Alright so if you’re new to Week to Week Notes, you may not totally get the “music thematic concept”, but here is a quick explanation of how we got here. I was constantly calling my sports writing “a bit” because I wasn’t sure if people would take anything I wrote seriously. I’d prefer to be self-deprecating and the “bit” part is really a “defense mechanism.” By now I realize it is totally out of my control whether someone views me as a writer or a village idiot with a writing platform.
My first post was a mock of the ‘22 NFL Draft. I only got one pick spot on, Sauce Gardner to the New York Jets. With the 10th pick, I had the Jets going with Drake London, but they ended up with Garrett Wilson. I’m only bringing that up specifically because I remember having a pint with one of my Jet fan insiders last April and he said Wilson was the guy. Not to brag, but the fact that two of Hoboken’s own - a Village Idiot drinking pints & writing about sports and a former Ram - nailed the Jets draft I’d say should be Noted. **Cough, cough, @JoeDouglas Cough, cough**
Here is a quick recap of all the weeks since I started using the thematic concept. Trust me I don’t expect anybody new to go back and read any of these but I’ve provided the hyperlink if anything in the recap catches your eye.
Mock Draft ‘22 to Week 3, ‘22 - I had the idea to use music in the Instagram story but thought it might look too odd at the time. Nobody really seemed to notice I was writing because I wasn’t really talking about it much, just posting a link every Friday and seeing what got people to click the link.
Week 4, ‘22 -Sanctified: Thank goodness this was months before Kanye completely lost his mind. Heard the song for the first time since my early years at UAlbany and used it in League 10965’s Week to Week Notes as a Throwback Thursday for the Fellas.
Week 5, ‘22 - Superhero: Was re-binging Entourage at the time with the Phins fan insider.
Week 6, ‘22 - Dreams: Wanted to see if this great song with a baby dancing GIF would generate more clicks because people would think I was a crackhead the way the cover looked. It did.
Week 7, ‘22 - All Too Well (Sad Girl Autumn Version): Did my TD12 of my favorite Taylor Swift Songs with a sports twist. I thought of this in the summer but was waiting for her album Midnights to release that Friday. This was my first real attempt at trying to get ladies interested in the sports content that they may not usually care to read about. It did (I think).
Week 8, ‘22 - Wants & Needs: I thought I came up with a classic, one years later hopefully @YouTheReaders would call it a sleeper. Now reading it today, it feels like my first time opening up about what I was trying to do here, a bit inside the bit (vol i). @DearMaud reposted this on their Instagram, the first repost.
Week 9, ‘22 - Anti-Hero/6 PM in New York: One of my personal favorites. It was the first time I ever used @YouTheReader, something that a random girl from the bar said looked cool and should be the Instagram handle for Week to Week Notes. Good call. In Anti-Hero I had to admit that sometimes to be an interesting writer you have to play both the hero and villain to get people interested in reading. At this point part of the process, I really wanted to let the people who still call me Thomas (close family), that I was going to sometimes have to be a jerk but to trust me with where I was going with all this. This was all new to them, just as much as it was to me. T-Swift says in her song “I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser”, it was my birthday that Saturday night. I also made a 2nd post at 6 PM in PR that day where I tagged every sports media publication and sports media member that I read or listened to growing up because I turned 28 at midnight and I wondered what was next for me. Ryen Russillo was the only one who viewed that post, my first checkmark viewer. Inside that post, I did a “Life Advice” with Ryen Russillo where I pretended to write in and then answer as if I was RR. It fooled my Mom. I also posted this link in my hometown’s Parents at Play group to see if it would generate more views. It did.
Week 10, ‘22 - Mr. Brightside: Another one of my favorites. I did a TD10 reasons why Mr. Brightside is the bar song of my generation. I wanted to go from an Anti-Hero to Mr. Brightside to show that I could play both cards on any given week or post (to draw interest). I also used my hometown’s Our Town logo as clickbait because if people from PR saw it, I thought the ones with a sense of humor would start to understand what I was going for. Some did. The Facebook group denied the post and I was a bit ticked off because here I was writing for months and getting very little traction to triple the number of views from a parent’s Facebook. Was it the right demographic? No, but if I couldn’t get people from PR interested, how would I ever expect NYC to give a damn. It was also an experiment if you’ll let me call it that.
Week 11, ‘22 - Oklahoma Smokeshow: Okay so once I wrote Anti-Hero, I really started to “cook” and take writing much more seriously. This song was basically just me trying to convey that although I definitely need PR’s support if I can’t post on a large Facebook group that is designed for garage sales then I’ll try my best to do this without the support. I was willing to be known as an asshole from back home if it meant I could go for my dreams as a sports writer. I’d rather not be an asshole from back home, but at this point, I have no control over what people think of me, so I don’t worry about it. This was also my first post on @You_The_Reader.
