The end of an era.....

Well, it's finally time. Perspectives of the Common Fan as a podcast is officially ending. At least on any kind of regular basis. While I've never had the largest fan base, I've had an absolute blast doing this show and learned a lot about conducting interview, editing audio, and designing a simple website. So why end it?

Well, a few reasons. First and most importantly, my heart just isn't in it right now. That's not to say there isn't anything to talk about; Ryback is catching on in the WWE, Independent wrestling is better than ever, there are a ton of great movies and games coming out, and sports are as wild as ever. My heart just isn't in trying to put out a great podcast when doing so really isn't a strong skill set of mine. I'm confident in my abilities and being able to go out and get a guest to come on the show, but the time it takes me to record and edit it in general has become somewhat stressful for me.

For a brief history lesson, we started the podcast on Blog Talk Radio back in mid-2009. It was a simple format; One hour, free, automatically uploaded, live feedback and call-ins, etc. Then they cut down the time to 30 minutes for free users (I was saving for a wedding and a house at the time) and I wanted to record beyond that time restraint. So I set out on my own to update my Blogger website and was able to record freely with my own music, segments, and format. The problem was the while I had finished school, bought a house, and gotten married shortly after, time was running thinner and thinner in my schedule. Work was picking up, and other interests started to take over what time I normally set aside for the show.

It was tough for Steve and I as it was to get on a good schedule to record, but then it became even harder. He's always been a great co-host and we still debate to this day on a ton of things (He is my Uncle after all and helped me come up with the show to begin with) but like me, we've got families and work/personal lives that make the show even harder to do on a regular basis. As you all have seen I tried other guests on the show at times including some friends and family to mix it up. I even expanded a bit to include talk about video games, movies, comics, etc. but even then my heart still hasn't in it and heck, I didn't even bother to go out and really get original guests for the show. That lack of desire to make the show as good as it can be isn't fair to you as listeners. If I'm going to do something, if it becomes less than 100% of my effort, it's not going to happen at all.

Ultimately I believe my decision comes down to wanting to do more than I'm able to do with the show. Aside from my lack of motivation and desire at this time, I know I could do more with more resources, specifically money and people. I say this because while I've improved at audio editing and designing my site, I just can't do everything on my own enough to make this podcast a show that I feel is worth you, the listeners precious time. Before I could always point to the excuses of lack of time and being new in the world of podcasting. Those excuses don't fly now, and you all deserve better.

Oddly enough, I've received no negative feedback on the show but always hold myself to a high standard when given enough time to do so. Instead of promising future shows and trying work on it without really wanting to, I've decided to stop the show and make way for those who really have the resources and people around them.

I hope I don't sound bitter because I've loved doing this and have learned a lot. I'm very proud of it and have no regrets. I also of course thank everyone who has been involved as a guest or co-host and will now focus my time on writing again about wrestling, gaming, movies, sports, and other topics as well as contributing more to the PW Torch site. Focusing on my own podcast took away from this in the past and I believe this will help me get more exposure and experience before maybe someday coming back to realm of podcasting.

Thanks very much again for all the support and you can still listen to some of our past episodes (Down to #40 I believe. The others are still archived under Perspectives of the Common Fan over at www.blogtalkradio.com) on this very site by clicking the RSS feed button. Our iTunes subscription path (Just search Perspectives of the Common Fan in iTunes) still works as well but at this time it's only showing our most Episode #68. If I continue this podcast in the future I'll be sure to make sure that works completely. Our Facebook and Twitter pages will also be still as active as they can be as I post new blogs, contribute more with the Radican's Wrestling Community page/show and PW Torch, and give other random thoughts from the perspective of a common fan.

Remember, this isn't the end of Perspectives of the Common Fan, just another evolution in what I plan to offer the masses. Or at least, to those who want to read about what a common fan like me has to say. Look out for a new Retrospective column for the PW Torch by Thanksgiving as well as a review of the "King of Trios- Night 3" CHIKARA show. Lastly, my other thoughts on games, movies, sports, etc. that are not wrestling related will also be posted to IGN (Will post the link soon). I'm in the process of making a profile there while deleting my 1UP profile. This way I have two major sites that can also hold most of my work for more readers to see. Hey, maybe a quick audio episode or interview isn't even out of the question. Never say never right? Until next time peeps!