The Towel Rack’s Most Read Stories of 2018
2018 was a big year at The Towel Rack: We had our first year of full coverage from January to December, we passed the 2,000 followers on…
2018 was a big year at The Towel Rack: We had our first year of full coverage from January to December, we passed the 2,000 followers on Twitter and 500 likes on Facebook (if you don’t do either, you can fix that here and here), we expanded our writing staff from four to seven with the consistent additions of Sam Gormley, Devin Stewart and Jake Keith and we expanded our footprint to include the RedOUT podcast (you should subscribe to that if you haven’t already).
Overall, 2018 was the year we went from semi-consistent blog to a must follow for fans of WKU. With that in mind, we wanted to share with you guys the most read stories of 2018.
As you can see below it is a hodgepodge of breaking news, thought pieces and recruiting news. Without further ado here is your top 10 from 2018.
10.) Red Towel Roundtable: Should Mike Sanford be Fired?
This roundtable was posted right after the Maine loss. The staff analyzed where the program was with Sanford and what Todd Stewart should do next. Ultimately, this question was emphatically answered at the end of the season.
9.) Junior Running Back Quinton Baker To Transfer Away From Football Program.
Back in April, in the middle of spring practice, junior running back Quinton Baker left the program. As you will tell by most of this list, breaking news pieces like this are popular with you. His departure may have been addition by subtraction as Josh Samuel and several other young running backs emerged in 2018. Baker would only play in two games at Portland State, rushing for two yards on four carries.
8.) Desean Murray Leaves Team
Another breaking news story, Jared Rosdeutscher analyzed the recent news that grad transfer Desean Murray had left the WKU basketball program mid-season. In the three games without him, WKU has gone 2–2 with losses to Troy and Belmont. We’ll have to wait and see if his departure is a blow or addition by subtraction.
7.) The Blame for Loss to ODU Doesn’t Go On Sanford
After WKU’s most heartbreaking loss of the season to ODU, Sam Gormley defended Mike Sanford and examined why it wasn’t his fault that WKU lost that freaky game to the Monarchs.
6.) Mike Sanford Fired As Hilltoppers Head Coach
Another breaking news piece, Fletcher Keel gave his immediate reaction to the news that Mike Sanford was gone from the Hill after just two seasons.
5.) Tops Garner Commitment From Hart County Lineman
Another area that you love to read is our recruiting coverage, especially when it comes to local recruiting. Despite being a walk-on that ended up redshirting, our piece about Hart County’s own Jamison Harkness was surprisingly one of our most-read pieces in 2018.
4.) Trevelin Queen No Longer on Team
With Rick Stansbury’s basketball program, you know that you’re never going to get an extended period of slow news, especially during the offseason. With WKU still above the scholarship limit in September, someone had to go and that someone ended up being JUCO transfer Trevelin Queen. It’s hard to say home much of an impact that he would have made on this team (he’s now at New Mexico State) but the Tops could sure use his three-point shooting at this stage of the season.
3.) Local Running Back Commits to The Tops
Here’s yet another example of local recruiting driving traffic. Our own Franklin, Kentucky resident, Jared, penned this reaction piece to Franklin-Simpson’s all-state running back, Tre Bass, committing to WKU as a preferred walk-on. We’ll have to wait and see how he turns out but let’s hope he’s the next Tacorian Darden, a local prospect that earns a full scholarship and make a big impact for the football Toppers.
2.) There is No Other Way to Spin It, Sanford has been an Unmitigated Disaster For WKU
Following yet another loss that eliminated WKU from bowl contention before November hit, I penned this piece that described, in detail, why Mike Sanford had been a disaster for the Hilltopper program. This was an airing of the grievances that came to the same conclusion that Todd Stewart ultimately decided, that Mike Sanford should be fired at the end of the season. This piece got a lot of response, good and bad, from the fan base and was the most read of all time until this last piece surpassed it.
1.) An Open Letter to Mike Sanford
Sam (whom we jokingly described as our resident Sanford homer) penned this piece after the dismissal of Mike Sanford from the WKU football team. Sam described his positive interactions with Sanford as a student media member and his thoughts that he was a class act. This piece resonated even with most fans that wanted Sanford gone. While he didn’t work out, Sanford represented the Hilltopper program with respect and class on and off the field. Sam perfectly captured the emotions that occur when a coach is fired and that piece reverberated across our little section of the internet. It is now our most read piece of all time, by a wide margin.
Thank you for your readership, interactions and kind words this year. We will continue our push to be the voice of WKU fans in 2019 and look to continue our meteoric rise into our third year of consistent coverage. Please continue to share our work with fellow Hilltopper fans and help us get the word out about our website. Thanks again from the entire Towel Rack staff.