Site Stuff: Let's talk about this guy a little

Corey Crisan's a good one, and I'm sharing that here in the event that you're among overwhelming majority of our subscribers who don't touch the Pitt coverage.

And he's a really genuine one, too.

There's no trait I admire more in anyone in this business than flat-out passion for the job. Because what we do for a living, for all the hours, for all the stress, absolutely is a blessing. We're reporting on sports. We're at big events, first-hand witnesses to stuff that pumps blood through the participants involved, through the fans invested in it ... and we feel all that. From there, we're charged with conveying that feeling, that inside element, that emotion, that fun to you:

But it always needs to be underpinned by a foundation of having a nose for news, an awareness of which subject matters stands out and when, and Corey showed all of that through both the Pitt football and basketball schedules. When the football team rose up, so did his material. Same with the basketball team's stunning run into the Tournament, capped by this graceful column once it concluded.

I'm not going to lie: I've challenged him. I've pushed him. But as I've told him, it's only because I see and appreciate these qualities that he's already got. And to his immeasurable credit, in spite of that, in spite of some of our nastier travel in driving up and down to ACC country, in spite of the readership figures that don't change much no matter what we do, he completely killed it. And on his first day back from Greensboro, rather than taking a breather, he ran over to Oakland to catch up with Pitt's new NCAA wrestling champ:

This is someone, mind you, who arrived here completely cold when it comes to Pitt, its history in either sport, any of that stuff. He came from The Blade in Toledo, Ohio, and he was covering Bowling Green State University. All he did here was exactly what he'd promised in his interview last summer: He dived in headfirst and put his heart into it, kept in constant communication with our community here, and became a big part of what we’re doing here.

WELCOME BACK, V2LS!

Please join Dali and me in welcoming back a previous sponsor V2LS!

V2LS, the brainchild of two military-trained aviators with decades of leadership experience, channeled that background into their corporate identity: V2 is the minimum velocity an aircraft must attain before leaving the runway and achieving sustained flight.

If you're looking for help in making the bigger decisions in your life, or understanding yourself better, reach out to my friend and one of our first-ever sponsors, Jeffrey Zink. The man's been coaching people for decades, helping them find their best path forward, via three books he's authored and personal consultations. 

He can do the same for you right here.

Also, if you're interested in joining Jeffrey in supporting us while benefiting your own business, email me directly -- DK@DKPittsburghSports.com -- and we'll find a fit, large or small.

NEW YOUTUBE CHANNELS

Continuing to expand on YouTube, we've now split up our channels into teams: Steelers, Penguins, Pirates and Pitt. (We'll get to Penn State soon.) Dali worked all week on this, and I'm hoping you'll agree these look terrific.

INSIDE THE WORKS

• There'll be no shortage of NFL Draft buildup and coverage at this venture. We hope it's seen as second to none, if only because that's the goal. Corey's about to become a big part of it, as is Cory Giger, and we'll also see extra from Ramon Foster and Matt Williamson. Only a month away from the main event.

• We're aware of the slow commenting platform during games, and the developers say they expect a fix in place by the middle of the coming week.

• We're also aware of some compatibility issues between the app and newer versions of Android devices. That fix is on the way, as well.

• Travel on tap: Taylor Haase will take the Penguins' trip to Detroit in the coming week. ... Alex Stumpf will finish out spring training in Florida, after which Alex and I will both be in Cincinnati for the Pirates' season opener next Thursday ... Chris Halicke's flying to Phoenix for the NFL owners' meetings that begin tomorrow.

BACK TO BUSINESS

• Our page views for the past week were a 2023-best 512,413, with our weekly goal being 500,000. Our most-read original piece was my column from New York criticizing the Penguins' usage of Jeff Carter and Brian Dumoulin, at 11,110. Broken down by team traffic, articles on the Penguins brought 25.9% of our readership, the Steelers 17.8%, the Pirates 9.5%, Penn State 5.9%, and Pitt 3.2%.

• On the multimedia front, our podcast downloads for the past week were 136,825, with our weekly goal being 150,000, and our YouTube video views for the past week were 117,346, with our weekly goal being 150,000.

• Our company social media accounts are at 49,383 (+38) followers on Twitter, 39,140 (+29) on Facebook, 21,142 (+272) on YouTube, 14,874 (+2) on Instagram.

• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com

• Anything you need, including lost/forgotten passwords, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com