BRING ‘EM OUT: Meet The New Guys

A couple weeks ago, the gentlemen behind Black Heart Gold Pants announced that they would be stepping away from the blog after nine years in order to pursue other endeavors, creating an air of uncertainty around the future of the site. In the following days, SB Nation worked hard in order to find a new managing editor to carry on a tradition of blogging about Iowa sports here at BHGP. What they found was not one, but two people to take charge of the blog.

So without further ado, let’s get to the introductions.

We’re Ben Ross and Max Brekke. We’re the new guys.

A message from Max:

Greetings everyone! I’m Max, and I’ll be one of the new managing editors here at Black Heart Gold Pants. I’m really excited to start creating content for all of you and to help grow this platform even more. While this blog probably won’t be exactly what it’s been in the past in terms of what kinds of content we produce, I look forward to the new directions that we will take this blog with the help of some new voices. Of course, you can still expect quality writing about the Hawks. There’ll just be some changes. It means a lot to be able to take over this blog that I’ve been reading for the past five years or so.

A quick intro: I’m a Chicagoland area native who ended up at the University of Iowa and became absolutely immersed in what I think is one of the best sports cultures in the Big Ten, if not the nation. I worked with a subdivision of Big Ten Network and produced a good chunk of Iowa content with them, learning the ins and outs of the athletic department. You can often hear me call Illinois a Hawkeye state, because well, that’s what it is (right, Illinois State, Illinois, and Northwestern???).

I’m a hip-hop enthusiast and I think The Notebook is pretty dope (don’t @ me). I’m essentially a huge pop culture nerd so let’s hope I don’t get any ideas to compare this team to the Dillon Panthers or something dumb like that.

I’m excited to write for BHGP and discuss the Hawkeyes with you. You can find me on Twitter at @GospelOfMax. Let’s be friends.

Ross Rants

Welcome back to BHGP. You’ll see we haven’t changed much. The rug that really ties the room together is still there, and we haven’t thrown away the stack of musty media guides from the Hayden Fry years.

My name is Ben Ross (no relation to WB) and I spent the formative years of my youth covering the Hawkeyes for the Daily Iowan. I was born and raised in Minneapolis, and believe I’ll see championships from the Timberwolves, Vikings and Wild in my lifetime, for some reason. I have since moved to Chicago where multiple businesses have paid me to write for them, for some reason.

I have been a reader of The Pants ever since I enrolled at Iowa, and was even referenced on this site when Kirk asked if I could play onside kick coverage. (My follow-up question was called the dumbest of all time, which was stern. Stern but fair.)

I look forward to guiding you through this new (but still excellent!) world of Iowa sports blogdom. We believe you all have an insatiable appetite for Iowa content, and a never-ending amount of time to kill at work and in class, so we hope to stay on your bookmarks tab.

I’m a movie/TV/podcast junkie. I believe Pseudo Sue is the greatest beer on the planet and Surly is overrated. I’m @renboss23 on Twitter dot com, you can @ me all you want.

In the meantime ... we’re looking for writers! If you think you can bring something to this table in any capacity whatsoever, we would love to hear from you. Please drop us a line at bhgp1847@gmail.com. We hope to hear from you, and could not be more excited for you, dear reader, to join us in this venture.