Some thank yous and an introduction

For those of you who may have missed it yesterday, our longtime editor Brad Rowland stepped down from the site after a four-year run at the helm, and a seven-year run overall at the site. Today, our new editor, Zach Hood, introduces himself to the Peachtree Hoops community.

In 2018, I was senior in college looking for media stuff to do but wasn’t sure at all where to start. Brad did not have the first clue of who I was when I direct messaged him on Twitter asking if Peachtree Hoops were looking for any writers. I had no formal sports writing experience, or truly much sports media training of any kind. I had messed around with a YouTube channel posting clips of minor league baseball prospects, but that’s about it. I had always been a huge sports fanatic growing up though, and as someone who grew up in the Metro Atlanta area, all of the local teams, including the Atlanta Hawks, were teams I followed very closely.

Brad had me write a sample article before adding me to the Peachtree Hoops staff. My article was about why Joe Johnson’s No. 2 jersey should be hanging in the rafters at what was then Philips Arena (retire No. 2, @ATLHawks). Somehow after reading that, Brad decided it would be an okay idea to bring me on board.

Just to show you how much things have changed, my first post at Peachtree Hoops was a recap for a game in which the Hawks trailed the Detroit Pistons by as much as 30 points, with Hawks legend Andrew White being their leading scorer with 15 points in his debut with the team. It was John Collins’ fifth career start, and Mike Budenholzer was still the head coach. It was the last game before the 2018 All-Star break, and Atlanta carried the worst record in the Eastern Conference into that weekend.

Over the next couple of years, I slowly began to do more stuff around the site. Jeff Siegel, whom many of you may remember, was Brad’s assistant editor back in those days. He spent a lot of time editing my work and talking through nearly every aspect of the NBA with me on Slack, and I will always be grateful to him for that.

In March of 2019, I attended my first game as a credentialed media member (thanks to Brad). A few months down the road, an opening at assistant editor opened up when Jeff decided it was going to be time for him to move on when 2020 rolled around. I happily accepted Brad’s invitation to start doing more around the site, and, I guess the rest is history.

I owe everything I have been able to do at this site and at SB Nation to Brad and Jeff, and will do my best to carry on the high standards they and others have set here at Peachtree Hoops. We have a great staff in place, and remain committed to providing you the best Atlanta Hawks coverage, anywhere. Thank you to all of you who have said kind things about Brad, the site or myself over the past couple of days. It truly does mean a lot.

I’d like to also thank Seth Pollack of SB Nation for trusting me to do this job. Brad’s recommendation assuredly went a long way, but shouts to Seth for giving me this opportunity.

I am happy to be here, and hope all the readers, both old and new, continue to enjoy the site. Thank you for being an entertaining, passionate group of fans. The site wouldn’t be what it is without all of you. A big thank you goes out to you guys too. We will be rolling on with our annual NBA Draft scouting profiles in the very near future.

Stay tuned.