This may have been my favorite piece by you so far, sir... thank you for sharing! I just started writing at a small website and this really resonates and inspires. Being objective may be tough for all of us haha
Thank you for keeping at it and creating the best Seahawks experience! We are riding shotgun with you on this journey. Keep on keeping on! Seaside Joe #1!
I'm always impressed with fearless people who have the courage to go do what they want to do, without knowing how it will all work out, and without having it all figured out and planned. I've never had that faith, but wish I did. Cheers to you SSJ!
After watching the Lions v. Chiefs, it occurs to me that Jared Goff and Geno are a lot alike. They were both cast off from teams that didn't want them. Butt they are now thriving in a system with a strong head coach that instills confidence in them and a winning mentality in their entire team. They remind me of us, as a whole team. You can see the spirit of competition and the treatment of outside opinions as noise. Kudos to Dan Campbell.
Haha. It’s my opinion. I can handle dissenting opinions no problem.
I have been a subscriber, admittedly, free only not paid, and I’ve also canceled my subscription because of the blatant begs for money… and the bragging about how seaside Joe has written 10,000 articles in the last five days and no other rider in sports has done so etc….(obviously I’m exaggerating, but you get the point.). No worries. Just my personal preference and I was just sharing my opinion. I’m not trolling. But if you think I’m trolling that’s OK too :-) have a great day.
Ok. Here’s my take, which you didn’t ask for. I’m a paying subscriber and have been for quite a while. So what you call “begs” and “brags” appear to really bother you. They don’t bother me in the least because I’d much rather Ken ask for subscribers and outline the paid benefits than have a bunch of erectile dysfunction ads.
As far as the brags, I can say as someone who was responsible for a free daily newsletter from my employer to clients, employees and prospects for several years that what Ken does is AMAZING. and I LOVE reading his backstory.
There are plenty of free sites around but none of them have high quality content and are free of advertising.
But I get that some folks would prefer advertisers. But few of them are here.
Sep 8, 2023·edited Sep 8, 2023Liked by Seaside Joe
100% Rusty!
Do you want ads? Lots of "free" sites with recycled content for you, EasyGoJo.
You want great, free (but available by paid subscription with *even more content*) with some reminders to subscribe? And a great community? Stick around--and strongly consider throwing some money into the pot.
1. It’s hard to get anyone to pay without asking. At least Kenny does it in an entertaining way, typically with a great tie-back to the articles topic.
2. Anyone notice the new super annoying pop-up on Field Gulls - when did pop-ups become a thing on non-ecom sites again?
3. Field Gulls has felt like it’s left something on the field (pun intended) since Kenny moved roles @ SB & Matty signed with SI (but SI may have the worst UI of all the Hawks blogs, so unfortunately not much Matty breakdowns in my life)(or 2nd worst to the one that makes you click to a new page for each bullet of their listicles, Fansided maybe?).
4. This is the number one place for the most objective Seahawks & NFL analysis. Analysis without the drama. Something to keep the Hawks fans centered that like to ride the emotions rollercoaster.
Taking all those points into account, plus the volume of content, SeasideJoe easily provides 20x more value than what he earns in gross subs.
One additional point, the word count is not a brag. It’s an affirmation. It is a call back to the original mission statement. The objective before their was an established strategy or voice. For newer readers, that may seem out of context, and I can see how one might see it as a brag - but it is not.
Here's some thoughts I have after reading this article:
1) Great origin article about yourself. Your candor about you and your life story takes courage to share. That builds trust with all of us that read your stuff. We see you out there on the branch sharing personal stuff...risking falling or failure....leads to us opening up as well and building trust. Very original and helps strengthen the connection between writer and reader. Found nowhere else in sports writing I'm aware of.
2) I value Seaside Joe because I've learned more about the Hawks and the NFL reading these daily posts than I ever did reading everything else out there. The proof is in the pudding...you've tended to be right on many things about the team...further building trust with your audience.
