With the very sad departure of the beloved Ben B., Dave and I decided it would be best for the site to bring in some new faces, to try and get more coverage and more voices in this great community. We put out some feelers and were overwhelmed by applications from extremely qualified and talented writers, and are happy to announce the addition of four new staff members - Brendan Darr, Alex Kirshner, Molly Geary and Nicko Duchesne. We'll let each of them introduce themselves.
Brendan:
My name is Brendan Darr and I've been covering Maryland for five years now for various websites, most recently for CBS DC and 106.7 The Fan. I've been a Maryland fan since the Ron Vanderlinden days when I was a kid, and have experienced the highs (2002 National Championship) and lows (2011 football season). I look forward to working with Dave, Pete and the rest of the TT staff bringing you the best content we can, and trying not to piss too many (all) of you off. Drew Nicholas' shot is my favorite sporting moment of all-time, and he-who-shall-not-be-named was karmic payback. I believe there are rules for court-storming, I hated Kenny Tate at Linebacker and I fully believe God, and the Carolina's, despise Maryland and our Quarterbacks.
(You can follow Brendan on Twitter @BrendanDarr)
Alex:
I'll be a sophomore in College Park this year, and I'm looking forward to sharing some thoughts and coverage on the teams we all love so much. Given that I'm from Pittsburgh, Maryland sports aren't my first foray into tortured fandom (the Pirates say "hi"), but I'm confident I'll get the chance to write about plenty of good moments as we embark on a trans-conference journey and into a new era of Terrapin athletics.
(You can follow Alex on Twitter @alex_kirshner)
Molly:
Hello, my name is Molly Geary and I’m honored to become a writer for Testudo Times. I’m a rising senior at Maryland and have been reading TT religiously for three years and a member for two (you might know me previously as terpfan92). I was very sad to see Ben go but I’m super excited about joining the team.
I’ve interned with USA TODAY Sports and spent the last two seasons covering our women’s basketball team for Turtle Sports Report with Scout. I’m from Long Island and yes, I’m a Yankees and Giants fan. And I never realized just how entirely spoiled as a sports fan I was until I came to Maryland – I suppose being a Mets fan would’ve prepared me better (Editor's note: BURN!). I don’t have a story of being a Terps fan my whole life but Maryland sports have become a part of me and I look forward to going on this ride with you.
(You can follow Molly on Twitter @theoryofgeary)
Nicko:
My name is Nicko Duchesne, I’m going into my senior year at Maryland and looking forward to watching the Terps as they wave goodbye to the ACC. I grew up far away from College Park in Ottawa, Canada, but was surrounded by Maryland fans nonetheless (my Dad, aunts and uncles). I got my acceptance letter to UMD the night that Vasquez hit a no look runner to beat Duke and fill the floor of Comcast, and knew right then that I was going to Maryland. Though it took me three years until I stood on the hardwood myself this past February, it’s been a wild ride as fan the whole time. I’ve come in to see huge change in Maryland’s athletics, from Gary's retirement to the Big Ten announcement, from Torrey Smith to Shawn Petty. I look forward to being in the middle of the discussion with Terrapin fans from all over, and uphold the quality content that I’ve read on Testudo Times for the last three years.
We thank them for the kind words and hope you join us in welcoming our four new writers.