Lee Feinswog and Ed Chan: 'And that's how we became publishing magnates'

Lee Feinswog and Ed Chan: 'And that's how we became publishing magnates'

It took a matter of weeks for Lee Feinswog to rebound from being laid off. Not a month had gone by from the moment he received a call from the higher-ups at Turner, for whom he freelanced to write college volleyball stories on NCAA.com, when he began scrolling through his phone, idea and contact in hand.

His passion for writing about the sport came as a surprise, even to him. Here was a guy who had covered LSU basketball in the Shaq days, who had written about the highest levels of the NBA, MLB, who ran in circles with some of the best writers in the country – and he was smitten by college volleyball. It’s possible that it was the novelty of it, at the time. He had watched his first men’s match only a year before, a semifinal of the NCAA Championship where, as fate would have it, he sat next to Hugh McCutcheon, then the head coach of the women’s national team and one of the most brilliant minds in the game.

“I learned more that day than you could possibly imagine,” Feinswog said on SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter. A few days later, he found himself in Anaheim, watching the women’s team practice at the invitation of McCutcheon.

But Turner, which owned NCAA.com, was bleeding money, and the first to go were the freelancers, including Feinswog. McCutcheon, though, wasn’t the only contact Feinswog had made at that semifinal. He had also exchanged contact information with the editor at Volleyball Magazine, Aubrey Everett.

“All of a sudden, I was like, ‘Wait, I sat next to the editor of Volleyball Magazine,’” Feinswog recalled. “I sent her a note and said ‘I’m a free agent, can you use me?’

“You guys have never seen Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but it’s kinda like where he goes, ‘Well, considering I’m desperate and you’re exactly what I need…’ so I picked up with the magazine and wrote for them for four, five six years as a freelance writer.”

Despite holding what was basically a monopoly over volleyball coverage, the magazine wasn’t immune to the downsizing of the journalism industry as a whole. The print edition was shrinking, circulation was down, the website was limited.

Simply put: It wasn’t going to last long.

Feinswog knew this, as did Ed Chan, who had subscribed to the magazine for more than 40 years and had been one of its most reliable freelance photographers. They agreed that, when the magazine hit a certain threshold of pain, it would be willing to sell.

They’d be the ones to buy it.

“It got to that point,” Chan said. “So I asked if they were interested in selling, and they said yes.”

It was the simplest of business negotiations, almost to comical levels. Feinswog was driving down I-10 in Houston. Chan called and said “We can buy volleyball magazine, you want to buy it?”

“Ok, sure.”

“That was it,” Feinswog said, laughing. “That was our business negotiation. And that’s how we became publishing magnates.”

He says this jokingly, but on a relative scale, Volleyball Magazine – since renamed VolleyballMag.com in Feinswog’s and Chan’s ownership of the publication – is without a doubt the most reliable and regular source of news coverage on all things volleyball, be it beach, indoors or otherwise.

Their goal was to become the daily digital news source of volleyball, which is exactly what has happened. They cover college women. They cover college men. They cover the pros, to the point that Feinswog watched every single match during the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Not just every American match.

Every match.

“And then I was like, ‘Wait, now college is about to start?’” he said.

They have covered the AVP and the NVL and the World Series of Beach Volleyball and p1440 and CBVA and every other iteration of professional volleyball there has been on the beach. They have covered the college game.

And while competitor sites such as Volleymob and FloVolley have either shrunk or folded, VolleyballMag has grown and expanded at an impressive, if not staggering, clip. The number of stories that are read through organic Google searches has exploded by 800 percent in the four years they’ve owned it. They’ve hired freelancers to cover whatever the two of them cannot, expanding to juniors and even to Brazil. It was Feinswog who named the very podcast on which he told this story.

Yes, SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter was as much Feinswog’s creation as it was Bourne’s and Mewhirter’s.

Now a new chapter of VolleyballMag.com begins, as the magazine – “magazine” used loosely here, since there is no longer a print edition – has been acquired by p1440, equipping them with the resources they’ve long needed but haven’t possessed.

“It’s amazing really,” Chan said. “It’s kind of like making the transformation from being a garage band to getting a recording contract. We had all these ideas. We wanted to expand to juniors. We wanted to expand to Brazil. Normally we would be ‘OK, how are we going to pay for this? Who are we going to get to buy into this? How are we going to promote it?’ With p1440, if they see it as a viable idea, they greenlight it and we go with it.”

“There is a vision,” Feinswog added. “There is an expectation of greatness on a tremendous scale. All I can tell you is you’re going to see more amazing things not just on VolleyballMag.com but from p1440.”