3) Most of the NFL stuff out there is junk. Not all of it...but a LOT of it...something I was clueless about before stumbling on Seaside Joe.
4) For me, this is similar to my "awakening" regarding politics, the media, corporate greed, the state of the union, etc. I've had my eyes opened about our wold since about COVID...and that is remarkably similar to my becoming aware of the inner workings of the NFL machine and the business of Seahawks by reading your stuff.
5) I am lazy...and very much appreciate being a knowledgeable 12 because I read Seaside Joe. I impress my friends and family on a regular basis with my Seahawks perspective..which is really just my sharing what I learn from you and your readers. You do the leg work...I get the glory.
6) That's an important point as well...you have some very knowledgeable readers in your community and I learn from them often.
7) I appreciate the humor, attempts at humor, and connections to our modern day culture. That Rolling Stones dude was right about that!
8) I could care less when you recruit for new paid subscribers. I already paid...and get my money's worth and then some. Others don't pay and don't have to...they get some of your stuff at no cost. That's HOW I got hooked before opening my wallet...the free stuff led to my willingly paying to get more good content. A quality product will sell itself.
9) I LOVE the fact you have little clerical errors in your articles. I'm detail oriented...and see those...and don't really care. Or maybe I do care...glad to see them as those errors are a symbol of what's important. A mistake-free article from some other writer that's an opinion or click bait doesn't hold water with your stuff...researched and defensible articles that inform and entertain. I can show you a thousand federal government articles and releases that are 100% mistake free...and not worth reading.
For all these reasons and others I'm not thinking of...I enjoy your articles and this community. I have NEVER posted comments like I do here...evidence of the comfort I have with this crew and you. Good stuff...keep it up.
"The hard part about being so objective about the Seattle Seahawks is that objectivity doesn’t balance well with being irrational and passionate about the Seattle Seahawks."
While true in many ways, the irony is that I continue to find that your objective perspective feeds my fandom's passion by providing a more balanced POV than the "freak out about everything and deny PC/JS have a clue about football" approach so popular elsewhere. You're a stronger writer now than when you oversaw FG, and it's been cool to watch that progression over the years.
Half of your free and Bonus articles are begs for money and on topics only slightly related to the Seahawks. If these things were different, I bet you would attract and keep more readers.
It is not at all true that half of Seaside Joe newsletters are on topics only slightly related to the Seahawks. I can accept being trolled, but it has to at least be factually accurate.
Guys I got crucified just now over at Seahawks Draft Blog bc I dared to ask Rob if he’d still be urging Schneider to draft Levis at #5 given how things are playing out in Tennessee. I guess I was a bit aggressive bc I’d been challenging him pretty hard ahead of the draft so wanted him to say what he’d do differently now.
In any case, he and everyone else there jumped on me and it made his site feel pretty clannish and closed.
Which Seaside Joe is not.
So, whoever this was can have his opinion and we can just let it lie, better that way. Let’s not let this degrade to SDB where the blogger is necessarily a god and can never be challenged
Sounds like a rough day. I hate flame wars, & have dumped more than one site on account of them. I think you are safe here!
Ken, on the other hand...I mostly just sit around all day waiting for him to screw up so I can watch the sparks fly. The young man does not disappoint!
I’m actually zezinhom800 now! — cuz he challenged my pushback pretty hard pre-draft and was 100% wrong, on several levels.
Esp his Jim Nagy interview (excellent) where Nagy let it drop that the league wasn’t seeing Levis in the same light as the media, and that Josh Allen definitely wasn’t a comp. Which Rob had been claiming for months. You’d think there’d be a follow up question after that pearl, even just a “Really?” But nope, dropped it like a hot potato and moved on to some linebacker. I challenged him on that too, essentially head-in-the-sand-ism, and reminded him of it again.
That’s funny — was exactly what I said over there. His assertion that Levis was a “Schneider type” and that he was essentially what the ‘Hawks were hoping for after the Wilson trade, turned out not to be the case at all.
