We had a lot of great entries last week after I asked for a new voice to do our daily links posts. (What daily links posts, you might be asking. That's why we needed one!) I was excited by several entries and showed a list to my deputy editors. (See, they actually do something for their job titles.) In the end, everyone picked the same sample for a clean sweep. Still, it was a really hard decision telling several folks I'd love to have on board that we wouldn't need their services.
That said, please welcome Melissa Heyboer on board! She was not a member of BYB before, but she was a frequent reader (and re-tweeter) of the site. She currently writes a Detroit Lions blog -- Barry Sanders Memorial. So you'll want to check that out, I'm sure. Like pretty much all of us (but BigAl), she lives outside of the Detroit area. Like, waaaay outside.
But i'll let her tell you that. I asked Melissa to introduce herself to you, too, so here's her intro.
Hey all! I'm a Detroit sports fan living in Jacksonville, Fla. I don't have any great "my time in Michigan" stories. I'm a Floridian -- born and raised. The good news is, I bleed Tiger blood (not the Charlie Sheen kind) just as much as you. My parents were born and raised in Michigan (Grand Rapids & Flint) and moved down to Florida to escape the winters just before I was born. But that doesn't mean I don't have Tigers memories or that I don't long for The Voice of Summer to say "That ball is long gone" one last time.
As a kid, we tried to make it back to Michigan at least once a year for games at Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park. I was born a few short months after the Tigers won the ‘84 World Series, but fortunately living in Florida has had its own perks. I was at Game 6 and 7 of the ‘97 World Series. I got to see Edgar Renteria's walk-off, game-winning hit. (Where was that magic in 2008, Edgar? ... I want Jair Jurrjens back!) My family attended the ‘05 All-Star game and we're frequenters of Spring Training in Lakeland.
I graduated from the University of Central Florida where I double-majored in Journalism and History. I was the sports editor of my college's newspaper and have covered my fair share of Division I athletics. I'm currently an associate editor for an alternative healthcare magazine, but I still find time to write about the teams I love. I'm the creator of Barry Sanders Memorial Blog, which is a site dedicated to the Detroit Lions, and I'm a diehard Michigan Wolverine fan (no Wal-Mart Wolverine jokes, please.)
I'm honored to be a part of BYB and excited for this great opportunity!
You can find Melissa on Twitter at @MelissaHeyboer. If we don't have any problems at BYB, hopefully you'll be reading her first post in the morning.