Now it’s time to say goodnight

Nov 1, 2022 - 12:00 AM

Back in 2008, way before SB Nation became part of Vox Media, Brad Lee asked me to start writing a weekly column for Game Time. Tuesdays With Hildy looked at an issue of the week facing the Blues, handling analysis with careful thought and consideration.

Or something. I’m not really sure what it did, but it was interesting enough that in 2013, as the lockout wound down, Brad passed the website baton to me. Over nearly a decade, I’ve always tried my best - sometimes successfully, sometimes not - to make Game Time an engaging place for you to visit and read about the Blues.

Tonight’s my last night as editor of Game Time.

In response to an issue with the budget of the site, I stepped down on October 7th, effective tonight, Halloween. I was never able to get the folks in charge of the folks in charge of me to compensate anyone else writing for GT, therefore I would and could not require people to write. As a near-one person show, which is what I did not want the site to be, Game Time became harder and harder for me to put forth constant effort on. I teach, I have a full-time nine hour a day job, and that one pays the bills. Unfortunately my fun side gig never did much bill paying, and something had to give.

The cut finally pushed me to do something that I had been considering to do for a while. Work has become stressful and what I used to do to clear my mind - what I used to do for fun - has increasingly been yet another thing I have to do on top of a hundred fires to put out. I never wanted it to be that way, because it shows in my writing, and I believe it has lead to a decline in the quality of what I’ve been writing. I was unsure - and still am - as to what SB Nation would do with the site, so I hung on.

However, I can’t justify going through the motions anymore. I am, purely speaking, deeply tired - which is so silly to say because honestly I love this site, I love to write, and I love the Blues. But life as one gets older becomes a lot more... busy? Ennui-filled? A dumpster fire? I needed to take a step back and budgetary cuts helped me to do it. Thank you to corporate-forced self-care, I guess.

I don’t know what Game Time’s future is - if they will bring someone new and exciting on-board to reinvigorate things, or if they’ll get someone salaried to come in and write the dreaded “content” no one wants to read. Hopefully it will be the former.

I want to thank you, readers over the years, for coming back, giving feedback, and helping make Game Time a part of my life. Hockey has given me several found families, first through those of us who were Thrashers season ticket holders (a very small and exclusive drinking group) and then through Game Time. To all of you who I have met and had the opportunity to hang out with, and become friends with, thank you from the bottom of my heart. For those of you who have stayed on-line buddies, I offer you all my thanks as well - Game Time (and game time) is never, and will never be boring without you.

I am of course thankful to Sean and Brad for bringing me on, and I am thankful to SB Nation for allowing me the opportunity to cover, as a representative of their brand, events like the 2016 and 2020 All-Star Games, the 2017 Winter Classic, and of course the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. I hope that my coverage from those events added to Game Time and allowed fans to celebrate just a little bit that the NHL wasn’t ignoring what we have in St. Louis any more.

I am also beyond thankful to everyone who has contributed to the site over the years. You are all better writers than me by a mile and you deserve so much more recognition for your hard work.

We’re a special town, with a very special team that I’ve been fortunate to’ve covered from all the way down here in Atlanta. Thank you all for letting me still have a connection to my home from so far away.

I’m sad to go, but I’m glad that the Blues have been able to give me so many opportunities to chat about them over the last 14 years with you, the readers of St. Louis Game Time.

I’ll see you guys around (I’m still at @hildymac on Twitter and pretty much every other SM platform), and as always, let’s go Blues.

Love you all,

Hildy