Empire Writes Back: Thank you for everything, but goodbye

There is nothing in the World I want to avoid being more than a fraud, and here at Empire Writes Back, there is nothing that you all deserve more than my story. I simply need to thank you for all my support, but this is it, for now.

Empire Writes Back has given me a second life. I don’t mean that in a figurative sense, I mean it in a sense that when no one, and nothing else was there for me, New York sports journalism was.  I joined this site in June, maybe April of 2017, at the time for hockey coverage and to cover the Mets. Now, I am here to cover everything and anything that has come my way.

Since, June 2018 I have been one of the site experts for this site. Prior to that, I was a contributor. There is nothing in the world I care about in more than New York sports. It is almost, quite literally, unhealthy. I love the sports in this city. Literally all of them. Ranging from New York Islanders hockey to whatever the XFL team will be, I have learned to love it all.

But, sometimes, life happens. As much as I have loved, and since proven, I adore New York sports, my run here at Empire Writes Back needs to come to an end, not out of spite of FanSided, not out of spite of anything in particular. It is simply out of the fact that this personal writer has graduated from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania almost a year ago and has yet to use that skill to his best ability.

Here at Empire Writes Back I have produced content, run social media accounts, covered all 12, arguably 13 teams that this beautiful city could call home teams, but at the end of the day the grind of filling time slots and covering teams for the sake of covering teams, which was something that became engulfed in my mind and duty, was no longer what I desired to be and something I cannot do well.

I have worked my whole life, and spent my entire time on Empire Writes Back to simply present the sports we cover better than any of us could hope to ever think. The only thing I care about in this world more than sports is how sports are presented. At this point in time, I can no longer present them how I desire. I am not as good as I have been either a) hyped up to be or b) not as good as this wonderful market desires.

I have recently spent more time writing more articles, and spending more time covering more teams and stories for the sake of covering them rather than I have actually writing and covering better, quality stories. The idea of doing a lot, for little glory, and rushed out content is something I no longer wish to achieve and something none of you deserve.

Being a site expert on this site is something I no longer feel I can fulfill. Between covering multiple playoff series, running the twitter account, looking over contributors’ submissions, and making sure we have daily content for you, our readers, has become too much for me to handle. Not in a bad way, just in a I can no longer do this to the best of my ability way. No matter how many teams I cover in my column, no matter how many people we bring on, I still find myself just filling time slots and running stories for the sake of doing it as opposed to doing it well and doing it in an interesting way.

Everything I have worked for is to be a journalist with integrity and that has gone away. That has gone away in place of filling time slots and doing the day-to-day of Empire Writes Back. We cover a lot of teams and I can no longer pretend to be able to cover all of them, whether it be on this platform or all the social media accounts, I no longer feel I am the best I can be.

For that, Empire Writes Back, I have to thank you. While this, not some private email, it is my formal resignation letter. So sorry if you are one of the people with whom I work with and you are reading this for the first time.

Either way, I owe all the motivation I have had to this point to you all, our loyal readers. When I replied in a comment section thanking you for everything, I meant it, when I disagreed, I just wanted a civil sports talk. When I went on Twitter and shared an article whether mine of my wonderful writers, I was always proud of it, no matter the circumstances.

There are people who will agree with me and people who will always disagree with me, but no matter what, I was here for the common goal of understanding what sports mean in this world. Sports are, and always will be the most important thing in the world to me, but I have worked too hard, and care too much about them for them to be presented in a rushed, and hurried way.

While I understand, and have for a long time understood the FanSided guidelines, and abided by them, I have struggled to acclimate to what is truly asked of me, great content. And while I have loved to work with each and every one of our writers since the beginning, they will remain talented with or without me.

Still, I, John Carroll Jr. love New York Sports more than anything, and while my college degree says and notes I have graduated with journalism, I no longer feel I am capable of giving, and fulfilling the demand and content of this job.

Empire Writes Back will be filled with other writers, and a great team. While this is, nor should be about a journalist you probably don’t care about, this has become the end of a writer who cares a lot about every single thing he has ever covered.

This is still the first time I have told, and or written about my desire to leave, so I hope at the very least you all understand. I am simply not doing my job to the best of my abilities and I can not live a life where I am not the best I could be. This is not me playing victim, I owe FanSided a hell of a lot more than they owe me, this is simply me understanding all great things have to come to an end.

I truly hope that whoever, and whenever Empire Writes Back brings on new contributors and site experts, as they wish, I hope you all get the content you deserve. There is so much happening all the time and I have no doubt you will one day see that smart, timely content that this market deserves.

Until next time, thank you.

I might go away for a while, but I will always strive to make it in this field/industry, maybe our paths will cross one day. I simply care too much and work too hard for this site to be not be presented in a perfect way, I am no longer capable of putting out perfect content.

Thank you for the reads, it seriously means the world to me to even be a sports writer you might know. Now, I risk it all to open the next chapter of my life (it will be sports journalism in some capacity.)

New York Sports don’t stop and neither will this site. Noting but the best. Seriously, thank you.