When Gator Country went independent about six weeks ago, we promised that the brand new Gator Country would be bigger and better than ever before with far more features to make this the best place to get your daily Gator fix. Well, things just got better. Gator Country Magazine is heading to the printers within the next few days and it won’t be long until our inaugural edition will be in the mail!
“I kind of feel like this is my third child!” said Gator Country publisher and founder Ray Hines. “Gator Country is like my first child … and of course, there’s my daughter Alyssa, who just melts my heart. Now, the magazine is getting ready to go to the printer and we’ll have our first one out very soon.”
We believe in our magazine so much that we’re sending out that first copy free to every registered member of GatorCountry.com, whether they’re a paid subscriber or not. Registered members need to make sure that their addresses are in their profiles here.
We think you’re going to love our monthly magazine. We’ve got fabulous photos by Tim Casey and a menu of great articles about this great time to be a Florida Gator written by our team of outstanding writers like Franz Beard, Mike Hodge, Bob Redman, Mark McLeod and Buddy Martin. On top of that, due to our new printer having rapid turn-around times, our magazine will feature much more timely stories unlike in the past.
Speaking of Mike Hodge, we feel so honored to have him working with us as the editor of Gator Country Magazine. Mike comes to us from Fightin’ Gators Magazine where he was the editor and one of the top feature writers for more than two years. Mike brings a wealth of experience and we feel he’s the perfect fit with our team. He’s dedicated to making this the definitive magazine about anything and everything that is Florida Gator sports.
Mike is an award-winning writer who started his sports writing career with the Montgomery Advertiser where he covered University of Alabama football. While he was with the Ocala Star-Banner, Mike won Florida Press Club awards for sports column writing and sports news reporting.
“You can’t imagine how fortunate we are to have someone of Mike’s experience and talent to work with us,” said Hines. “He’s a real professional and I know he’s going to put his heart and soul into this magazine to make sure it’s the very best.”
We will be announcing more information about the magazine in the days ahead including subscription information. As we said before, the first copy is a freebie to all our loyal members who have registered on GatorCountry.com. Make sure you’ve updated your profile to include your mailing address to ensure that you’ll get our magazine.
Once we’ve got the magazine at the printers, we hope to tell you rather quickly when it’s expected to mail out.
This is just the first big announcement for Gator Country this week. Stay tuned. The news is only going to get better. We’ll have several more announcements, including one that’s going to knock your socks off. At Gator Country, we never rest on our laurels!
“It’s an exciting time,” said Hines. “We really believe in what we’re doing. We want to be the best college sports website in the country. With our new magazine and with the news we will announce in the next few days, I think everybody will agree that Gator Country really is THE place to be if you want to know everything there is to know about the Florida Gators!”