It seems like every year at the end of the season we always have a discussion somewhere on the site about how great the site is and how it helped us get through the season. I hope you'll indulge me in that again this year.
The Orioles have had their ups and downs this season, but Camden Chat has been at its best all year long. The community here has always been strong, but this season it has really grown and we've gotten a lot of new people participating and we're better for it (unlike other periods of time in the past when new members just didn't mesh). The knowledge and wit of this group are top notch and I'm happy to know every one of you nerds. During the dark days BB (Before Buck), the idea of following this team and writing about this team for an entire season made me want to curl up and die. But having y'all around really kept me sane, and having y'all around AB probably kept me grounded.
Duck and zknower have been awesome as my co-honchos, and if you knew how many emails I send them on behind the scenes stuff you'd wonder why they bother putting up with me. I especially want to recognize zk for all of the time he put in earlier this year designing the CC shirts, setting up the online store, and even going to far as to take special order requests. His willingness to put in that kind of time is a testament to how important this community is to the three of us. Thanks, zk!
I'm also very proud of the content we've produced this year and of the fine writers that put it out. Duck took the initiative to write our weekly Birds Up, O's Down feature that I think has been a great addition to the site, even if he doesn't like all of the fancy graphics I used the few times I pinch hit :) And if not for him, your daily open thread with news links would be up sometimes late and sometimes not at all, because getting up early is not something I do. Bird Droppings has been one of the best things about this site since it started as it provides us all a place to shoot the breeze and build community. Duck is my homeboy. (Whatever happened to that shirt getting made?)
When Eat More Esskay volunteered to help me out with game threads, I had no idea how epic they'd become. Esskay, I often don't get your references (that Lord of the Rings thing completely escaped me yesterday), but your humor and feisty nature have been awesome. I looked forward to the game threads every day. I'm going to miss them.
James F, although slightly MIA lately due to the fact that he's very important in his real life, has perhaps provided the biggest difference in our content this year. Never before have we had someone on our team who is not only well versed in the minors and the draft but who is also able to write about them so eloquently. He has also provided me behind the scenes counsel for which I'm very grateful. I feel very fortunate to have someone so brilliant on my side (although he'd protest use of the B word).
Thanks also to Roar From 34 and his posts on Orioles history. I was thrilled when he agreed to write for us as he's been a favorite of mine for a long time. Every time he posts something I am reminded that there is a time in our team's history that wasn't an exercise in patience and wondering if the team will ever be good again. Just knowing those days exist in the past makes me optimistic that it could be that way again one day.
Twisted and Westie! You rock by helping with postgames. And Andrew, your fanposts and front page contributions are awesome. I hope you'll all write more in the future.
I of course can't say something about every single person who contributes here, and I'm sure y'all would get tired of reading after awhile, but every person who writes a fan post, makes comments, helps out by writing a post game when I'm off lollygagging at the beach, etc., has made this community what it is. I hope y'all will stick around in the off season while we talk about free agent signings and trades that probably won't happen, bitch when the Yankees sign Cliff Lee and the Red Sox sign Carl Crawford, and all of the other joys of the winter.