They say mighty oaks grow from very tiny acorns. And while OTP is nowhere near “mighty oak” status, the site itself has at least made it to sapling. Fairly soon we’ll be in tree form, where we can hang a tire swing and build a clubhouse with a “No Girls Allowed” sign.
This site was born in July of 2008 as a simple way to waste some time and write about college football. When Alan and RV decided to fire this puppy up, they branded OTP as a sort of catch-all football blog with special attention to Ball State and Kentucky, two of Alan’s passions. As the site has evolved, OTP has been rebranded to be focused solely on the Ball State University football Cardinals.
The first year for OTP was a roller coaster of ups and downs for both the site and the teams we cover, but this crash course in blogging ended up tremendously successful. OTP’s been linked to by some of the giants in the college football universe, we’ve been credentialed at many of the games we’ve covered in person, and now we’ve created this fancy new site. Bully for us.
OTP strives to weave in original commentary and thoughts in addition to news and notes that our readership would find useful. OTP isn’t just a regurgitation of press releases or game recaps. If you’re a Ball State Cardinal fan it should be your one stop shop for news and info brought to you by the most overzealous fans around. When news, opinion, and ridiculousness are blended together, awesome ensues. Welcome to OverThePylon.net.
Your OTP Staff…
Alan, Editor in Chief: The resident post creator and sarcasm czar, Alan provides the day to day operations, marketing, and public relations for OTP. Alan’s been a guest on CFB Weekly, ESPN Radio, numerous opponent podcasts, and has helped OTP get linked to by nearly every major college football blog and even ESPN. Alan completed a master’s degree in higher education and a bachelor’s degree in marketing and economics from Ball State University, and while on campus contributed the weekly column “It’s All Greek to Me” for the Ball State University Daily News. He was awarded the 2010 Graduate of the Last Decade award from Ball State and currently resides outside Lexington, KY.
Jason Brewer, Multimedia Coordinator: Joining OTP in the summer of 2013, Jason Brewer provides the day to day operations of multimedia endeavors at The Pylon. Whether that’s video production, site branding, producing the OTPcast, or the like, Jason ensures that the website has an adequate amount of pop and shine to deliver the best BSU news on the web. Jason is a 30-something graduate of the Ball State University Business school in 2005 and has worked primarily in traditional media. He has served as Director of Internet Development for Kicks96-FM and WHON-AM in Richmond, IN, sales for WRQC-FM and WARO-FM in Ft. Myers/Naples, FL and currently is the Creative Services Editor/Producer for WEVV-TV in Evansville, IN. Jason admits he’s not as much of a “Saturday football” guy but you can still find him blindly giving out picks against the spread on the Straight Cash Homey picks as well as on the OTPcast. Follow him on Twitter (@brewerjason), or YouTube (www.YouTube.com/brewerjason).
Edge, Senior Writer: Edge has certainly carved his niche out with his musical genius and statistical prowess. Additionally, and especially nice, is Edge is literally moments away from Scheumann Stadium. You know, in case we need to check if it’s still standing or if Stan Parrish is trolling around outside looking for aluminum cans or copies of Lembo’s playbook. During the season you’ll see contributions like Life on the Edge or the Rock and Roll Report Card grading the Cardinals for their on-field performance. Edge holds a master’s degree in information and communication and a bachelor’s degree in information technology with honors from Ball State University. He lives in Muncie with his wife and daughter and rocks out on occasion.
RV, Contributor Emeritus: The person who registered OTP and began the site well before anyone knew it was out there. RV also strong-armed Alan into being the managing editor . Occasionally RV will make his way around to posting, but working full time and being a Notre Dame fan recently makes that difficult. RV is currently a shipping logistics expert, but originally planted his roots in the Fighting Cardinals with Alan and Edge in the early ’00s. Feel free to contact him for help shipping loads, or just to make general “load” jokes. Lord knows the rest of us do. While lacking the journalistic credibility or couth to consistently contribute to OTP, he remains an integral part behind the scenes.
FAQs…
So… Ball State? Really?
Yes, really. Somehow or another, BSU has influenced all of us associated with this here site. Whether it be through the paper on the wall that vouches for our ability to do a job or the fun we had while there, BSU not only brought us all together, but certainly made us… well… us.
Interesting. Then Why Kentucky?
That’s a very simple answer… Alan. Alan wanted to cover the teams he loved, and frankly, that’s BSU and UK, along with Notre Dame but he leaves that to RV. It’s an odd mixture to say the least, but lets us cover two teams that rarely intermingle and have no competing interests in terms of conference or national titles. It’s not like we’re covering Florida and Georgia. UK coverage has since been discontinued, but sites like ASeaOfBlue or KentuckySportsRadio should be your go-to site for UK related things.
So why a blog?
We had followed numerous other blogs and wondered why there was no BSU themed one. Come to find out after starting ours there were a few here and there, all of whom have since disbanded. In all honesty, it wasn’t something any of us thought would have any sort of legs, but like some things in life, sometimes lightning strikes.
How can I contact you guys?
Anything you’d need to let us know about, comment on, advertise on the site, etc. you can drop an email to overthepylon [at] gmail [dot] com.
Over The Pylon 