AZ Coyotes Insider is 1 year old
Thanks to my subscribers for making this venture a sustainable and enjoyable one
I am happy to report that AZ Coyotes Insider turned one year old today. For that, I have all of you to thank.
When The Athletic gutted its Arizona bureau (and several others) last summer, I came to a crossroads in my career. I had worked for numerous outlets locally. I knew none of them were committed to the sort of digital coverage that I wanted (and expected) to give the Coyotes and I wasn't looking to move. Like some of my colleagues, I wondered if this was the end of my sports journalism run.
A friend who is a VC in New York (shout-out to Andy Weissman) suggested that I give Substack a try before pulling the plug on my passion. I’m glad he did.
I didn’t know if such a venture was sustainable in what has traditionally been a challenged sports media market (not to mention covering a team that has struggled for most of its 25 years in the Valley). To my pleasant surprise, this site/newsletter achieved sustainability in less than a year.
AZ Coyotes Insider is not for everyone. Some readers don’t want to read about other subscribers. Some don't have time for long-form journalism, but I have learned that those readers are the exception, while the vast majority of you are happy with the direction of the site. I appreciate your feedback so please keep it coming. We are partners in this venture.
I have also told you in the past that running my own site frees me from the one-size-fits-all constraints that too often dominate the large sites. I can try new things like the aforementioned On The Couch With Craig segment, or The Big Read, or my Catching Up With former Coyotes series. And I don’t have to numb you with lists and grades and rankings that are little more than clickbait.
I plan to try more new things in Year 2. I don’t want to give too much away with those ideas still in the planning phase, but I want to spotlight youth hockey in the Valley to help grow the game that I love and played from the time I was 6. I want to venture into a favorite form of philanthropy. I want to get back to traveling with the Coyotes if the NHL permits it next season. I want to augment my Arizona State coverage as the Sun Devils prepare for a move into a new arena. And I want to engage you even more than I was able to do during the global pandemic.
I hope to make announcements on all of those plans and more in the coming months. For now, I am going to enjoy a little bit of vacation time with my family (I still have stories planned for Thursday and Friday), so let me (almost) end by thanking all of my subscribers for making this site possible. In a sense, you saved me, but you also reinforced something that I already knew. The Coyotes community is a loyal, passionate, tightly-knit group that is bonded by suffering, external attacks and a genuine love of this game. As the key players from the Coyotes’ past all told me in that 25-year anniversary piece that I published on Sunday, hockey works in Arizona if the key elements are in place. I’ll be here to chronicle the efforts of Alex Meruelo, Xavier Gutierrez, Bill Armstrong, André Touringy and the players to make that fan dream a reality.
If I had an editor, they’d probably tell me that I buried the lede, but here’s the walk-off for today’s celebration. I am giving away a trio of free, one-year subscriptions to AZ Coyotes Insider. All you have to do is email me with your name and I will choose three winners in a random drawing. I can promise that it will be random because it will be conducted by my two daughters, who have absolutely no interest in my work.
Email: craigsmorgan@gmail.com for a chance to win.
Thanks again for making AZ Coyotes Insider your source for Coyotes and ASU hockey news.
Since 2011 they only Coyotes News source I’ve trusted has been Craig Morgan. He’s not a click bait reporter. He’s one of the best sports reporter in the business. The in depth reporting on this new site has been so informative and what reporting used to be.
Where ever Craig went I bought a subscription if I needed too. Here was no different. It was a no brainer to subscribe.
Happy one year anniversary Craig, here’s to many more!
I think the the thing I admire most about your whole ordeal is your determination to succeed despite the set backs. You didn’t whine and cry and play the victim. After your experience with the Athletic, you dusted yourself off and proceeded to kick ass.
The two best value buys of my recent lifetime are the 500 dollar Honda generator that I bought as a Race Director back in 2000, which powered an entire finish line sound system and a local band entertaining the runners at the Oliver Winery 10k in Bloomington Indiana and your 100 dollar subscription. I look forward to every read.
In both cases never has the dollar gone farther. Well Done.