Hi, everybody!

As ATQ’s resident dictator, just wanted to give y’all a chance to voice your opinions regarding the future of the site.

It’s been a year since I took the managing editor position and I couldn’t be happier with my decision. I feel like I’ve grown as a writer and Duck fan, though there’s plenty of room for improvement.

First of all, I think you readers need to realize how much work goes into some of these pieces. On several occasions, I’ve been in my writing nook (AKA my utility closet) from the moment a game wraps up to the time it gets published, often at 4 to 6 in the morning. I say this not to gain pity, but to shed some light on what our writing staff goes through. Even short breaking news pieces can take over a person’s free time, which is why I’m so thankful for our writing staff.

Joseph Yun, Arden Cravalho, Colt Johnson, and Hythloday have done a fantastic job revitalizing this site. I assure you, they don’t do it for the cash, because our overlords don’t provide me with the budget to truly compensate them for the amazing work they do. We may not be producing at the level of ESPN or the Athletic, but I believe we provide unique and quality coverage of our Fighting Ducks.

But this piece is not about smelling the roses. Here are a few things that I believe the site, and in extension myself, has succeeded and failed at:

SUCCESSES

• A drastic increase in the amount of articles, page views and comments from last year.
• A deeper dive into Oregon football strategy, recruiting and personnel.
• Game threads, previews and recaps for every single game involving the football, women’s basketball and men’s basketball teams.
• Regular Quack Fixes thanks to the fantastic Akili’s Heel.
• The formation of a dedicated team made up of writers, mods and general weirdos.

FAILURES

• The ATQ writing staff needs a non-male writer. (Though we all know Daisy is the true leader of this site.)
• When I first started the job, I promised to find someone who could cover track and field effectively. I have not.
• Furthermore, I’ve completely dropped the ball on softball coverage. My only excuse for this is that I got burned out after the Women’s Basketball season, which was a joy to cover, but exhausting.
• We’ve yet to gain any VIP access to Duck events (anyone got any hot leads?)
• The Quack 12 Podcast still lives.

This is only year one of my terrible reign, so I intend to learn and improve. Feel like helping out the site? The best way to help out our staff and improve the site is by sharing our articles on social media and following us on Facebook and Twitter.

They’ll have to drag me kicking and screaming if they want a new managing editor around here, so let me know what we can do better, what ya like, and what you want the site to become down the road.

Give us some suggestions and maybe we’ll put up some polls to see what the community thinks of the idea!