What's On Deck At The Steele Sports Bar + 2024 Preview
A look ahead to the New Year and setting a more structured schedule going forward...
Happy Festivus to all those who celebrate!
Seinfeld fans will know exactly what I’m talking about. And if you don’t, then shame on you.
Anyway, let’s move on with today’s business…
Time certainly flies.
Okay, that is an overused cliche I know, but the point still stands. Time really is a thief and I can’t believe we’re now approaching the final days of 2023.
These past 12 months have truly been special for me. Yes, it has been a testing time and not everything has gone the way I had hoped, but I’ll always remember 2023 as the year we launched this website.
Yes, it has nearly been a whole year since we launched The Steele Sports Bar. Formerly known as Blogs Of Steele. I actually started work on the website late in 2022, before launching it on the day of the Super Bowl in early 2023.
It has been quite the journey but I’m beyond excited to see what 2024 brings. I truly believe next year will mark the start of huge things for this site. I’m trying to build something special here and, with the groundwork laid and the building blocks firmly in place, I know 2024 is the time to take that next giant leap.
Big, exciting, beautiful things are coming.
And, as is custom this time of year, I want to quickly look ahead to what to expect in 2024. I also want to lay out a more concrete schedule for the website / newsletter moving forward.
Let’s dive right in…
What’s On Deck
We’ve got a hell of a lot brewing on this site. Both over the holiday season and for 2024 as a whole.
In terms of what to expect over the coming days as you prepare to dive into your stockings and turkey dinners, here’s a taster of what we’ve got cooking in The Steele Sports Bar kitchen:
Lots of baseball talk. Like, a hell of a lot of baseball talk. I still want to discuss Shohei Ohtani, despite the fact that the ink is now dry on his record-breaking contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. To be frank, new eye-opening details regarding that historic deal emerge on a daily basis, so I still feel as though there are new angles to approach and break down.
I also want to get into the new evil empire that the Dodgers are building. Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. LA is building the ultimate Death Star to blow up and obliterate all other Death Stars. But, will constructing an absolute juggernaut parlay into postseason success? I’ll do a deep dive into that billion dollar question.
Now the two most notable free agents have come off the board, the expectation is that Hot Stove season will kick into high gear once Christmas Day is done and dusted. There are still some notable names twisting out there in the wind, including the likes of Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Jordan Montgomery and Matt Chapman. Plus, the trade market could explode back into action too. I’ll be across all the big moves as they happen this holiday season.
What is more synonymous with Christmas than last-minute panic gift buying and Santa Claus? Person Of The Year lists. Taylor Swift was crowned TIME’S 2023 Person Of The Year. Sports Illustrated named Colorado Head Coach Deion Sanders as their 2023 Sportsperson Of The Year. The latter proved to be a controversial choice, to put it lightly. Well, here at The Steele Sports Bar, I too will be revealing my 2023 Sportsperson Of The Year. Or maybe it will be Team Of The Year. Time will tell. But keep an eye out for that towards the end of the year.
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By becoming a paid subscriber, you will play a direct role in helping this site grow and become bigger and better. We remain independent because of you.
I’ve got a ton of holiday-themed content planned for the next few days. My Christmas wishlist for my New York sports teams. Some normal and not-so normal predictions for 2024. My most memorable sports moments and memories from 2023. I’ll drip feed all of this stuff over the next week or so. It is the perfect content to consume while you are recovering from an extra-deep food coma. Or if you need to get away and have a break from that dickhead family member for five minutes. Come on, we all have one of those.
At some point this weekend I plan to unload a potpourri of sports thoughts I’ve been sitting on over the past couple of weeks. What the hell is going on with the Detroit Pistons? Are the Buffalo Bills truly back? Are the LA Rams for real? Connor Bedard is living up to the hype and he’s doing it in style. Are the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks primed to give us a repeat of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final? Those are the kind of topics I’ll be tackling in a buffet of sports talk at some point this weekend. There will no doubt be a need for a couple of those pieces over the holiday season too.
Oh, and I have some in-depth thoughts on the Jets and the dumpster fire of a 2023 season that went up in flames before it ever really began. I view this exercise as a form of some much-needed therapy. Cheaper than actual therapy, too.
And here’s a tantalizing preview of some of the things you can expect to see on the site in 2024…
A revamped and fully loaded Andrew Steele Podcast. We’ll be dropping episodes weekly, all free, and I’ll be bringing on guests from all corners of the sports world. And, hey, we may swim in the pop culture waters too here and there.
Interviews. My goal for 2024 is to give you access you won’t get anywhere else on the internet. Or even in print. To that end, I am already lining up in-depth interviews with a number of sports personalties, coaches and players. I want to do a handful a month and I hope these long-form interviews prove to be a popular addition and a long-term staple here at The Steele Sports Bar.