And this particular post of his was an early assessment of the 2024 QB class. Which is why following the Levis miss, what did he learn about Schneider and how would that impact his thoughts on the ‘24 class. That I didn’t hold the mistake against him but that learning from it was key to me believing his assessments of 2024.
Let’s just say he doesn’t believe he needs any further growth as to assessing potential Seahawks QB’s 🫣
Asking for people to subscribe to something they are already reading is begging? What would happen if he just stopped writing free stuff? I am guessing he would get more paying readers. The great thing is Kenneth isn't doing that and is still writing good content for people who don't pay. It could go either way and I am grateful (as a paying member) that he has kept it the way he has. If you are not you can always go back to fieldgulls for free so you don't have to deal with him asking to get paid for what he does for a living.
You're probably right and I'm just being me, but #1) I totally enjoy knowing more about Seaside Joe, the human and what makes him tick as I would knowing that what someone else thinks could/might/maybe happen next Sunday or one more baseless rant about one of the Seahawk players or coaches. And #2, the money begs seem to be paying off and they are a small annoyance that help keep a good writer solvent.
This may have been my favorite piece by you so far, sir... thank you for sharing! I just started writing at a small website and this really resonates and inspires. Being objective may be tough for all of us haha
Thank you for keeping at it and creating the best Seahawks experience! We are riding shotgun with you on this journey. Keep on keeping on! Seaside Joe #1!
Thanks, Jeremy!
Thank you for sticking it out with this writing thing, we’re all reaping the benefits every day! 🙏
Thank you, Joshular!
I'm always impressed with fearless people who have the courage to go do what they want to do, without knowing how it will all work out, and without having it all figured out and planned. I've never had that faith, but wish I did. Cheers to you SSJ!
Thanks, Chris!
After watching the Lions v. Chiefs, it occurs to me that Jared Goff and Geno are a lot alike. They were both cast off from teams that didn't want them. Butt they are now thriving in a system with a strong head coach that instills confidence in them and a winning mentality in their entire team. They remind me of us, as a whole team. You can see the spirit of competition and the treatment of outside opinions as noise. Kudos to Dan Campbell.
I feel lucky to have read most of your Seahawks articles starting from FieldGulls. I’m still hoping you you try video analysis and reactions again. 😎
Thanks, Roger!
I remember the Rolling Stones articles, too.
I feel like I am in extreme danger of being a "loser" in the survivor pool, Week 1/Game 1!
Well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-FPimCmbX8
I'm out lol!!!
The LIons are going to surprise more than the Chiefs this season. My lord--the Chiefs were getting all the calls and the Lions still pulled it out.
Doug, ol' buddy! You won the dead pool! Not everybody can do that right out of the gate - fewer still betting on the defending champs! You da man!
ROFLMAO!!
#DeadPoolWon
Haha. It’s my opinion. I can handle dissenting opinions no problem.
I have been a subscriber, admittedly, free only not paid, and I’ve also canceled my subscription because of the blatant begs for money… and the bragging about how seaside Joe has written 10,000 articles in the last five days and no other rider in sports has done so etc….(obviously I’m exaggerating, but you get the point.). No worries. Just my personal preference and I was just sharing my opinion. I’m not trolling. But if you think I’m trolling that’s OK too :-) have a great day.
Ok. Here’s my take, which you didn’t ask for. I’m a paying subscriber and have been for quite a while. So what you call “begs” and “brags” appear to really bother you. They don’t bother me in the least because I’d much rather Ken ask for subscribers and outline the paid benefits than have a bunch of erectile dysfunction ads.
As far as the brags, I can say as someone who was responsible for a free daily newsletter from my employer to clients, employees and prospects for several years that what Ken does is AMAZING. and I LOVE reading his backstory.
There are plenty of free sites around but none of them have high quality content and are free of advertising.
But I get that some folks would prefer advertisers. But few of them are here.
Sorry this bothers you.
100% Rusty!
Do you want ads? Lots of "free" sites with recycled content for you, EasyGoJo.
