Your 2014 ILWT Audition Winners - Welcome Alex, CJ, and Gerard (and, Separately: Brian)

Near the end of April, I put out a call for people to voluntarily join In Lou We Trust, arguably the third most important New Jersey Devils blog on the Internet.   I wanted  By the May 16 deadline, I received 18 valid submissions from all kinds of Devils fans.  By Memorial Day, all 18 were posted for public viewing and reviewing.  My original plan was to select two from the submissions.  Two Devils fans to write something once a week. Two Devils fans to have their say to the thousands who read ILWT.  I then decided against that.  I decided to make it three.  That, and I made an additional selection outside of the process to fulfill a special role.   More on that at the end.

First and foremost, I thank everyone who made a submission at all.  I'm heartened that there is this much interest in being part of what is mostly a labor of love.   Perhaps it's the nature of being a supporter of the best team New Jersey has ever seen.  Perhaps it has something to do with being a sports fan online; people yearning to say something and wanting others to know about it.  Perhaps you all like the site so much.  Whatever the reason, I thank you all for being courageous, putting yourself out there, and generally being gracious with the results.

Second, I thank all of the readers who were largely constructive and candid with their comments.  I know my iron hand quickly becomes an iron fist; but I haven't had to do anything like that throughout the process.  I wanted you all to be constructive and not mean and you were.  Good job.

Third, and I especially mean this, I ask those who did not get selected to not be discouraged.  Just because this did not work out does not mean you shouldn't be a writer or you shouldn't write about the Devils.  If you want to write, then write.  You are all more than welcome to remain at ILWT.  You can always chip in a FanPost.  And if you're that serious, then you may want to consider starting a blog of your own.  It's how ILWT started: I opened a Blogspot account and wrote a ton for two years before James Mirtle essentially said "Hi, want to join SB Nation?"  I can't guarantee that will happen to you, but one never knows.  Besides, writing is a skill, not a talent; so those of you who want to be writers - and some of you expressed as such - then keep at it.

That all said, let's get right to it.   First, the 15 who didn't make it.  In lieu of Writer A, B, etc., I've listed the usernames of those who made submissions.  I will eventually go back into the posts and change the letter designation to apply proper credit. (As an aside, some of you registered under your real names.  Definitely not a problem; but I guess there's a commentary on how the Internet has changed in that.  Whatever it is, it's best stated elsewhere.)

By the process of elimination, you can make determination of who won.  Their first names are in the headline, here's the results.

So please welcome Alex, CJ, and Gerard to the site. You will see their contributions shortly.

And during this process, with Karen moving on to a tougher world of work, I tabbed someone else to take her specific spot.  Those of you may know him better as @onepasthunter. Some of you know him from his blog, NJD Prospects. All of you will enjoy his work.  It's Brian Franken and you'll see his prospect-based contributions soon too.

Again, congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone who made a submission.