Happy Birthday, Thekeyplay.com!

Four years ago today, the website went live online. What began as a humble hobby has grown into a small business, but more importantly a thriving online community.

I've said it a billion times before, but you, the readers and posters, are second to none. Word of mouth, especially on social media, was crucial for our growth. Over the last four years you denizens of our virtual space have cultivated a special place for intelligent discussion of football and all things Virginia Tech, while understanding the former is not that serious a topic of discussion. That is a rare occurrence for a sports website. So thank you!

I'm very fortunate to have had some many people contribute to the website in one way or another over its lifespan. Eric (BeerControl) and Ryan (furrer4heisman) supported the venture from day one. HokiESQ has been a great sounding board, and provided legal advice (but always with a disclaimer). Magdalyn (magduffs) spent countless hours helping me hash out our original design. Mike (mstrawthr) went through countless revisions to create the key logo anchored to the top left of the site today. Early on, Kevin Burke (kburkeVT), Joe (HokieJoe3), and Adam (06Hokie) all decided this was a good enough platform to share their voice. Thanks to Andy Bitter for hanging out here, sharing his work, and answering any questions. And I still don't know where VTBox comes up with the inspiration and time for all of his creative GIFs.

I can't even begin to tell you how much work our current team put in last season. joelestra crunched many of his advanced statistical previews late at night while cramped in a plane seat. Whether Tech won or lost, BilldozerVT would wake up early the next morning, re-watch the game, and spend his day chopping up the video so French and Mason would have the film to analyze. French and Mason's articles would hit my inbox at times during the night when no person should be awake, because like everyone else who makes this place possible, they have some combination of full time job, family, or school to prioritize. I'd be remiss if I didn't note French has been writing here more than anyone else but me. And my role is more of editor than writer now. His film reviews have become go-to reading for HokieNation. Brian Marcolini has taught me a thing or two about self-deprecating humor. It's been fun to watch his writing evolve these last two years. TheFifthFuller gave us a dose of humor each week that would ease the pain of any debacle on the field.

At this point, I bet this reads like a going away letter, but it's not. We're going to keep doing what we do, and we're going to try to get better each day. The newest members of the team, Pierson and Mark Trible, are all already crushing it with their columns and recruiting coverage, respectively.

Finally, thank you to my wife and new son for being overly generous and letting me spend time with you all, instead of them.