Just wanted to give the community an update on the fellowship announcements. Right now, we still haven't picked the fellows, but we've narrowed it done to a manageable, and difficult, batch to select from. I mean this with utter sincerity, and both Jake and MRW will back me up on this: The reason this is taking so long is we did not get a single "bad" application. Each and every applicant offered something unique to the table, and it has made this selection process very, very hard. Much harder than I thought it would be.
So, because of this, and because of other announcements that are planned to happen very "soon," I'm going to hold off announcing the fellows. I don't want to steal thunder from other things coming down the pipe. Plus, it gives me some extra time to go over the apps one more time, and agonize over who to select.
I once again re-iterate that this is not a popularity contest, or a contest to select the best "writer." There are some candidates I'm considering who might not be as good at writing as others, but I feel the fellowship could help enhance their writing skills. Other candidates offer opinions that are polar opposite of mine, and we're considering those in order to add more flavor to the site. Of course, I'm an ego manic and only like it when everyone agrees with me. However, Jake and MRW often remind me (in the virtual swift-kick-to-the-nuts sorta way) that differing opinions add something to the site. There are just so many strong candidates, and I feel a strong sense of responsibility to re-iterate that as much as possible.
Thank you for your patience. We have some really cool plans in store for this site and for all of SB Nation. Announcements are coming post-Super Bowl. It really is an exciting time for us.