By Nick Powell
Just six articles
have been uploaded to Powell’s Perspective in the last 644 days.
This is all because of the opportunity that Irish Sports
Website Pundit Arena gave me.
After applying to be one of their part-time ‘pundits’ I was
able to write 63 articles on a platform where I could have a huge amount of sports
fans read my work.
However, they announced recently that they have stopped
amateur pundits from working on their and sadly, are now only uploading articles
from those on the payroll.
It’s bittersweet. I knew Pundit
Arena were becoming increasingly uninterested in user content. It was like
a relationship on the rocks. I could see them interpreting my enthusiasm, which
they used to like, as just plain annoying. It was also a natural time to move
on, as I head off to university and will hopefully be able to be involved in a
sports newspaper there.
Pundit Arena are entering a new era, no doubt they'll sue me for using this (Credit: Pundit Arena)
But it’s likely to be a long time before I find another
website that was so easy to write on, upload content and reach such a massive
audience. I received nearly 20,000 views on my most read article, I’ve only got
over 500 once on here.
In the meantime though, with the shackles off, expect plenty
of controversial views, photos stolen from other websites and grammatical
errors.
Another thing I’ll be adding in is a more personal touch. Some
articles will be much chattier than the style I’ve adopted recently, and I’ll
be uploading articles about sport closer to my heart. Rants about teams I
support, stories and diaries about my amateur sporting exploits and hopefully
in time, a return to this being a platform for some of my friends.
At our peak, Powell’s Perspective had 6 talented young
sports journalists writing for us. We had articles ranging from corruption in
boxing, to the sexism of ‘bro’ (or ‘lad’) culture in US swimming and even a
deeply moving obituary for a BMX stunt rider.
Don’t get me wrong, an awful lot was just bad predictions
from myself and Mikey Godsmark and a series of bland match reports, but it was
a huge learning curve for me and enabled me to be successful when I eventually
brought myself to apply for Pundit Arena.
So, whether this article gets read by 0 or 1000 people, I am
looking forward to having the independence of a space where I can be free to
say what I want, when I want once again.
I also want anyone reading this who is looking for a
platform to upload their opinions, sensible or mad to get in touch with me.
Doesn’t matter whether you’re my best mate or someone I’ve
only bumped into once, whether you’re writing analysing the Champions League
Final or University Quidditch, I want to hear from you. This blog worked best
when there was variety of different voices and topics.
A huge thanks to everyone who has read my drivel already, I
am looking forward to this exciting new era of Powell’s Perspective, however
long or short it may be.
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