You want great, free (but available by paid subscription with *even more content*) with some reminders to subscribe? And a great community? Stick around--and strongly consider throwing some money into the pot.
Echoing both of you with my 2 cents:
1. It’s hard to get anyone to pay without asking. At least Kenny does it in an entertaining way, typically with a great tie-back to the articles topic.
2. Anyone notice the new super annoying pop-up on Field Gulls - when did pop-ups become a thing on non-ecom sites again?
3. Field Gulls has felt like it’s left something on the field (pun intended) since Kenny moved roles @ SB & Matty signed with SI (but SI may have the worst UI of all the Hawks blogs, so unfortunately not much Matty breakdowns in my life)(or 2nd worst to the one that makes you click to a new page for each bullet of their listicles, Fansided maybe?).
4. This is the number one place for the most objective Seahawks & NFL analysis. Analysis without the drama. Something to keep the Hawks fans centered that like to ride the emotions rollercoaster.
Taking all those points into account, plus the volume of content, SeasideJoe easily provides 20x more value than what he earns in gross subs.
One additional point, the word count is not a brag. It’s an affirmation. It is a call back to the original mission statement. The objective before their was an established strategy or voice. For newer readers, that may seem out of context, and I can see how one might see it as a brag - but it is not.
Here's some thoughts I have after reading this article:
1) Great origin article about yourself. Your candor about you and your life story takes courage to share. That builds trust with all of us that read your stuff. We see you out there on the branch sharing personal stuff...risking falling or failure....leads to us opening up as well and building trust. Very original and helps strengthen the connection between writer and reader. Found nowhere else in sports writing I'm aware of.
2) I value Seaside Joe because I've learned more about the Hawks and the NFL reading these daily posts than I ever did reading everything else out there. The proof is in the pudding...you've tended to be right on many things about the team...further building trust with your audience.
3) Most of the NFL stuff out there is junk. Not all of it...but a LOT of it...something I was clueless about before stumbling on Seaside Joe.
4) For me, this is similar to my "awakening" regarding politics, the media, corporate greed, the state of the union, etc. I've had my eyes opened about our wold since about COVID...and that is remarkably similar to my becoming aware of the inner workings of the NFL machine and the business of Seahawks by reading your stuff.
5) I am lazy...and very much appreciate being a knowledgeable 12 because I read Seaside Joe. I impress my friends and family on a regular basis with my Seahawks perspective..which is really just my sharing what I learn from you and your readers. You do the leg work...I get the glory.
6) That's an important point as well...you have some very knowledgeable readers in your community and I learn from them often.
7) I appreciate the humor, attempts at humor, and connections to our modern day culture. That Rolling Stones dude was right about that!
8) I could care less when you recruit for new paid subscribers. I already paid...and get my money's worth and then some. Others don't pay and don't have to...they get some of your stuff at no cost. That's HOW I got hooked before opening my wallet...the free stuff led to my willingly paying to get more good content. A quality product will sell itself.
9) I LOVE the fact you have little clerical errors in your articles. I'm detail oriented...and see those...and don't really care. Or maybe I do care...glad to see them as those errors are a symbol of what's important. A mistake-free article from some other writer that's an opinion or click bait doesn't hold water with your stuff...researched and defensible articles that inform and entertain. I can show you a thousand federal government articles and releases that are 100% mistake free...and not worth reading.
For all these reasons and others I'm not thinking of...I enjoy your articles and this community. I have NEVER posted comments like I do here...evidence of the comfort I have with this crew and you. Good stuff...keep it up.
Thank you for all this!
Double rec for this, SR84.
“Not a prediction, not an opinion. A projection based on facts.” 👍👏
Go Hawks!
Thank you. GO HAWKS!!
Go Hawks!
"The hard part about being so objective about the Seattle Seahawks is that objectivity doesn’t balance well with being irrational and passionate about the Seattle Seahawks."
