Hey friends, John Trupin here from Lookout Landing. Five and a half years ago I responded to an open hiring call here at LL. Without reservation, the experience has changed my life. Though I’d long been a LLurker, the opportunity to write here - at the time fully for free - helped me develop a community, grow as a writer, and learn enough to fill a cheesy feel-good family movie trailer. One of the things I’ve learned since being made the Deputy Managing Editor (Kate promises my big shiny badge is in the mail, it’s just four years delayed) is that even when you love doing something, it can be difficult to maintain the necessary fervor, especially when the subject of that fervor stretches from March-to- October, with 162 events to cover, plus spring training and, well, never in the history of this blog but THEORETICALLY playoffs.