Phillies Nation

I have learned the value of investing time and emotion in things I cannot control, and of belonging to a community whose aspirations I share completely and uncritically.
~ Nick Hornby

PhilliesNation.com is more than a blog. It is a site for the most fanatical Phillies fans to share ideas, absorb information, and rant with impunity. Though there are certainly other sites out there that deal with the Phillies, this one is written exclusively through a fan’s perspective. Stats and algorithms have their place in analyzing baseball, but if a player sucks, Phillies fans don’t require quantitative proof. We smell failure a mile away. We boo first, ask questions later. And in those rare cases when sweet victory befalls upon us, we rejoice and celebrate like only Phillies fans do: by going to Geno’s and making it a two cheesesteak night.

Brian Michael, Founder and CEO [Read Brian's posts]
Brian founded Phillies Nation after complaining about the dearth of high quality Phillies blogs midway through the 2004 season. Building upon his experience as a web consultant and a rabid Phillies fan, he has been blogging ever since. Brian is a native of northeast Philadelphia and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the London School of Economics and Political Science. PhilliesNation.com has traveled with him through stays in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and London solidifying the global reputation of the Phillies Nation.

Patrick Gallen, Editor-in-Chief [Read Pat's posts]
Pat joined Phillies Nation in July 2009, coming over from Examiner.com. As a previous employee of both Comcast SportsNet and the National Basketball Association, Pat prides himself on being a well-rounded individual when it comes to sports. However, the Phillies are first on the list. You’ll usually find Pat chiming in on the Phillies Nation Facebook or Twitter account, or on the latest Phillies Nation TV episode he hosts alongside Corey Seidman. When Pat isn’t at Citizens Bank Park in the clubhouse or press box covering the Phillies, he takes care of marketing, advertising, and many of the behind-the-scenes things with Brian. Twitter: @PatGallen_PN

R.C. Cowie, Operations Management Coordinator/Social Media Genius [Read R.C.'s posts]
R.C. Cowie is the institution that has brought you varied social networks, fantasy baseball, retail opportunities, tailgate parties and various other activities hosted by Phillies Nation. His never ending task is to spread the love to everyone within Phillies Nation by exploiting the innate characteristics of all Philadelphia sports fans: Eating, Alcoholism and Phandom. He diligently plans and creates new and exciting ventures for Phillies Nation through the media and fanbase. Born in Philly and raised on the mean streets of the Northeast, R.C. can be found on campus diligently studying or behind a desk in Center City spinning the wheels of Corporate America.

Corey Seidman, Analysis Editor [Read Corey's posts]
Corey joined Phillies Nation in May 2008 after a serendipitous meeting with an aunt of Tim Malcolm’s in New York City. He comes from a strong sports family; his father has been a Producer and Graphics Operator for the Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, Eagles, and Big 5 schools since the early 1980s; his uncle served as President of the 76ers for several seasons in the late 70s; his second-cousin was President of the Flyers when the team won its last Stanley Cup; and his brother is a current staff member of the acclaimed “Baseball Prospectus.” Corey enjoys taking an analytical approach to every article, often introducing and incorporating sabermetrics. He is currently a junior at Penn State University with law school on the mind and aspirations of representing athletes in the future.

Amanda Orr, Staff Reporter [Read Amanda's posts]
Amanda Orr joined Phillies Nation in 2009 after being recruited from Swing and a Long Drive, a Philadelphia Phillies blog that she created in high school.  Amanda is currently a student at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, majoring in education and minoring in communications. Twitter: @Amandax23

Jay Floyd, Minor League Contributor [Read Jay's posts]
Jay Floyd’s grandfather drove the Phillies’ bus for regional road trips in the 1960’s. Since those days, baseball was in the family and Jay continues on as a coach to youth players, in Lawrence Township NJ, as a minor league writer and as an occasional radio analyst. Jay’s blog PhoulBallz.com served as a launching pad for him to start writing about the great sport of baseball and the site’s affiliation with the Millennium Radio group’s Shore Sports Network allowed Jay to cover local minor league clubs, like the Lakewood BlueClaws, from the inside. Jay joined PhilliesNation.com in the autumn of 2010 as a minor league contributor. Twitter: @PhoulBallz

