Final Chapter for The Morning Brief

Well, here it is. The last Morning Brief post. Post number 4,943. The final chapter for our daily news blog on men’s fastpitch. We thank all of our readers, many of whom have been with us since that first post back on March 1, 2004. We have enjoyed it, more than you could know.

-Jim Flanagan
Editor, Morning Brief

An end to the Morning Brief perhaps, but not Fastpitchwest, or our daily news blog. I am pleased to roll out the “new and improved” Fastpitchwest.com. The new format utilizes the latest version of the blogging software used to create The Morning Brief back in 2004, and our first major redesign of the Fastpitchwest website since 2003. The “new look” website has been in the works for a while, but the Thanksgiving holiday weekend finally gave yours truly the time to complete the transition.

The “new” Fastpitchwest combines the daily blog post from the morning brief, along with updated content in its menu driven pages. The biggest change, and one I think the readers will enjoy the most is the new menu at the top of the main entry page at www.fastpitchwest.com. Rather than the old menu which sometimes required readers to ” drill down” through a number of sub pages, the new menu puts everything right up front, using ” drop-down menus” for your convenience.

We are pleased that we were able to import all 4937 blog posts from the Morning Brief, so readers that wish to refer back to any item posted since 2004 will be able to do so, using either the search box in the upper right-hand corner, or the new drop-down menus for ” Categories” and/or “Archives”.

We are still moving the furniture around, so to speak, so readers will continue to see the site grow as we continue our work, filling in and updating the content.

The daily news blog will continue to be the foundation for our website, just without the “Morning Brief” name. The Morning Brief served us well, originally starting out as an extra feature at the website, but relegated to a sub page at www.faspitchwest.com. brief. The name itself….”Morning Brief at Fastpitchwest” proved a bit unwieldy at times….when trying to tell someone where to find it, or a particular news item posted there…a bit like Oriole Park at Camden Yards” or “The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim”. So don’t shed any tears for The Morning Brief. It just got a promotion to the front page.

The new format for the front page will provide readers with a “Featured Post”, like the one posted today for the Best of the West Tournament.

Beneath the feature story, are the familiar daily blog posts, in chronological order, with an excerpt of the story posted on the front page, that is clickable to read the entire post. Readers will also find a quick link box in the upper right-hand corner with a hyperlink list of the latest blog news posts.

We hope you enjoy the new design, and invite your comments. Pull up a chair, we saved you a place.

Oh, yes, the address. Same as it’s always been, www.fastpitchwest.com