7 Ways You Can Make Big Apple Buckets Even More Awesome

We’re officially in the doldrums of summer and still more than 100 days away from the start of college basketball season. But the team at Big Apple Buckets is already thinking about how the 2014-15 season can be the site’s best ever.

Just as the college basketball offseason means turnover – 500 transfers, a coaching carousel, etc. – there’s lots of things happening with our team here. We’re taking on new jobs (check out John at BuzzFeed), new kids (isn’t she cute!), and more. And we’re looking for more help. If you’ve ever thought about writing about mid-major (and some major) basketball around the Northeast you should let us know now! In fact, here are some ways you can contribute to Big Apple Buckets next season. (Don’t want to write? We’ve got some things for you later too.)

Become a writer! Are you looking to earn valuable writing experience while watching and analyzing college basketball? Well you’ve come to the right place! At Big Apple Buckets we’re always looking to add new writers to our team. You can cover just one team, you can break news on entire leagues, you can write about data, or do just about anything in between. We already have some of the foremost experts in the world (I’m pretty sure!) on the Northeast Conference (NEC) and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), but here are some places we could use some help in particular:

1) A dedicated writer for Long Island schools: Stony Brook has been good for a while now. (That NCAA appearance is coming!) Hofstra is going to be good. (You just wait and see!) Ryan Restivo and Vincent Simone do a great job pitching in on these, but we’d love a dedicated writer for both schools. Are you a student at SBU or Hofstra that’s interested in journalism? This could be a great place to get started. Our team can provide great support and insight for a candidate.

2) A dedicated Fordham writer: We’d love to cover the Rams (and the Atlantic 10) more in general. You can find the Big Apple Buckets team in the Bronx on occasion, but there are nights where we just can’t be everywhere. The A-10 has some of the best basketball in the country – whether they’re a mid-major or not – and we’d love to have someone join us that can explain how Tom Pecora’s team is going to turn it around. (Or why they’re in for another long season.)

3) Someone who loves the Ivy League as much as John does: No really. We want to expand our Ivy League coverage. The Ancient 8 have an awesome basketball tradition that’s ripe for more stories. Come find them. Note: This person definitely doesn’t need to be NYC based.

4) A person who can get Patriot League fans riled up: Ryan Peters took on double duty last season for Big Apple Buckets covering both the NEC and Patriot League on a regular basis. We want someone who can own day-to-day Patriot League coverage (news, results, analysis) with occasional supplements on the data and features side from the rest of our team. Is this you? Join us!

Interested? Email us at nycbuckets@gmail.com or use the contact form to get in touch. Don’t want to write? What about one of these?

5) Sign up for our fantasy leagues: We will once again be running NEC and Ivy League fantasy basketball this season. And we’re adding the MAAC! All three will be full season (though we reserve the right to run an additional Ivy season only league). We learned a lot from last season’s experiments. In 2014-15 it’s going to be even better. We know what roster sizes actually work and we’re going to keep leagues to eight teams (the MAAC might get to 10 depending on interest). If you want to play let us know! We’re happy to run more than one per league if the demand is there. Want some real incentives? We have Big Apple Buckets swag – and you can win it! Again, email us or use the contact form to let us know about your interest and you’ll be the first to know when the leagues are forming.

6) Donate to help Big Apple Buckets: If you want to see basketball coverage continue to thrive continue donating to Big Apple Buckets. (There’s a button on right-hand rail.) Our team traveled to more than 100 games last season and doing so isn’t cheap. (But we love it!) We guarantee that 100 percent of donations go back into the site.

7) Comment: No really! We love our commenters. Make sure you sign up for an ID and join in the conversation. We’re always open to seeing a different side of things and commenters are the ones that help us do it.

Have another idea? Let us know. And thanks for reading!