NML Life Update (finally!)

It has been a hot minute since our last post and podcast despite there being a lot that has been going on in pro pickleball, as per usual. We have been putting this off with all that has been going on, but it’s finally time to give a proper update, especially to those who have reached out privately to us.

We started this blog in April 2021. The past 3 years have been some of the most fun we have had doing anything. The pickleball playing obsession turned into a pro pickleball watching obsession, which turned into the obsession of the blog. We have made plenty of predictions (both good and bad), brought out the hot takes, provided many MLP draft grades and even found a way to break some news along the way.

What has come our way in this little niche world is a truly unique opportunity that somehow isn’t all that unique to the few people who have put themselves in a similar position as us. We have taken on the role of the co-GMs for the New York Hustlers MLP franchise, with a primary focus on player personnel.   

But what’s with being so quiet over the past few months?

Initially, we weren’t quite sure what to do when this potential opportunity first presented itself to us towards the end of 2023. With all the news surrounding player contracts coming up, we decided it was best for us to keep our heads down. Once we had something close to finalized with the Hustlers, there was an understanding between us that it was simply untenable for us to take on the role of co-GMs and maintain our role as unfiltered bloggers.

As much fun as the blog has been for us and as much as we have missed it at times over the past few months, we want to give everything that we can to this role as co-GMs. On top of the fact that we’re having to manage our time while still being employed at our day jobs, we don’t want the blog giving the impression to anyone that the Hustlers are not our number 1 pickleball priority. To be clear, no one in the Hustlers organization ever asked us to stop doing the blog or even expressed any concern with it. However, it became clear to us at a certain point that doing both at the same time was not realistic for us.

A cool thing about the blog for us is that it never had anything to do with getting a foot in the door of pro pickleball. Pro pickleball was barely a thing and the concept of MLP hadn’t even been announced. We started the blog because it felt like there was a missing perspective out there. We live in a city in Canada that most Canadians don’t know anything about beyond that we have a junior hockey team. For the OG’s of pickleball that attended Canadian Nationals in Kelowna back in the day, our home city is about 2 hours away from Kelowna. 

We know some people in pro pickleball and have gotten to know some more people (mostly remotely) through the blog. Relatively, though, our relationships with players and key actors in the sport have been limited. It is partly that degree of separation that allowed us to keep giving takes and commentary in whatever way we wanted to. While not everyone has always appreciated some of those takes, it is also the reason we have the opportunity with the Hustlers. Now that we have been provided with this opportunity, it is not one that we are taking lightly.

Things have changed drastically in terms of the number of voices giving perspective on pro pickleball, which is undoubtedly a good thing as the sport grows. However, we are still at the stage where truly independent media coverage is severely lacking and who knows how much that changes with the shrinking state of journalism in 2024. But that’s what comes with the territory where multiple pro franchises have key front office members who got their start giving takes on the internet in some capacity.

Hopefully the amount of media coverage of pro pickleball continues to grow. The more voices there are following the sport, the better it is. We continue to believe there is no substitute for time as people wonder why the growth of the pro game has not followed a similar trajectory to amateur participation. More people covering the sport can only assist in that growth.

We weren’t initially sure whether we would stop the blog completely in this role, but the biggest thing for us is that we have never wanted to feel like we had to filter what we write or say. Ultimately, trying to walk the line of balancing what the blog is versus doing what is in the best interests of the Hustlers was not something that appealed to us. The best part of the blog was being able to say exactly what we wanted. Not to mention the significant time commitment associated with the blog. 

The biggest thing we’re going to miss about the blog is giving our perspective when certain stories come out. Although we enjoyed the post-tournament takeaways and fantasy draft previews, the best part was commentating on stories that we felt mattered to the big picture of the sport. Being able to comment on all the tour wars stuff, paddle controversies, and all of that in between was what got the juices flowing.

However, we have happily traded not weighing in on the pickleball hot topics for this opportunity with the Hustlers. We have no idea where things will go from here. We’re just taking things in this wild pickleball world each day as they come to us.

We look forward to attending more events this year, meeting a bunch of new people and, most importantly, watching the NY Hustlers compete. We’re very happy with the team that has been constructed. We think that the team has the potential to do some serious damage this year while still maintaining that high end upside long term. But only time will tell.

To conclude this piece, we want to give a huge thank you to anyone who has been involved in this blog over the past 3 years. That means anyone who has read, commented, criticized, shared, agreed, disagreed or anything else in between. We really appreciate it. The fact that as many people cared to check in on the blog as they did has meant the world to us and we wouldn’t be in the position we are today without all the support we received along the way from all you weirdos who care about pro pickleball as much as we do.

We also want to thank our sponsors. OneShot Pickleball, whose paddles we have been playing with for years (Jer (Slim) since 2019 and Chris (Gritty) since 2022). OneShot joined on as a sponsor last year when we started the podcast and they have always been very supportive of all our pickleball endeavours. They continue to be an amazing local PNW company making really good pickleball equipment! The other sponsor we want to shout out is Drop Shot District Clothing, who also came on as a sponsor once we started the podcast. 

Finally, we want to thank the people who have actually helped with the blog. Most importantly, Producer Allissa / Girlfriend Corner (now fiancée corner) for all the technical support of the blog and podcast along with the moral support every step of the way. Pickleball Jan, aka Waggish, who helped us with the live blogs in 2023 and truly might watch as much pro pickleball as anyone that we know. Of course, we want to thank the New York Hustlers franchise for giving us this incredible opportunity.

This is not a goodbye. It’s more of a see you later. Here’s to big things in 2024 and beyond!