This was something that caught my eye last night.
(EDIT: The tweet has been deleted)
I don’t know about you, but it sounds like a “thanks and good bye” message to me. And some Inquirer writers also makes it seem like the popular college basketball site is ending.
Best sport specific site Philly has had in my 30 years here https://t.co/B23aK4WvVQ
— Mike Jensen (@jensenoffcampus) October 18, 2018
No, thank you for doing what you did.
— Jonathan Tannenwald (@jtannenwald) October 18, 2018
If you try to go on their website, you’re greeted with a SportsEngine login page– which is what hosted the site. That’s not the same as sections and articles on the site. They work fine, as shown with the high school page. (EDIT: That page now redirects you to the SportsEngine login as well).
The account tweeted a story on Sean Yoder committing to Navy earlier yesterday, something that was posted on Tuesday. They were also in the midst of their 2018-19 college previews, which just began with Drexel on Monday.
The site’s co-founder and editor-in-chief, Josh Verlin, has his Twitter account inactive. Back in June, he wrote a post on the sixth anniversary of the site about battling depression.
This spring has been a trying one in my private life, and that’s had a major impact on my ability to run the business at the level I have been over the first five years and change. At first, I just tried to ignore it and push through, working as much as I could, but ultimately it was overwhelming, and I had to back off significantly.
As I’ve posted on social media several weeks back, I’ve dealt with chronic depression since my early teens. The combination of a recent breakup and a search for a new place to live, along with my general stress about growing this business and making its best that it could be — a stress that’s always at least in the back of my mind — brought me into a bad place. And I’ve learned enough about myself over the years to know when I need to take a couple steps back and let things settle out. So that’s what I did.
Though I know that the last two months have been necessary for my mental health and just to get my private life in order, I still feel as though I’ve let down all the players, coaches, parents and fans who have relied on our site’s steady presence throughout the years. And I’m sure people will tell me that I don’t need to feel this way, my health is my priority, etc., and I get that. But I still feel badly. So there you have it.
A few things. First off, I hope everything with Josh is good. I’ve read his work on CoBL as well as when he joined the Inquirer last year. He does a great service to the high school and college basketball scene.
Second, it would suck to see the site go right before the start of the hoops season. I’ve been a fan of the site since I was a junior at La Salle College High School, and it was a blessing to have a different voice dedicated to the sport. Talking to him a few times while running the La Salle Sports Twitter account– Josh is a genuine guy. I’ll miss the site, and so will the local college hoops scene.
UPDATE: Since the post was published, the account tweeted directly to me. I tried reaching out to them but was blocked by the account shortly after (I have since been unblocked).
They also replied to their last tweet with a grim outlook on sports journalism.
UPDATE #2: Looks like the site is done, according to the Twitter account.
There’s also more tweets coming in. Some people close to him think it’s not Josh tweeting from the account, but it does not appear to be the case. They have since all been deleted.
UPDATE #3: The CoBL website home page shows this.
If you Google the site, the sections don’t work. Some articles are still accessible via Twitter.