While true in many ways, the irony is that I continue to find that your objective perspective feeds my fandom's passion by providing a more balanced POV than the "freak out about everything and deny PC/JS have a clue about football" approach so popular elsewhere. You're a stronger writer now than when you oversaw FG, and it's been cool to watch that progression over the years.
Thanks for all you do!
Thank YOU, Ode!
Glad to have read just about everything you have written on the Seahawks. I am looking forward to many more.
Thanks, La'au!
Half of your free and Bonus articles are begs for money and on topics only slightly related to the Seahawks. If these things were different, I bet you would attract and keep more readers.
On average, we are half Dick Butkus and half Dr. Dimento, so it suits us just fine.
Except for Doug, who is at least 2/3 Weird Al. But it seems to suit him, too.
HEY VI.. just Beat it! Err... EAT IT, ok??!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqZVihpOACE
Aaaaaaand there it is!
There has never been a door opened for me that I have not crashed through :D.
It is not at all true that half of Seaside Joe newsletters are on topics only slightly related to the Seahawks. I can accept being trolled, but it has to at least be factually accurate.
Guys I got crucified just now over at Seahawks Draft Blog bc I dared to ask Rob if he’d still be urging Schneider to draft Levis at #5 given how things are playing out in Tennessee. I guess I was a bit aggressive bc I’d been challenging him pretty hard ahead of the draft so wanted him to say what he’d do differently now.
In any case, he and everyone else there jumped on me and it made his site feel pretty clannish and closed.
Which Seaside Joe is not.
So, whoever this was can have his opinion and we can just let it lie, better that way. Let’s not let this degrade to SDB where the blogger is necessarily a god and can never be challenged
So, you are what...zezinhom200 now?
Sounds like a rough day. I hate flame wars, & have dumped more than one site on account of them. I think you are safe here!
Ken, on the other hand...I mostly just sit around all day waiting for him to screw up so I can watch the sparks fly. The young man does not disappoint!
I’m actually zezinhom800 now! — cuz he challenged my pushback pretty hard pre-draft and was 100% wrong, on several levels.
Esp his Jim Nagy interview (excellent) where Nagy let it drop that the league wasn’t seeing Levis in the same light as the media, and that Josh Allen definitely wasn’t a comp. Which Rob had been claiming for months. You’d think there’d be a follow up question after that pearl, even just a “Really?” But nope, dropped it like a hot potato and moved on to some linebacker. I challenged him on that too, essentially head-in-the-sand-ism, and reminded him of it again.
BAD idea 🤣
Whoa! Talk about personal growth!
That’s funny — was exactly what I said over there. His assertion that Levis was a “Schneider type” and that he was essentially what the ‘Hawks were hoping for after the Wilson trade, turned out not to be the case at all.
And this particular post of his was an early assessment of the 2024 QB class. Which is why following the Levis miss, what did he learn about Schneider and how would that impact his thoughts on the ‘24 class. That I didn’t hold the mistake against him but that learning from it was key to me believing his assessments of 2024.
Let’s just say he doesn’t believe he needs any further growth as to assessing potential Seahawks QB’s 🫣
Asking for people to subscribe to something they are already reading is begging? What would happen if he just stopped writing free stuff? I am guessing he would get more paying readers. The great thing is Kenneth isn't doing that and is still writing good content for people who don't pay. It could go either way and I am grateful (as a paying member) that he has kept it the way he has. If you are not you can always go back to fieldgulls for free so you don't have to deal with him asking to get paid for what he does for a living.
You're probably right and I'm just being me, but #1) I totally enjoy knowing more about Seaside Joe, the human and what makes him tick as I would knowing that what someone else thinks could/might/maybe happen next Sunday or one more baseless rant about one of the Seahawk players or coaches. And #2, the money begs seem to be paying off and they are a small annoyance that help keep a good writer solvent.
Great, GREAT piece — and just an awesome mission/perspective for the season.
Much appreciated, Scott!
Good newsletter. Well done.
Thanks, Scott!