BTB: Help Wanted

Greetings BTB Community,

Recently you may have notice that Aaron has not been able to post as regularly as he has in the past. This is because his real job has caught up with his blogging life - people got to eat and he has to make that money. Aaron will still be around to help out, but BTB is now looking for some new blood for the front page. Whenever we need a new writer, I always turn to you guys first, so I'm throwing the opportunity out there for someone (or maybe two people) to join our writing staff.

Now, before you decide you're the person we need, please think this through. It requires a lot of time and dedication to write for the blog, and you have to put up with me as an editor, and I can be a pain in the butt. Below is an outline of things you should consider before applying, but if you feel you got what it takes, by all means, submit your name for the job.

- You have to be able to post regularly, every week, at least 4-5 times a week. At first, this might sound easy, but take it from experience, it's not. Some weeks there isn't much news and you've said just about everything you want to say. You have to be able to push through that and come up with interesting stories or opinions. It takes dedication so please make sure you are willing to commit that kind of time to the blog. And this isn't a short-time gig, you should be committing to do this for the long-term.

- You need to have some command of the English language and be responsible enough to use proper spelling and grammar. Granted, this isn't exactly writing an essay to get into Harvard but we do keep some semblance of standards on the blog. I know that I make mistakes in spelling and sometimes butcher my grammar, but I try to keep it to a minimum. You need to be able to do that also.

- Research is required. Your posts, if they are relying on facts or stats, must be correct. Sometimes we think we remember how a game went long ago, or believe a player did this or that in recent history, but human memory is fallible. You need to look up certain things to make sure they're correct.

- You need to be able to take criticism of your posts and not lose your cool. Not everybody will agree with what you write and they'll let you know about it in the comments. You can argue back with your points but going ballistic on someone is not allowed. If you don't have some control over your emotions, it won't work out.

- This blog has some issues that we stay way from - politics, religion and other hot-button issues that are not related to football. Using this blog as a platform to go off on tangents like that is not acceptable. Also, profanity is not welcome. You must be able to stay within these guidelines to qualify for the front-page.

Ideally, your job or lifestyle is such that you are around a computer much of the day and have the freedom to follow Cowboys news and be able to post timely information. Aaron did a lot of on-the-spot updates when something newsworthy broke. I would like someone who can do the same. Also, I would like for the person(s) to have been a member of the community for a while and a dedicated commenter.

If you've made it this far and think you're ready to make the plunge, you should send me an email with the subject line of "BTB co-blogger". Include a brief bio of things you think I should know, and include links to FanPosts/FanShots that you've posted in the past that you think I should read. If you have an outside source where you've written before and you think that stuff is relevant, include links to it.

I'll sift through the applications, discuss it with Rafael, then we'll decide together who we are going to add to the staff. My email can be found at the bottom of the front page.

On a personal note, I want to thank all of you for supporting BTB. Over the years you guys have made this site what it is today and we truly appreciate it.

P.S. I'll be in Oxnard covering camp starting Aug 14th through the 20th, if you are going to be at camp at that time, and will be attending most of the practices and want to help me out during that period - shoot me an email noting that. I might be able to use you for coverage during that week.