Jaksot(500)

Three gold medals of wisdom with Misty May-Treanor

Three gold medals of wisdom with Misty May-Treanor

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features one of the greatest of all time, if not the greatest of all time, in Misty May-Treanor.  It was such a blast having May-Treanor on the show, one of the best we've had yet -- no surprise there. On the episode, we discuss: - What her life looks like today, as a retired athlete and current mother of three  - Her even-keel mindset and ability to stay calm on the biggest stages in sport - What her training regimen looked like both in season and during off-season - How she built her brand on immersing herself amid the crowd -- literally -- and being physically present and available  - Her and Kerri Walsh Jennings' partnership, and how they built the most dominant duo in beach volleyball history This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the BEST beach volleyballs in the game. Use our discount code, Sandcast-20 to get 20 percent off all Wilson products.  Also be sure to give us a subscribe on our YouTube channel! A follow would go a long way as Tri Bourne and I build our podcast.  SHOOTS!

4 Marras 20201h 16min

Three years of unbelievable growth, change in three years of SANDCAST

Three years of unbelievable growth, change in three years of SANDCAST

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features the hosts, Bourne and Mewhirter, as well as a new voice on the show, Savvy Simo, as we celebrate our three year anniversary of doing the podcast.  On this episode, we recap the long and short three-year journey we've been on, and answer a wide variety of fan questions, such as... - How would you rank the top 10 men's teams right now going into the Olympics in 2021? Norway still #1?   - How would you rank Taylor within the group of top 5 defenders and why? - What is the direction that USAV is headed with Tyler Hildebrand going back to Nebraska?  - Seems like the players would love more chances to play and you’ve seen first hand how into beach/sand volleyball places that don’t actually have beaches can be (Cincinnati) plus you’ve seen the indoor sand facilities. So what’s your take on playing sand indoors during the winter months? - You’ve done a great job of interviewing the players and giving a bit more depth to the game from this fan’s perspective. You asked for some questions. You’ll undoubtedly get the most [surprising, best, worst, hilarious, .. etc], but I’m curious if you see the growth and acceptance of the game changing? Are you more or less positive looking forward? And what about existing and potential sponsors - how do you see that world now? Many, many more. Thanks, as always, for listening to the show! If you want to drop us a review in iTunes, we'd appreciate it.  And, as always, thanks to Wilson Volleyball for sponsoring the show! If you want 20 percent off the best balls in the game, check out Wilson using our discount code SANDCAST-20 for 20 percent off! SHOOTS!

28 Loka 20201h 11min

Julia Scoles: Finding peace amid life's biggest decisions

Julia Scoles: Finding peace amid life's biggest decisions

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Julia Scoles, a phenomenal indoor player at the University of North Carolina who transferred to Hawai'i to play beach after a series of concussions. After an incredibly successful stint as a Bow, Scoles transferred to USC, where, a year later, she is still waiting to make her debut as a Trojan.  On this episode, we discuss: - Scoles' path from Carolina to Hawai'i to USC - Her steep learning curve on the beach - Winning her first tournament at the Waupaca Boatride with Hailey Harward - How she has found peace amid all these momentous life decisions, and the stress of going from the East Coast to halfway around the world to Hawai'i  - Her five-year plan as a professional volleyball player after she graduates from USC As always, this episode is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the best balls in the game. Use our discount code, Sandcast-20 to get 20 percent off all Wilson products!  We would also LOVE it if you checked out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, which can be bought on Amazon. And, if you've already read it, drop us a review! It only helps spread the beach love :) SHOOTS!

21 Loka 202050min

Avery Drost: Becoming beach volleyball's ultimate utility man

Avery Drost: Becoming beach volleyball's ultimate utility man

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter is with Avery Drost, a longtime pro who has been competing on the AVP Tour for 10 years.  On this episode, we discuss: - Drost winning the Hyden Beach AVP Next with Miles Partain - Just how good the 18-year-old Partain is becoming - Drost finding the best practice regimen and weight lifting schedule for his body - Finding the right playing weight - His goals when it comes to beach volleyball - Transitioning to a right-side defender with Ryan Doherty - His overall confusion -- in a good way -- over what position to play, given his ability to thrive all over the court This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the best beach volleyballs in the game. Use our discount code, Sandcast-20, for 20 percent off!  We'd love it if you checked out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, on Amazon, and we'd really love it if you dropped us a review as well! It goes a long way.  SHOOTS!