Jonathan Nisula, Staff Reporter [Read Jon's posts]
Jonathan grew up a Phillies fan in Bucks County, a place where he still calls home. He went to school with Terry Francona’s daughters when Francona was the manager of the Phillies and met Francona at a school event. He played 4 different sports growing up, but eventually stuck to baseball. After 9 years of playing for travel teams, he made his way to American Legion baseball. He played Legion ball for 3 years – the best 3 years of his life he says. He started a blog called The Citizens Bankers with a friend in December of 2010 and was brought aboard Phillies Nation in June of 2011 after he became friends with Corey Seidman through Twitter. He can be found live-tweeting most Phillies games on Twitter, @JNisula.

Don M., Staff Reporter/Brainstormer [Read Don M.'s posts]
A Phillies fan since forever, some of Don’s first memories are the nights in the Vet’s 300-level watching crappy teams with his family, but enjoying every second of it. Don has been involved with Phillies Nation since 2007, mainly as frequent commenter under the very creative pen-name “Don M”.  A graduate of Penn State- Abington (BA – Communications), Don resides in Northeast Philadelphia with his wife, daughter, and his chocolate lab, Bella.

Ian Riccaboni, Staff Reporter [Read Ian's posts]
Ian comes to Phillies Nation as a lifelong Phillies fan, originally from Allentown, PA, with an interest in advanced statistics. His fondest Phillies’ memories include watching Von Hayes and Ricky Jordan through tickets his family saved from Phillies’ Phranks packages. Ian has a MS Ed. from Penn and is a Big 5 basketball super-fan. Ian was a news anchor for WMFE, Orlando’s NPR affiliate, and has written for and performed on the Service Electric Cable Television show “Hump Night With Kris Fried”. Ian’s interest in advanced statistics piqued when his sophomore, Yankee-fan roommate used WAR and attrition rates to explain to him why it was a good thing the Phillies did not sign Alfonso Soriano in the 2006 off-season. Ian currently lives in Lansdale, PA where he works in pharmaceuticals. He is engaged to be married in October 2012. Twitter: @IanRiccaboni

Nick Staskin, Columnist and Director of Fun and Games [Read Nick's posts]
Nick is known by many as “The Beerman,” having served the fans Miller Lite at Phillies games for over nine seasons now. He is a lifelong Phillies fan, who took the job to get into games for free. In 2008, his dream came to realization as he was able to attend every postseason game including both parts of Game 5. Nick has written for ComcastSportsnet, NJ.com and has covered events such as the NFL Draft and the Big East Tournament. Desk jockey by day, beerman by night. Look for Nick in left field at your next Phillies game. Twitter: @Beerman124

Jason Lyons, Chief Technology Officer
An expert in PHP, Cold Fusion, ASP, Ajax, and Javascript among other languages, Jason is responsible for the technical maintenance of Phillies Nation. Despite growing up in Harrisonburg, VA and being a Washington, DC sports fan in general, he has come to appreciate the dramatics that are the Philadelphia Phillies. Nonetheless, he lost $50 when he unwisely bet the Nationals would finish ahead of the Phillies in 2005.

Julie Michael, Sargent-at-Arms
If you step out of line JMike will be there to regulate, she’s like the bouncer at Phillies Nation. And as a former Phillies employee, she offers a unique perspective on the team and its inner workings. Although the lifelong fan and Villanova graduate now fills her time pursuing a doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, she will often be found on Phillies road trips and organizing Pittsburgh game-watching parties.

Paul McKay, Creative Director
Paul’s award winning designs has helped make Phillies Nation one of the most useful and professional web sites around. The former Expos fan from Flagstaff, AZ, now proudly hangs a Phillies calendar on his wall. His Political Management masters degree and years of campaign experience culminated in quite possibly the best campaign logo ever with Howard-Utley’08.

Tim Malcolm, Senior Staff Reporter Emeritus [Read Tim's posts]
Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.