The Letter from the Managing Editor below appears in the March 2020 issue of Hail Varsity and includes important updates on how we will be covering Nebraska athletics in the months ahead.
The word cancel, or some variation thereof, appears close to 50 times in the March 2020 issue. That wasn’t the plan, of course, but there isn’t a person reading this who hasn’t had their plans changed this month. You deal with the new reality while struggling to comprehend how the old reality could disappear that quickly. You do that because it’s the only thing to do, yes, but it’s also the responsible thing to do.
So, that’s what we’re going to do. The Hail Varsity team is going to continue covering sports, even though, for a while, there aren’t going to be any. How will that work?
We thought hard about that question in recent days.
We are making the decision to suspend publication of the magazine in April and May, and will return with our annual Nebraska Football Yearbook in June. With that much lead time, we’re committed to making it the best one yet.
There were two primary factors that led us to that decision. One, our goal has always been to cover the sports you love with a unique point of view and premium storytelling. If those goals in print were at all compromised by the lack of sports, it wasn’t fair in our eyes to ask people to pay for it. Two, suspending publication felt like the socially responsible thing to do in this time where every bit helps and so much remains unknown.
If you’re a Hail Varsity subscriber, we will be extending current subscriptions by two months to make it up to you. If you have questions about the status of your subscription, please reach out to us at info@hailvarsity.com.
Perhaps the toughest part about going dark in print for two months was the knowledge that we’re doing so at a time when people want information and maybe even a little entertainment. We’re doubling down on our efforts to provide that at HailVarsity.com. Having the sports world turned upside down has presented an entirely new set of questions that deserve answers we’ve never had to seek before. Out staff is already in pursuit of some of those answers and will continue as new questions arise.
We’ll also be doing plenty of stories that have nothing to do with our current crisis. Your passion for Nebraska athletics hasn’t changed and neither has our duty to meet that passion with thoughtful, well-crafted stories. Sports have a unique power to bring us together, and that’s needed more now than ever. Whenever you want a break from the news cycle, we’re going to do our best to provide that, too.
If you have ideas for stories you want to see, questions about the sports world you want answered, a need for a deep discussion of Nebraska’s two-deep at defensive line, let me know. I can always be reached at brandon@hailvarsity.com and would love to hear from you.
The best way to get through this is together.
