Good morning! I want to talk a bit about the next week or so, because I’m about to enter an extremely busy period. Later today I’ll be taking a train to Baltimore, and then I fly to Minneapolis on Saturday, to Los Angeles on Monday, to New Orleans on Wednesday, and back to NYC on Friday, with Uni Watch events taking place in between the travel days. The full rundown of events can be found here.
What will this mean for Uni Watch content? Here’s a rough guide:
- Tomorrow, May 17: As usual, this date will be Purple Amnesty Day. I’ll have a post right at midnight, and a purple-themed post in the morning. I probably won’t have any other content, because I’ll be busy with various activities in Baltimore.
- Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19: Phil will have his usual weekend content.
- Next Monday through Friday, May 20-24: Honestly, I don’t know how much content I’m going to be able to produce during this period. I’ll be spending a lot of time on airplanes and attending various Uni Watch activities and gatherings all around the country. I’ll definitely publish at least some sort of short post each morning, just to let you know how Tour ’24 is going, but I may not have the time or personal bandwidth for more than that. If there’s breaking news, Phil will try to cover for me (the Cardinals are supposed to unveil their City Connect uniform on Monday, for example), but it’s possible that some things will slip through the cracks. Apologies in advance for that.
- Saturday and Sunday, May 25 and 26: These are my final two days. Phil will take this weekend off and I will be in charge of the site for the last time. I’m not sure yet what the content will be for these last two days, but suffice it to say that it will be heartfelt.
Let’s shift into Q&A mode:
So you’re saying that you won’t have much of a presence on the site during your final week? That kinda sucks.
I know. I feel bad about that, but I expect all the travel to be hectic and exhausting, and there are only so many hours in each day. I’ll do my best to publish as much as I can, but it might not be much.
Will you still have a Substack piece next week?
Yes, that is my plan, probably on Thursday. That will be my last Substack article for a while. I’ll have more to say about that in next week’s piece.
Will you post photos and reports from all the parties?
Realistically, I probably won’t have time for detailed party reports like this one. I’ll try to at least post a a bunch of photos from each gathering, but I probably won’t have the time or energy to list everyone’s name or talk about how everything went. Sorry about that, and thanks for understanding.
Is there any other way we can keep up with the events and activities?
Yes. I encourage everyone who’s doing anything purple-related tomorrow (whether as part of our group activities in Baltimore or just on your own) to post pics to social media with the hashtag #PurpWalk24. And for anything related to the rest of the 25th-anniversary tour (again, whether you’re attending in person or just wearing the “Tour ’24” T-shirt or whatever), use the hashtag #UWTour24.
Wait, what are these tour T-shirts you just mentioned?
My anniversary/farewell tour has its own T-shirt. Here are the front and back designs (created by membership card designer Scott M.X. Turner), followed by mock-ups of the shirt in grey, black, and white:
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Here’s where you can order grey, black, and white versions. For each color, there are six different options (basic, comfort, tri-blend, women’s, etc.), so be sure to find the style you prefer. Because this shirt has printing on both the front and the back, the prices are a bit higher, but I hope you’ll agree that it’s worth it for such a cool design.
We also have Uni Watch 25th-anniversary patches, coasters, T-shirts, and pint glasses.
What will happen on May 27, the first post-Paul day?
That happens to be Memorial Day. Uni Watch will take that day off.
And then when will Phil take over the site?
Probably either Tuesday the 28th or Wednesday the 29th.
When will Jim Vilk start being on weekend duty?
Probably that next weekend, June 1 and 2.
What will happen to the @UniWatch account on Twitter?
Phil will take it over after May 26. My hope is to never have anything to do with Twitter again.
I ordered a membership card that hasn’t arrived yet.
We’ve gotten a flood of orders lately (and I suspect that flood may become a tsunami in the last week), and I’m going to be on the road for the next week-plus, so it’ll take us a little while to get caught up. As long as you get your order in by the end of May 26, we will definitely process it and get your card to you. Thanks in advance for your patience.
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I think that’s it. Thanks for coming along for the ride!
Unless I get screwed over by flight delays again, I will be at the MLPS events!
Enjoy the last ten days Paul! Hope that you get some moments during the tour to take a breath and take it all in.
My hope is to never have anything to do with Twitter again. And you’ll be far better off for it! See ya next Thursday!
Whatever you do, it’s all well-earned. I’ll see you on the 26th.
Happy for you Paul, and I know Phil will do an excellent job taking over, but I have to admit these last few weeks have left me with a small sense of impending loss. Appreciate you going all out these last few months and delivering the same if not higher level of content. A lot of folks probably would have started to cut corners, slack off and generally let things go to hell. But you clearly care deeply about the community you fostered, and I for one appreciate the respect and care you’ve given to your transition.
Thanks so much for those kind words, Mike. Means a lot, really.
One of my favorite Uni Watch features was your Fourth of July tradition of posting a photo that you believe best encapsulates America at that point in time. I looked forward to it every Independence Day even more than the concerts, fireworks, and daytime baseball. I hope that Phil or Jim will pick it up unless you’re interested in coming back as a guest columnist for one day a year.
“My hope is to never have anything to do with Twitter again.” Amen, brother!
Safe travels Paul! Looking forward to sharing my purple exploits tomorrow.
I’m in my mid-40’s, and it feels like Uni Watch has been with me since the very dawn of the internet. I know that isn’t really chronologically accurate, but it definitely feels that way. You’ve been a happy spot in a chaotic world for a quarter century, and I wish you very well in your new (and well-deserved) adventures. From the home of “the best baseball uniform ever” (late 60’s Cardinals home, of course), happy trails!
Honestly, losing you as a daily read and losing Peter King as a weekly read is very sad year. While I don’t always agree with your takes, I always respect the way you present them and, at worst, agreed to disagree and at best, embraced a different way of thinking.
Enjoy the next phase of your life. I know the site is in good hands and look forward to coming back daily (ok multiple times a day).
Paul have a great time in Baltimore tomorrow. I would have loved to celebrate Purple Amnesty Day in the motherland but too many weddings and graduations this Summer. I’ve been with Uni Watch since the Page 2 days and it has been one of the few resilient websites that I read religiously. Looking forward to the future of the site and to your next endeavor. Thanks for all the work you put into developing the Uni Watch community.