As a bit of a hopeless romantic, I've always subscribed to the Lord Alfred Tennyson idea that "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." It's an idea that I have embraced in all facets of my life because it embraces the thirst for truly living life rather than living in fear of it.
The reality is that few things in life forever remain the same and if you can't accept the uncontrollable events that can sometimes dictate our losing things that we hold dear to our hearts, fear can be an overwhelming controlling emotion. When it comes to interacting with the people in my life that I truly cherish, my goal is to be the kind of person that brings positive energy and support at all times, with nothing but their best interests at heart at all times.
I want to be a supporter of their dreams. I want to be the steady shoulder for them to lean on that helps remind them that inaction of pursuing dreams out of fear is actually the worst kind of action of all. Those inactions can haunt a man's dreams and lead to a life of what-ifs and emotions that torture the soul. If I can ever lend a helpful hand in making those pursued dreams come true, what kind of friend would I be if I failed to do so?
It's with that last thought in mind that I report with both personal sadness, yet genuine excitement for a very close friend that Chip Brown will be leaving Orangebloods.com at the end of this week and joining Fox Sports/Scout.com so that he can further pursue dreams in this business that haven't yet been realized.
The bottom line is that a unique opportunity presented itself for Chip, an opportunity that allows for him to tackle quests in this industry that are important to him and perhaps can't be conquered within his current role at OB. Perhaps the greatest compliment I'll ever receive as it relates to the brotherhood within the OB staff is that Chip spent so much time over the last month wondering whether this tremendous opportunity was worth moving away from a place he loves and has helped build.
As I told him on the night his departure became somewhat official last week, it was hard to feel disappointment with the situation because of what the deal could potentially mean for him down the road. Over the last six years, I've always felt like we've had a Dream Team of Orangebloods staff members and our partnership has helped grow Orangebloods into one of the nation's leaders in this industry. When Chip arrived at Orangebloods in 2008, we were already the No.1 site in the industry in terms of subscribers, but his presence has helped us grow into the type of brand that is known nationally.
I'll forever love Chip for the blood, sweat and loss of insanity that he gave up to help make us what we've become over the years. It's that love that makes this a very unique situation as far as goodbyes are concerned, but this ultimately came down to Chip living. Or l-i-v-i-n if you will. Hopefully, you'll help me in wishing him well in this new adventure and while he'll once again become a piece of the competition, he'll forever be Orangebloods family.
Also, it's incredibly important that you know my personal commitment is to replace quality with absolute quality as we look at add new Orangebloods piece to the puzzle with Chip's departure. Over the course of the last week and a half, I've had discussions with a number of the nation's top college and NFL reporters about our vacancy and the response I've already received has not only been exciting, but it confirms that Chip's work over the last six years has helped create one of the top positions in the industry. My expectations are that it will take another couple of weeks to complete the recruitment/interviewing process, but the goal is that we'll have an announcement by the middle of May at the latest and the hope is you guys will be excited about our new addition to the OB family.
That being said, today and the rest of this week needs to be about sending Chip away in style and with absolute honor. He means too much to us all to allow the moment to be anything else.
My friend, be well and live well. Nothing but love, my man.
gk
