and I make it back 'home' to the B'lo at least once a year to catch the Bulls/Bills/Sabres depending on the time of the year.
During my time at UB, I made it a point to attend as many basketball and football games as I could - (insert poor grad student joke here). Seriously though, entrance was free with your UB id and under Reggie the hoops team was actually playing well, so why not! After graduating, I lost touch with UB Athletics until about three years ago, but was thrilled to see the great work Tim and his crew have been doing here at Bull Run and have been a regular follower since. While not a scheduled contributor on the site, I chip in with other editorial work here and there and am happy to help wherever needed.
12 - Marcanthony (Fan of all things Buffalo) - Twitter (@MVanHarrison)
Hello there my name is Marcanthony Harrison. I am an avid college football fan, and am looking forward to writing for Bull Run this year. I have my personal blog at Bebandschwam.Blogspot.com. Here at Bull Run, I will be focusing on the Quarterback battle between the opposing quarterback & Joe Licata. I am also a contributor at Overtimeireland.com, where I am the AFC East reporter