So, announcement time.
As you may have gathered from the launch of our Discord and maybe other things, Japers’ Rink as we’ve known it is once again changing. But unlike when we moved from Blogger to SB Nation in 2008 (!) or when we left SBN in 2023, this is going to be a more substantive change that is going to essentially shift us from a content provider with a community to a community with some content.
What that means, logistically, is that this site will cease to exist and “Japers’ Rink” will live at the Discord (we also have a Substack a beehiiv, for when we feel like producing content, a thing that has become a little less frequent as obligations and interests have shifted, and we’ll still be active on Bluesky). What that means, substantively, is some things we’ve been doing for more than 20 years – Caps Clips, game recaps, etc. – will be going away (maybe not the only Caps-related thing you’ve enjoyed for two decades that you’re going to have to live without). But if and when we want to write, we’ll still have outlets for it and, as you’ve seen over on Discord, a vibrant forum for real-time discussion.
In many ways, this is a return to our roots. All we ever wanted to do was inform folks who were receptive so that we could have robust conversations about our shared passion. That’s not going away. To paraphrase Thor: Ragnarok, Japers’ Rink is not a place, it’s a people. And as long as the people are still around, so is Japers’ Rink.
Anyway, the timing on when the site itself will shutter is unclear (we’re working on making sure the archives are still accessible), but we’ll keep you posted… just probably not here.
Thanks to all of you who have made this possible and worth doing, and we hope to see you around. We’re guessing we will…