My final post on Kentucky Sports Radio

Over the last several years, I’ve written hundreds of posts for Kentucky Sports Radio. As best I can remember, they all came pretty easy to me. I opened up the website, began typing, and a little while later I had something I was proud to share with you.

This one though, it hasn’t come easy. So rather than beat around the bush and write 10,000 words to get to the point (which anyone who has read my work knows that I sometimes do) let’s get straight to it: This will be my last post for Kentucky Sports Radio. As the site enters a new era with On3 Sports, this will be my last week with the company as well.

To be abundantly clear, this was 100 percent my decision. I didn’t tweet anything that got me fired (which is kind of surprising if you’ve seen my Twitter feed) and there was nothing weird behind the scenes. This was 100 percent my decision to go. It just feels like, as KSR enters a new chapter and we get set to enter a new season of college football and basketball, now is the right time for me to move on.

The good news if you like me: I will still be writing about sports, and college sports in general. I’ll have those details in the coming days and weeks. Also, I will retain the “Aaron Torres Podcast” meaning if you enjoy listening to the show, nothing will change. I’ll have a new show on Monday, breaking down the biggest topics in college sports, just like I have every Monday for the last few years. So if you enjoy the show, please keep listening.

All of that is in the future though, and what I want to do quickly is reflect on the last few years. It’s crazy to think where this journey started between me and the company, and how it is wrapping up now.

It was several summers ago, and after a few years of covering the national college football and hoops scene for FoxSports.com I was a free agent, after the site one day decided to shut down (anyone else remember the “pivot to video” era?). And it was during a chance encounter with KSR’s Maria Taustine while she was visiting California, where she told me “Man, come to KSR. We’ll find a spot for you.”

Matt and I had long been friends, but I had no idea if he was interested… at least until a few weeks later, I was in Lexington, and he was pitching me to make KSR my temporary writing and podcast home.

(Quick aside: I’m pretty sure Matt had no idea how long I’d actually be with the company. One thing most people don’t know about me is I’m a squatter – I once went to visit a friend in Arizona for a weekend and stayed for three months. I kind of did the same thing at KSR. Anyway, let’s get back on subject)

So yeah, Matt pitched me a temporary writing home, and the crazy thing was, at the time he saw more potential in me, than I saw in myself. I pitched an article a week. He said “how about you become our national voice – rather than adding another Kentucky writer, I want an outside voice. Do a couple articles and a couple podcasts a week. You’d be great at this.” Fast forward several years, and as I said up top, I’ve done hundreds of posts and podcasts. I even had Rick Pitino on the show once upon a time (although I didn’t exactly let it be known that it was for a KSR podcast. Woops!).

It goes without saying, none of that would’ve been possible without Matt’s vision for me, and the platform that he created with KSR. I am forever thankful, to Matt of course. But also to many others as well.

So in no particular order, thank you Maria, for saying “We’d be lucky to have you” all those years ago. As Matt has said several times, Maria is the unsung hero of KSR. More importantly, she’s also a great friend to me. Thanks to Tyler Thompson for being the best editor I’ve ever had, and pushing me to be a better and smarter writer. Thanks to Nick Roush who isn’t only a hell of a football writer, but was also my original podcast editor. That’s right, while he was traveling to Gainesville and College Station to cover the Cats, he was also answering annoying texts from me at all hours of the day (until I finally felt bad enough and just learned how to edit the podcast myself). Thanks to Jack Pilgrim, an incredible young college basketball writer, who has been a sounding board for me on all things college hoops. Thank you to Drew Franklin, who has been a great friend since long before I officially joined KSR. And of course thank you to Matt for giving me a writing and podcasting home for way longer than I think he anticipated me sticking around.

Finally, thank you to all of you, the fans. John Calipari famously says “You people are crazy” and well you are, in the best way possible. Thank you to all of you for reading my work and downloading my podcast and showing up when I threw a party in Las Vegas two years ago before the Kentucky-Ohio State game (maybe we’ll do one again December?). Thank you for all the random DM’s about obscure players Kentucky might be interested in. Thank you for your passion for college sports, especially college basketball. I know every single media person on the planet likes to say there is no fan-base quite like Kentucky’s, but as someone who has been doing this a long time now, I promise you: There is no fan-base in college basketball quite like Kentucky’s.

Again, the good news is if you like me (or bad news if you don’t), is I will be writing about sports (mostly college) in a new place soon. And again, the podcast isn’t going anywhere. Same show. Same topics. If you like it now, that won’t change in a week. So again, keep listening. Find me on Twitter if you like my work. All that stuff.

But as excited as I am about the future, I’m a little sad to leave this place in the past. It’s clearly in amazing hands, with amazing people. People I will miss a lot.

Thank you again to all the listeners, followers and KSR staff.

It’s been a wild ride. And I appreciate everything.