Welcome to the new Arizona Maven
To quote Michael Corleone, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”
Two years ago, we had gotten out. After 247Sports acquired Scout.com Brad Allis and Gary Randazzo left the Wildcat website game. We did some stuff here and there, listened to some offers, but at the end of the day we decided to step away. We had fought the good fight, but we were tired. There we broken promises, hacked websites, missing monies, and too many headaches.
I was starting a new job outside of journalism. Gary was embarking on a new chapter of his life and it was time to say goodbye. We always considered coming back to it, but it would have to be the perfect situation.
“If we could work with someone like Gimino I would do it again,” Randazzo said.
Better than working with someone like Anthony Gimino we now get a chance to work with THE Anthony Gimino, or as someone has dubbed him, “The Godfather of UofA Sports.”
The opportunity to get back in the website game presented itself, as did a chance to form a “Dream Team” of sorts. So, we took the leap.
Arizona Maven aka Arizona SI joins an already crowded University of Arizona sports website market but we see an opportunity to do things a new way. There are many great Arizona sites out there and we see ourselves as a compliment to these sites, not competitors. We have all been through the website wars, but remember the time when reporters from newspapers, magazines and the television stations competed as colleagues not enemies. Somewhere along the way we forgot we are all just trying to tell the best story about your favorite team.
The Maven Coalition announced that it has entered into a long-term partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) to license and operate the Sports Illustrated media business, which was recently acquired by ABG.
Maven will operate the digital and print editions of Sports Illustrated (including all special interest issues and the swimsuit issue) and Sports Illustrated for Kids, develop new digital media channels under the Sports Illustrated brands and operate certain related businesses, including without limitation, special interest publications, video channels and books.
So, what is Arizona Maven? We see it as a mature take on the traditional team specific site. A place with great writing, historical context, and not only a real knowledge of sports, but a real knowledge of journalism.
Brad Allis, Anthony Gimino, and Gary Randazzo have been covering the University of Arizona for over 60 years combined. Allis and Gimino are the two senior most football writers in the market, while Randazzo spent over a decade covering the team and recruiting.
As trio we have had our writing appear in the Tucson Citizen, the Arizona Daily Wildcat, the Associated Press, ESPN.com. Yahoo.com, PhilSteele.com, CBSSportsline, 247Sports, Rivals, Scout.com, the Tucson Weekly, Northwest Explorer, Lindy’s and more. We have hosted shows on 1290 am and 1490 am and have appeared on KMSB, KGUN, KOLD, ESPN, Pac-12 Network, and the Documentary “At All Cost.”
We have won awards, published book, and written for newspapers, magazines, blogs, and team sites. We have covered NCAA Tournaments, bowl games, the summer recruiting grind and nearly every aspect of Wildcats sports dating back to the time Dick Tomey was stalking the sidelines.
This is a sister site to AllSportsTucson.com and we think between the two websites we have the Southern Arizona market covered from the youngest athletes to the old pros returning to the Old Pueblo.
We see this site as a place for deep analysis, great storytelling, and detailed journalism. In this day and age of instantaneous information, we will focus less on what happened and a lot more on why it happens and what it means. While we will break news and report on rumors, are emphasis will be to use our experience and our knowledge to take a deep dive into what occurred and what the impact will be.
We want to build a community that can have mature discussions and debates without descending into group think or attacks. We want to have people feel free express their opinions and take a different look at things. We know diehard fans want all the information and we hope our site will be one of the places that you stop every day.
We are excited about the journey. To paraphrase the Godfather once again, we hope this is an offer you can’t refuse.