14 Loka 202057min

Jordan Cheng: Making a career out of "Once in a lifetime opportunities"

Jordan Cheng: Making a career out of "Once in a lifetime opportunities"

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is with Jordan Cheng, the coach of Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil, the 10th-ranked team in the world and No. 3 in the American Olympic race.  On this episode, we discuss: - Cheng's career as a coach, how his intentions to play professionally were constantly derailed by "once in a lifetime" coaching opportunities at Pepperdine, under Marv Dunphy, USA Volleyball under John Speraw, UCI, Reid Priddy and, now, Sponcil and Claes - How Cheng, 28 years old at the time, came to be the coach for Priddy, one of the best volleyball players of all time - His coaching philosophy: "I don't want to be a JV version of Jose Loiola. I want to be a varsity version of myself." - How he came to coach Claes and Sponcil - The importance of pursuing something bigger than beach volleyball This episode is, as always, brought to you by Wilson volleyball. They make the best balls in the game, and you can get 20 percent off by using our discount code, Sandcast-20.  Be sure to check out our new book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, on Amazon and, if you're feeling extra magnanimous, drop us a review! It goes a long way.  Thanks as always for listening! SHOOTS!

7 Loka 202050min

Answering beach volleyball's questions in a year with no shortage of them

Answering beach volleyball's questions in a year with no shortage of them

On this episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, we answer fan questions in our "season ending" episode, even if there wasn't much of a season in the first place. Some of those questions include: - What's this secret event Tri has been training for? - Who are some of the younger players, other than Andy Benesh and Eric Beranek, we should be looking out for? - Is Miles Partain the real deal or what? - What beach players are getting out of the game after this year? - If you could change one thing about the Olympic qualifying process, what would it be? - What do you think the 2021 season will look like? We answer a few more as well. Enjoy! SHOOTS!

30 Syys 20201h 2min

Randy Stoklos is still the King of the Beach

Randy Stoklos is still the King of the Beach

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is with one of the greatest players of all-time, with 123 victories, including four at the Manhattan Beach Open.  More than that, Stoklos, along with his partner, Sinjin Smith, is one of the most influential individuals in beach history, instrumental in pushing beach volleyball worldwide. Without Stoklos and Smith, it's possible the sport would not currently be in the Olympic Games.  On this episode, we cover a lot of ground, including: - Stoklos' upbringing with his father, Rudy, a Polish immigrant who escaped a concentration camp in Nazi Germany.  - Winning the Manhattan Beach Open at age 20 with the legendary Jim Menges - How he and Sinjin Smith partnered, both of them turning down an offer from Karch Kiraly to do so  - Stoklos' and Sinjin's epic 11-year partnership, in which they won more tournaments (115) than any team in beach volleyball history - Their push for the FIVB, and international volleyball - An incredible story from Ipanema, where he and Smith were dubbed the Kings of Rio - So much more. Honestly, just listen. It's amazing. You'll love it.  SHOOTS!

23 Syys 20201h 33min

SANDCAST: John Hyden, the consummate player-coach, on and off the sand

SANDCAST: John Hyden, the consummate player-coach, on and off the sand

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is with the legendary, and ageless, John Hyden. At 47 years young, Hyden is still one of the best defenders in the United States, with his own beach facility just outside Nashville, Tennessee. On this episode, we discuss: - Hyden’s transition from an indoor Olympian to a beach volleyball player grinding in qualifiers - Hustling side jobs, like hanging Christmas lights, putting in synthetic turf putting greens, and almost getting attacked by a dog, until he turned the financial corner in beach. - Building his team and system, beginning with Brad Keenan in 2007 - Why he and Sean Scott were so dominant - Coaching up a young Tri – or Tree – Bourne, on volleyball and far more - Launching his new facility in Nashville - The final act of his playing career, and how much juice the young man has left in him This episode is, as always, brought to you by Wilson Volleyball. Use our discount code, Sandcast-20, to get 20 percent off the best balls in the game! SHOOTS!

16 Syys 20201h 12min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

aikalisa
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
tervo-halme
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
politiikan-puskaradio
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
otetaan-yhdet
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rss-kuka-mina-olen
aihe
the-ulkopolitist
rss-podme-livebox
rss-tasta-on-kyse-ivan-puopolo-verkkouutiset
radio-antro
rikosmyytit
rss-raha-talous-ja-politiikka
eevan-politiikkapodi-totuuksia-suomesta
rss-mina-ukkola
rss-pykalien-takaa
rss-kaikki-uusiksi