The Road to Qatar starts now
I started the 24thminute blogger account on this day in 2008. It was at a time when soccer seemed to finally be bursting into the mainstream.
We had just successfully hosted the 2007 FIFA men’s under 20 World Cup and Toronto FC was the best party in the city (and oh my was it a good party that I enjoyed a bit too much at times). It was also the peak years of independent blogging and I managed to find an audience at the perfect time, it seemed.
I’m still proud that I was associated with theScore in their federation of blogs, alongside some guys that have gone on to become very well known. And, not only was I a part of that federation, the 24thminute was the second most read blog on the network — only Drunk Jays Fans (probably the best independent Canadian sports blog of all-time) was drawing bigger numbers.
It was truly a great time to be blogging and although it wasn’t exactly what I dreamt I’d be doing back when I was in j-school in 2004, it was working. So much so that I was able to get out of the weekly newspaper grind and instead focus entirely on blogging and freelance writing. And I paid my bills too!
Anyway, I don’t want to bore you too much with my trip down memory lane. I bring this up because we are a month away from an event that very much seems to be what I’ve been writing and podcasting towards since that day 14 years ago. Canada has qualified to a men’s World Cup.
It's also at a time when, do to both circumstances outside my control (Kevin’s availability for SoccerToday), and changes in my life (I have a lot of responsibility at my work, as the only copywriter for a national brand with more than 250 locations and several vertical holdings), I haven’t been able to talk about this momentous accomplishment as much as I’d like.
On this, the 14th anniversary of the 24th Minute blog, I am here to say that is about to change. For the next 6-weeks, we are rolling the clock back. I’ve been around too long to not give it my all in the lead up to the World Cup and during the tournament. So, I’m going to be creating content every day until the confetti flies in Doha in December.
When Kevin has time, we will produce SoccerToday. Otherwise, I will be hosting Twitter Spaces 5x a week and every day during the World Cup.
That will be fun. But, I’m most motivated to bring the 24th Minute blog back to what it was in 2008-2011ish — multiple posts a day through the week, covering Canadian, MLS and international football from every level possible.
In the workplace, we’d call what I’m about to do a sprint. That is defined as a short burst of energy to a project to take it to a finish. It’s a level that’s not sustainable long-term, but that can create magic for a short period of time.
I want to do that. I want to do that because seeing Canada in a World Cup is the fulfilment of a lifelong dream and I want to document it. It’s also something I want to do because it might be an end for me personally as well.
I’ve been doing what I do a long time. Once the World Cup is over it might be time for a change. Beyond putting a greater focus on my actual work (Outside of my personal Patreon, I haven’t been paid for anything soccer related in more than three years now) I have other areas of writing and podcasting that I want to explore — My Olympic show, 5 Rings, is absolutely something I want to revitalize, and I want to continue writing about Urbanism. Additionally, I was also a music writer back in the ‘00s and I kind of miss it. I have some projects there that I have been thinking of exploring.
I will always dabble in soccer — and may feel entirely different in January and all this will be forgotten
But, first this. If it is the end of something that I have dedicated 14 years to I want to make sure that it ends well.
Join me.