The UConn Blog had a fantastic idea recently, posting a primer on their site as we gear up for football season. That's probably something really needed here as well, considering the recent merging of our blog with the Pitt Script guys earlier this summer along with the site growing significantly in the past year.
With that said, here are some ins and outs of the site if you're fairly new here ... or if you've been around and just never paid attention. Here are the basics on who we are, what we do here, and how you can participate.
What is Cardiac Hill?
If you're from outside of Pittsburgh, Cardiac Hill is the hill one would climb to get to the Petersen Events Center (the old site of Pitt Stadium).
Why would you name your site after a stupid hill?
Boredom or lack of creativity. Pick one.
What are you, an idiot?
...
Who is Cardiac Hill?
We're a group of guys made up of alumni and fans. I (Anson / Cardiac Hill) started this blog under the former name, Eye of A Panther, back in late 2008. The site's name changed to Cardiac Hill and was shortly thereafter picked up by SB Nation in the fall of 2010. It was a one-man operation until I brought Mike (mikeo90) and Greg (oaklandzoo12) on board last year. Bryan H. (PittScript Bryan), Bryan M. (FeartheStache), and Anthony (VictoryLights) joined us from Pitt Script a few months ago and the site has been better for it. After about a year of solid service, Greg is the site's Assistant Manager.
One notable is thing is that we're all regular guys with full-time jobs or students. This isn't how we make a living, so please - spare us the 'You guys need to update more' or 'Why didn't you cover that story when it broke a minute and a half ago.' For the most part, we get to things pretty quickly, but there will be times when we're not the first ones on a story.
Why are we here?
World domination, of course. Okay, besides that, we mostly give our opinions on the world of Pitt athletics. We're not a traditional news site, so breaking news isn't a priority of ours (though we may do it from time to time). But in a nutshell, we comment on anything and everything Pitt sports. In addition, we hope you'll join in on the conversation. Tens of thousands of unique visitors come through the turnstiles every month and the more of us that participate, the better.
What makes you guys so different?
One thing I've always tried to do with this blog is avoid being a homer. Pitt gets plenty of criticism here and, when they deserve it, plenty of praise. We also have a good deal of discussion with fans of opposing teams and as long as they can avoid the oh so popular, 'My team rules, Pitt sucks' argument, they're welcome here. Trolls will be dealt with as they have in the past, but all are welcome here for reasonable discussion.
Another thing you won't find here is much swearing, other than in the comments, which we can't really control. If it's over the top, I'll probably delete it. This is really my own personal philosophy and I think you can get your point across without vulgar language. I don't do it on here and the other guys won't be doing it much. If you're looking for that, um, sorry, I guess.
Where else can I find out about you guys?
I write a weekly column for the official blog of Fathead (yes, the sports wall graphics company) and also for SB Nation's regional Pittsburgh site. You can follow me/the site on Twitter @PittPantherBlog. You can also follow everyone else on Twitter (Mike @mikeo90, Greg @oaklandzoo12, Bryan H. @PittScript, Bryan M. @FearTheStache, and Anthony @VictoryLights).
Does Cardiac Hill cover games or news conferences?
Just this year, we were invited by Pitt's awesome athletics department to start covering games, practices, and events (until they throw us out, anyway). We covered most of the training camp sessions and Greg will be in the booth this fall, covering the actual games.
So now that you know a little more about us, here's how you can get involved in the site.
1. Join us for the Open Gamethreads - For every football and basketball game, we create an open gamethread post for live discussion - here's the last football one we did for the bowl game against SMU. We open these up a few hours before the games usually and they stay up on the page after the games are over. Stop in and leave your prediction before the game. Check in during the game (we'll be in there commenting as well) and stay after the game to either explain how Pitt is going to win it all or how they're the worst team ever.
2. Comment away - SB Nation is all about communities and we hope you'll join in not only by reading, but by commenting . Feel free to rip us - we're not sensitive (much) and we appreciate your feedback. If you like a post, tell us about it. If you hate it, tell us about it. The blog isn't merely six guys giving random, misguided opinions, it's about you sharing your thoughts as well.
3. Write a Fanshot - You can do that here. Fanshots are basically 'quick hitters' and easy ways to participate. Have a photo you took at a game? Post it in a Fanshot. Find an interesting quote? Fanshot. Have a good link to something we should all read? Fanshot. All Fanshots will show up in the Fanshot section over to the right of the page, but most of the time, we'll publish it in the main stream in the middle.
4. Write a Fanpost - Ever want to write an article for a blog, but didn't know where to start? The Fanposts are perfect for that and here's the link to create one (it's also over to the right). You can make them as long as you want and, most of the time we publish those to the main stream on the front page as well. Mike and Greg also got their start in this blog through posting Fanposts.
We hope you'll stick around and join us regularly. Generally, we almost always have at least 3-5 posts up a day and sometimes, more than that. Stop back early and often and thanks for checking out the site.
Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt football and basketball.