The community is growing, so early in 2024 I want to introduce a weekly mailbag where you will be the star. You can email in your questions or thoughts pertaining to anything going on in the sports world, even outside of it if you really want (no politics, though) and I will answer each one and post them on the website.
To that end, I also want to utilize Substack’s cool Chat feature in 2024. This is a safe space where we can all interact as much as we all want. You can even create your own threads about anything you want. I envision this as being the ultimate online sports bar where we can all gather on gamedays, or when a big trade or free agent move goes down, and just talk sports. Or any other day for that matter.
I’m finally going to launch a slew of unique features I’ve had in the works for a long time. My Alternative Mt. Rushmore, The Steele Sports Bar Happy Hour & a random ramblings feature will all be properly launched early in 2024.
Plus, you can expect a boatload of columns, opinion pieces, power rankings, silly Top 5, Top 10 lists, fake trades, Free Agency profiles, historical features and lots, lots more throughout the course of next year.
Oh, and merch! Yes, that’s right. I will have some really cool The Steele Sports Bar merchandise available at some point in 2024. So stay tuned for more details on that. I have meetings lined up in January to hopefully get some designs and price structures over the line.
In short, 2024 is going to be an absolute huge and blockbuster year here at The Steele Sports Bar.
I am beyond excited for the year ahead and I am forever thankful that you have chosen to be a part of this journey.
And, if you aren’t a subscriber yet but would like to become part of the family, we would love to have you!
If you currently subscribe, but would like to upgrade to a paid subscription in order to receive full access to our archive and all the new features arriving in 2024, you can do so by clicking the button below 👇
Need a last minute gift but don’t want to venture out? Why not consider giving that sports fanatic in your life the gift of a subscription to The Steele Sports Bar? There is currently a special offer of 20% off a yearly paid subscription if you purchase one now. This can be done either as a gift for a loved one or as a gift for yourself!
Setting A Schedule ⏰ 🗓️
Okay, if there is one thing I’ve become painfully aware of as I’ve gotten older, it’s that a lot of people crave structure in their life.
I’m more of a free bird but I do appreciate that the majority of people like to know when something is happening.
To that end, I’ve decided it would probably behoove me to put a more solid structure in place when it comes to the newsletter and putting certain content out.
Now, I can’t do that with everything I produce because of the very nature of this business. After all, I can’t tell you when a trade is going to do down, or if a coach is going to get fired or if a player is going to sign somewhere in Free Agency. I can only bring you content after the fact.
Plus, for those of you have been subscribers from Day One, you can attest to the fact that I’m always coming up with random ideas at random points throughout the day, so there is always a chance you will receive an email full of weird sports thoughts at 1am in the morning.
That’s just me. Sorry, not sorry.
What I can do, however, is make clear what days you can expect free content and certain features. As I’ve made abundantly clear from Day 1, I will always strive to ensure that our free subscribers are catered for. While paid subscribers are crucial to this website remaining independent, and also in making sure I can eat, pay bills and do all the other boring adult stuff, our free subscribers are always going to be valuable and treated as such.
So, I will make sure everyone has access to three free articles a week every single week without fail. And here are the days you can expect to receive those free posts:
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
There will be paid content on those days too, but free subscribers can expect to have access to three articles free of charge every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And, hey, some weeks there may be a bonus free article day too.
Our podcasts will always remain free. Every single episode. And this won’t ever change.
And here’s what I’m thinking schedule wise in terms of certain pieces of content going forward (this will kick into effect in 2024):
Confessions Of A Long-Suffering Jets Fan - Every Monday
Monday Musings - Every Monday (Obviously +Free!)
Happy Hour - Every Thursday
Friday Frenzy - Every Friday (Obviously)
Saturday Potpourri - Every Saturday
Sunday Column - Every Sunday
I will no doubt add things to that schedule as we go along, but I’ll put out an updated version as soon as 2024 arrives to remind you all anyway.
Thank you so much again for supporting The Steele Sports Bar and doing your part in helping this publication to grow.
Again, huge and beautiful things are on the way in 2024 and I can’t wait to share them with you all.
All that is left to be said is for me to wish you and your families a very MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ALL OF US HERE AT THE STEELE SPORTS BAR.
Have a great holiday season and, between eating, drinking and opening gifts, I hope you will stay with us for what will be another busy week or so in sports.
In the meantime, feel free to reach out to talk sports with me or ask any questions using the details below:
Twitter: @andrewsteeled
Instagram / Threads: @stee.led2194
Bluesky: @andrew21.bsky.social
Have the most amazing Christmas. I’ll be back later with some baseball talk.