Goodbye, Silver Screen & Roll

Like several other contributors to this site, my time at Silver Screen and Roll has come to an end. AB-5 and SB Nation/Vox Media’s response to it has triggered this, and while reasonable minds can disagree on the steps taken, I for one think we can all agree that what happened at this site over so many years has special and deserves a moment to reflect on.

Harrison would never write this himself, so I will.

I know what it takes to run a Lakers-centric site, the hours you must put in, the thoughtfulness you try to achieve, the writer’s voices you try to cultivate, the community you try to build. I know the decisions that must be wrestled with and agonized over, the almost futile pursuit of finding a new angle to cover a story with, the feeling of not quite living up to someone else’s expectations, the understanding that no one’s expectations are greater than your own and that living up to those almost never happens at all.

What I can say with great certainty is that this site has reached a level that few other — if any — team-centric sites can claim. The breadth of topics covered, the talent level of contributors who have come through, the ability be smart and funny and insightful and nuanced and frivolous, and to do it all at the same time is something that deserves praise.

I, personally, am thankful to have been a part of it at all.

So, I’d like to thank Harrison for giving me the chance to write for the site that he built to the levels it is now. Many others helped get it to the wonderful heights it was when he took over, but like the anchor leg in a relay race, Harrison took that baton and raced faster and farther than those who came before him. He was always thoughtful and gracious and smart as an editor, someone who would offer great guidance and ideas to make whatever thing submitted to him better.

He had a standard he wanted to reach and he made every new path a piece would take feel like it was your idea the entire time, like a tour guide who gently nudged you in the right direction and then marveled in wonder at what was discovered right there with you as if the thing you found had nothing to do with him at all. He was always kind and always acted with integrity. I’ll miss working with him.

What I won’t miss is reading him. Because that will not stop. The site that Harrison continues with now will not be the same it was before, but it will be great in all the ways that I outlined above simply because it’s him who is still the one guiding it. So, while I will no longer write here, I will frequent often to see what new idea he has and what words he offers to the world to describe the team I love.

I’ve never been good with goodbyes, so I’ll leave it here. I’ll see you all around and, if you want to read me more, you know where to find me.