When I launched Black and Blue Review in April 2014, I knew the idea could work. How was another question.

I asked anyway, hoping it would be an ‘if you build it, they will come’ situation. As it turns out, that makes for a better screenplay than a business model.

I could keep chugging into another offseason by myself, but that was never the idea. To turn BBR into what I think it could become, I need to hire experienced, full-time staff. I’m still not at that point and I can’t go into the next few months expecting the switch to turn on suddenly.

Plus, by doing all this myself, I’m limiting the site’s ceiling. Believe me, not having a boss or even co-workers is as good as it sounds. But when you’re the only one steering the ship, when no one is pointing out your mistakes and when you have no one to bounce ideas around with, learning is limited.

So what’s next?

I don’t have a definitive answer, but I feel those who have come to expect daily content are owed a heads-up.

BBR’s not going dark just yet. There has been some interest from buyers, and the possibility of continuing is there. But until the business side is more clear, I have to disconnect a good bit. Think of it as unplugging a MacBook. It’ll keep running on battery power, but the screen dims and the battery only has so much life.

I’ll still likely chime in and even cover whatever big Panthers-related stories pop up in the near future, but I have to take a step back from day-to-day reporting and writing.

Perhaps the next few months will open a door through which I’ll end up in Spartanburg again in late July.

Who knows?

What I do know is how fortunate I’ve been to try this for three seasons, and for that, I’m incredibly grateful.