ED. NOTE: Creighton Otter, Paul Liberty and Panon of “Bluejay Basketball”, Max Univers of the “Polyfro Basketball Blog”, and Patrick Marshall of “Bluejays: The Latest” have combined their efforts into the newly launched “White & Blue Review.” Their articles will be found on this site in the future.
As the 2004 Men’s Basketball season approached, the only media outlet that covered the Jays with any regularity was the Omaha World-Herald. AM 590 was still a classical music station, AM 1620 talked about the Jays only when it was convenient, and most local TV outlets had the same level of general indifference for the Jays they currently have.
It was into that void that Creighton Otter started the first Creighton Athletics blog. From the Jays’ Guardians Classic wins over Missouri and Ohio State, the thrilling one-point win over Xavier in Cincinnati, the game-winning buzzer-beater by Kellen Miliner in Lincoln, through another Arch Madness Championship, his blog ushered in a new era of Creighton coverage.
That season ended with the gut-punch to end all gut-punches — the fastbreak slam dunk buzzer beater against West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament. But it was just the beginning for the Creighton blogosphere.
At the same time, I was writing occasional pieces on the Jays on my own blog at Polyfro.com, though it wasn’t exclusively Creighton-focused. In November of 2005, I spun off my Jays content into a second blog, and beginning with the home opener against Arkansas Pine-Bluff (who else?), the Creighton blogosphere officially doubled in size.
My friends and family were frequently characters in my posts, and they’ll continue to be. As my buddy Gilby noted a couple of years ago, “Max Univers’ story-driven, often humorous posts stand in stark contrast to Otter’s more serious, analysis-driven pieces — but the two blogs compliment each other well. I read ’em both.”
That same year, AM 590 switched to an all-sports format, hired a personality to host a drive-time local program, and ratcheted up their Jays coverage. The Omaha World-Herald stepped up their coverage, as well. And for that season and each of the next two, Otter and myself were the anchors of the Creighton blogosphere.
We had discussed collaborative efforts in the past, but time and circumstances prevented anything from materializing. Then over the summer of 2008, a new entrant into the Creighton blogosphere brought an additional style of writing to the table: that of factual, news-driven posts focused on breaking and documenting news. I was really impressed with Patrick’s stuff, as he managed to scoop the professional journalists covering the team a handful of times.
In the fall of 2008, Otter added two additional voices to his blog: Paul Liberty, known to Qwest Center regulars as “Dance Cam Guy” for his sick dance moves on the video board; and Panon, who quickly become known for his statistical, analytical pieces.
With those four plus yours truly all filling different niches within the blogosphere, it was only natural that we would eventually team up to create a new, collaborative venture. Discussions began in March of 2009, and by April of that year we’d all signed on. Our timing was impeccable as, although no one knew it at the time, the amount of local coverage was about to be drastically cut — or be trapped behind pay-per-view walls.
Over the summer months, we worked to develop the site, both in terms of layout and design, and in terms of gaining the blessing of Creighton University.
The result is White & Blue Review, where we hope to provide timely news, thoughtful analysis, and unfiltered opinions about all Creighton sports to Bluejays fans everywhere. The authors all have extensive experience not only in the blogosphere but in their day jobs:
Otter is a 2003 graduate of Creighton and a copy editor for one of Omaha’s largest companies. Patrick Marshall has never met a question he wouldn’t ask, and is an IT professional for a local business. Paul Liberty is a 2003 Creighton grad, is in the financial industry and has extensive contacts inside and outside the Creighton Athletic family. Panon is also a 2003 Creighton grad, is in the accounting industry and is a terrific voice of reason. As for me? I’m a 2001 Creighton grad, former college newspaper editor-in-chief, and Creative Director for a local Advertising Agency.
In short, we’re all uniquely qualified to write in our own styles about the teams we love: the Creighton Bluejays.
We hope to engage Creighton fans in discussions about anything and everything related to Creighton sports, whether that’s paying homage to past CU greats, talking about today’s teams, or forecasting the future of Bluejays athletics.
If its of interest to Creighton fans, you’ll read about it here. We hope to create the sort of friendly, open forum Creighton fans deserve to discuss their Jays with other Creighton fans. Whether its soccer, baseball, basketball or any of the other 11 varsity sports at CU, White & Blue Review will be there to talk about it.
Thanks for stopping by. We hope you’ll bookmark us and make White & Blue Review a part of your daily reading routine..