7 days ago, I was just now returning from the West Texas Panhandle and helping lay to rest Russell McLean. Since then, there has been a lot that has been going on when it comes to Lion Athletics and I have missed a lot of it, and for that, I wish I could have been on the breaking news, but I haven’t.

So, first things first, the Lion Wire will NOT be closing up shop and moving on, nor will the Call The Roll Podcast be done. Everyone who has reached out to Me has encouraged Me and told Me that “Russ would want you to keep going.” And they would be right. The last thing that Russ would want would be for what both of us have built over the past decade to stop because something happened to one of us. A few years ago I had the chance to move to New York City and work on Wall Street. I told Russ if that happened, I might not make many games, but we would do all the things we set out to do, whatever the situation. We just never thought the situation would be where one of us would pass away, but that is the situation, and I made a promise to a friend to see this thing through. The Lion Wire is now a one man operation like it was from 2011-2016, and will be to the best of my ability until something changes.

That to say, I am going to take a break that will probably head into the early Summer. I might bang out a podcast because I like to talk and I would like to think putting a couple of things out there might be therapeutic and help all of us who were affected by Russ’s passing to move on in a healthy way.

I guess I will get personal for just a moment. I need a break, and I need to prioritize things in my life. Over the past 400 days for so, I have had health issues ranging from kidney stones, neuromuscular problems, a bout with COVID, a bad reaction to a medication that threw my body chemistry completely off and caused my first overnight hospital stay and my first invasive surgery. I was in physical therapy for close to 12 weeks, in addition to meeting a girl who might have been the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with passing away just a couple of months into our relationship. About a week before Russ went into the hospital, my Dad had a brain hemorrhage but thankfully after 5 days in ICU he was discharged and has made a full recovery, which I thank God every day for. Suffice it to say, it has been a rough year with a lot of challenges. On top of that, I started a new position which I am thankful for as well and am learning this new dynamic in the corporate world post-COVID. I will be 38 in two weeks, so I just have a lot of questions about life in general and what to do going forward.

As most of you know, I am a Christian, and have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and my faith serves as a guide for my life. I fail everyday, but none of us are perfect. I am trusting God to guide me and direct me in the future, and that includes this site. I asked someone “Does God really care about The Lion Wire or anything related to it?” I got a good answer when He said “I know God cares about your faith and your life, and if you can live your faith on your podcast or on your blog then yes God cares about your blog because He cares about you.” Hearing those words made me really believe that the right thing to do was to refocus on how to do this thing, and how to do it right for everyone.

Ill have a podcast coming soon with more details.

Thank you all for all your love and support. It means more to me than any of you know, and continue to send love to the McLean family.

—Brian