Welcome to Rippee Writes

Hello, is this mic still on?

Welcome to Rippee Writes. I think this is the part where I am supposed to tell you about how is where I will be doing among the most important work of my life, so please sign up and give me money for my content as I among the first people to ever start a podcast and a Substack in the history of this business. Man, I am so inventive.

Here’s a guarantee for you: I can promise you this is where I will be doing the most unimportant work of my life. We aren’t saving lives here, but we will have fun, laugh and tell some great stories.

This has been something I have thought about doing for a good while now, but found every excuse not to actually go through with it. What exactly will it be about? What if it flops and no one listens or reads? Do I actually have time to do this?

I am not sure what exactly struck me over the last couple of weeks, but I came to realize the answer to all of those questions and excuses is some version of “who gives a damn.” For those of you that don’t know, I moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in August and took a job outside of journalism. I like my job. I like living here, as much as I am reluctant to admit that because native Texans are offensively obnoxious about how great Texas is. I admit it, you’re right. I get the picture. You can cool it with the horns signs and absurd amount of state flags flying at every place you could think of sticking a flag.

Anyway, one of the things I have missed about this industry is telling stories and writing my thoughts. I also miss podcasting, though I still question every time I turn on a mic whether or not I completely suck at this. But either way, I do miss it, as well as connecting with the people that made my job so enjoyable. So I decided to create my own platform to start doing this again. I’ve started up a podcast called the Rippee Writes Pod (a ton of brain power and hours of thought went into the name) that just published its first episode. Check it out here on apple, or here on Spotify, or search for it wherever you get your podcasts. My old pal and podcast co-conspirator Collin Brister talked Ole Miss Baseball for an hour, both big picture and the season’s first two weeks. There is perhaps no better first guest than Collin as he rode into the battlefield of podcasting with me a couple years ago when my boss told me I had to have one despite me not having a clue how to turn on a microphone.

What can you expect from the podcast? Well, we will talk Ole Miss, of course. I graduated from the school and covered its sports teams for a half decade. But it won’t just be Ole Miss. We will talk golf, Mississippi State, the NFL, NBA and really anything at all that interests me inside or outside the world of sports. I have a couple things in mind that I am looking forward to trying that have nothing to do with sports. I want to talk to interesting people and help you pass the time at work or in the car in any way I can. I can’t promise every episode will be for you, but there will be something for you more often than not.

My goal for now is to do 2-3 episodes per week. This is the part where I should probably remind you that this doesn’t pay my bills anymore and is nothing more than a creative outlet, so it will not always be first priority. But, with that said, I told myself that if I did go through with this, I wouldn’t half-ass it. So I am going to work hard to provide quality, entertaining content. All I am saying is that the timing my not always be on a rigid schedule. With that being said, we’ve had a couple sponsor reach out already. If you have a business and want to join the team, I am glad to come up with an ad read to fumble through three times a week. In all seriousness, please reach out. We’d love to have you.

As far as this site goes, I want to get a newsletter out and into your inbox at least 2-3 times per week as well. It will have links to stories as well as other random nuggets I find interesting. I have some different things and ideas in the works, but again, this will sort of a learn-as-we-go type of thing. I’d also like to hear from you and get feedback as to what you like and don’t like. That’s part of the fun of all of this is the interaction and the editorial freedom. Hell, I’ll even take pitches if you want to write and need a platform. There are no rules here.

This will be fun and I am excited to get going. If you’ve read this far, you may as well smash the subscribe button. I promise to spam you at worst and entertain you at best. Oh, and the People’s Holiday is alive and well again. That alone should get you to subscribe. Thanks again and stay tuned.

In the meantime, tell your friends!