Week 12, ‘22 - Major Distribution: I tagged a bunch of the largest corporations in America to see if they would be interested in advertising and called out a few in the #BoobyTrapChallenege. I also paid $30 to a promoter on IG to get this posted on a hip-hop Instagram called Hip Hop Daily with over 1 million followers. It didn’t really work because it was mostly bots, but at least I didn’t get scammed, right? Oh yeah, I also admitted on there that I wanted Week to Week Notes to be a modernized written version of The Ringer and Barstool Sports, called out Dave Portnoy&Bill Simmons, and got some stuff off my chest of some of the stupid things I did while drinking growing up - in hopes that if kids read it they would avoid drinking until they were a bit older.
Week 13, ‘22 - Do They Know It’s Christmas? (‘84): Dave Portnoy was in Rockland eating pizza. I wanted the tone during the Christmas season to be happy.
Week 14, ‘22 - Just Like Christmas: Tried explaining that the video game Madden was an encyclopedia for me as a kid just as much as it was entertaining.
Week 15, ‘22 - Baby It’s Cold Outside: Went on a Field Trip to the Hoboken Museum and they just so happened to have received a Frank Sinatra “Sinatra Swooners” jacket. Pretty cool and the first time I ever really documented something that I was doing using my own pictures. I love history to be on the lookout for museum reviews every so often. I promise to try and make them a fun Field Trip.
Week 16, ‘22 -Fairytale in NY: Last Christmas theme of ‘22 and my favorite Christmas song. My parents met on Saint Patrick’s Day in ‘89, my dad coming from just outside Galway Bay while my mom’s side is originally from the Bronx. I wrote a ton that Friday, but in essence, I was trying to make my own Fairytale in NY with Week to Week Notes as a sports publication.
Week 17, ‘22 - Circo Loco: Drake's song with a “One More Time” remix I thought was perfect for NYE. Oh yeah, Derek Jeter viewed my Fairytale in NY IG story so in this column I introed a bit of a letter to him just in case he ever clicked the link.
Week 18, ‘23 - When I’m Small / Unforgettable: Not a typo with the Week, as any football fan knows, the yearly calendar is based on the NFL season. I endorsed someone for President with a TD12 and made a lofty goal for myself as a sports writer in comparison to others in my generation.
Sorry, @YouTheReader that’s been reading for a while, I tried making that quick but just wanted to get new readers up to speed if they’re interested. Will never do one of those ever again. I’m trying my best to only look forward to what I write on Week to Week Notes.
@YouTheReader = Yes that is me trying to break the 4th wall and writing directly to you.
@PrTeam = Friends, family, and readers of Week to Week Notes. You men&women are my Public Relations Team as well as die-hard to casual fans of sports. A much more sophisticated version of “Stoolies.”
Warped Logic = Free insight into the sick and twisted mind of an overtly biased fan of football. Some may even go as far as to call this a case study. (Yes, this could be named “Football Forecast” or something but it doesn’t carry the same juice and I don’t see Warped Logic trademarked anywhere.)
MLB Scorching Furnace = My version of MLB Hot Stove.
Let’s Take ‘Em Back (0:04) = Anecdotes about life and sports from the past.
Sunday Scouts = I do not claim to be Mel Kiper Jr., Todd McShay, Connor Rogers, or Daniel Jeremiah. I do not have an NFL or organized football background past the 8th grade when I broke my foot playing backyard football at the PRHS after the Brown Jug. I also do not have a favorite college football program I root for (although I am impartial toward Notre Dame slightly). I do straight up do this section because when I’ve always loved doing mock drafts for my favorite NFL team, the NY Jets. The Jets season is still very much alive so I haven’t been doing as many mocks as I would have in the past on FanSpeak.com. With my background or lack thereof, it is totally understandable why the Jets or NFL teams would never consider me a scout, but I do enjoy trying to find middle to late-round gems every year. I have been doing some iteration of this process for years, I enjoy pretending to be a scout by watching YouTube highlight tapes and Twitter. My ‘22 NFL Mock Draft was Week to Week Notes’ first official post, so Sunday Scouts is really a “for me” section that will help serve as a database for mocks this NFL offseason.
Swings & Misses = Unlike some on social media, I’ll publicly post my public Ls for the Week every Week.
Trends Change, Rumors Fly (0:08) = Rumor mill of what is going on in the world of sports&life.
His or Her Words, Not Mine = Section specifically for readers who have their own opinions on sports or life. If you’re a big fan of sports and think I have an awful take on your team, well this section is for you to lambast me into oblivion. The only edits I’ll make to your submission are if you curse because I have a PG-13 audience. Again though, I know a lot of you ladies and gentlemen have interests scoping far beyond sports so whatever it is you’re passionate about, don’t be a stranger you’ll always have an opening to send your opinions my way via text, DM @You_The_Reader, or email at WeekToWeekNotes@gmail.com. You can put your birth name down or if you’d prefer to stay anonymous come up with your own @Nickname
The“Thematic Concept Song” = The Music Thematic Concept Song that I have played 944,494,201,948 times during the day or week in the background to help me write.
YouTube Rabbithole
Chest Beating Origins in Wolf of Wall Street
Thanks for reading! I got to go drink some pints, watch football, and look up at some skyscrapers.