KVV to ESPN

[ccbird]

We keep Cam and lose KVV.


Seriously, congrats to Kevin. Well deserved. Knew it was only a matter of time.

[Remember The Alomar]

This was the most inevitable thing ever.

[SammyBirdland]

Woohoo, we have infiltrated the mother ship!

[Tony-OH]

I saw this on his facebook. Obviously this is well earned and not surprising in the least bit. I knew we were on borrowed time with KVV. He was always destined for much better things. Good luck Kevin.

[weams]

We keep Cam and lose KVV.


Seriously, congrats to Kevin. Well deserved. Knew it was only a matter of time.

Kevin will always post here right Congrats!

[RavNMadMan]

I'm very happy for KVV. Good luck Man.

[Great8]

Awesome! Congrats, KVV! And like everyone else said, this was only a matter of time.

[weams]

http://sonofboldventure.blogspot.com...kevin-van.html

A reprise on one heck of a well written piece.

The embarrassing truth about the night I went to Elaine's for the first time, a night I consider one of the most important nights of my life, is that I almost didn't go. Not that I almost didn't travel to New York. That I almost didn't walk through the door. That night in September, I stood outside Elaine's on the 2nd Avenue sidewalk, staring up at the black and gold sign for a few minutes, glancing in the window every few seconds. Then I kept walking for reasons I'm not sure I can explain. I ducked into a bar down the block, a faceless joint where a sad crew of regulars hugged their drinks as they silently watched the Yankees game. I ordered a beer, sat by myself, and contemplated staying for the rest of the night.


...

[clapdiddy]

Wow...sad to see this, but certainly not surprising. KVV is the best writer Baltimore has seen in a long, long time.

Best wishes to you, Kevin, if you come on and read this. We'll certainly be keeping an eye on your work.

And, weams, that is one fabulous article you linked. I read it a while ago, but it's certainly worth a re-read.

[DenaTerpFan]

K.V.V, if you are reading this, you will be missed. I go to BaltimoreSun.com solely to read your articles. They are always well thought out, insightful and extremely well written.

I also just read the linked piece from Weams. All I can say is wow. That was a great story.

[Miller192]

Selfishly, that sucks. Good luck KVV!

[K.V.V.]

I suspect many of you might think this is weird, but the posters on this site gave me a lot of confidence over the last couple years, confidence that what I was doing was resonating with smart readers. I suspect a few of you were like "WTF?" (at least at first) when Tony and my buddy John kept pushing my articles on you guys, but it made me so happy when you guys would mention that you liked what I was saying (or if you disagreed, you at least appreciated the time I spent on the argument).

Because -- just being honest here -- I wasn't getting that from the Sun's top bosses for whatever reason. They were oddly annoyed with the way I did things, and wanted to promote other people. But I continued to grind away because I knew there were readers out there who craved nuance and deserved insight over fluff. I wish I had been able to write more about the Orioles, to be honest. But football gave me the platform to find my voice, and the confidence to seek an opportunity the Sun could not (or would not) offer me.

I have so much to thank Baltimore for. (I'm not moving, in fact.) My wife is from here, and over the years, I've grown to love this place. This is my home now, and my daughter will grow up rooting for the Orioles and Ravens, and be shaped by annual disappointments (and perhaps eventual glories).

There is a little part of me that's sad I'll never quite get to forge a connection with the city that comes from being the lead sports columnist at the local metro. I never really got the chance to read John Steadman, but I did admire the way he mattered so much to the city, and the way the city's history mattered so much to him. Obviously growing up in Montana, this region's history wasn't my history. But I tried to soak up as much of it as possible because I understood how important that was to earning people's trust.

I owe you all a great deal. I'll still be around, and hope to tell a few stories about athletes here in Baltimore. (Save on expenses for ESPN, too.) I still have to pen an official goodbye blog for the Sun, which will be hard. But thanks to everyone here who offered a kind word, or took the time to read me the last few years.

[Tank]

Happy for you to make the big time. Best of luck, you know you'll at least have a small chunk of readers from jump street. Sucks the Sun didn't see greatness when it was right in front of them.

[Remember The Alomar]

I suspect many of you might think this is weird, but the posters on this site gave me a lot of confidence over the last couple years, confidence that what I was doing was resonating with smart readers. I suspect a few of you were like "WTF?" (at least at first) when Tony and my buddy John kept pushing my articles on you guys, but it made me so happy when you guys would mention that you liked what I was saying (or if you disagreed, you at least appreciated the time I spent on the argument).

Because -- just being honest here -- I wasn't getting that from the Sun's top bosses for whatever reason. They were oddly annoyed with the way I did things, and wanted to promote other people. But I continued to grind away because I knew there were readers out there who craved nuance and deserved insight over fluff. I wish I had been able to write more about the Orioles, to be honest. But football gave me the platform to find my voice, and the confidence to seek an opportunity the Sun could not (or would not) offer me.

I have so much to thank Baltimore for. (I'm not moving, in fact.) My wife is from here, and over the years, I've grown to love this place. This is my home now, and my daughter will grow up rooting for the Orioles and Ravens, and be shaped by annual disappointments (and perhaps eventual glories).

There is a little part of me that's sad I'll never quite get to forge a connection with the city that comes from being the lead sports columnist at the local metro. I never really got the chance to read John Steadman, but I did admire the way he mattered so much to the city, and the way the city's history mattered so much to him. Obviously growing up in Montana, this region's history wasn't my history. But I tried to soak up as much of it as possible because I understood how important that was to earning people's trust.

I owe you all a great deal. I'll still be around, and hope to tell a few stories about athletes here in Baltimore. (Save on expenses for ESPN, too.) I still have to pen an official goodbye blog for the Sun, which will be hard. But thanks to everyone here who offered a kind word, or took the time to read me the last few years.

I absolutely love your long-form stuff; I'm very happy you'll now have a platform that will allow for more of that. I'm sure you'll kill it at ESPN.

Thanks for everything and good luck.

[Birds of B'more]

Kevin,

Congratulations on the new gig. Well earned. I imagine I speak for many here when I state how great it was that you came by regularly and interacted with your readers. I wish more of the local journalists would do that (or at least under their own name/identity). Unfortunately, from reading much of the discussion that readers add to the articles on ESPN.com, I doubt you'll get the same quality of feedback there. Here's hoping you'll continue to drop by from time to time. All the best.