The State of Block U - It's back

It was October 28, 2010, and an article had just come out about Utah football player Antoine "Shaky" Smithson. It seems Smithson was growing up very fast, going to college, playing on a major college football team, as well as caring for his 16-year-old brother, Anthony. That story came not from Utah media, but from the Baltimore Sun.

It this event, four years ago, that inspired us to create The U Fan Cast. In four years, we've grown our audience by talking about more than just a score or a stat line, interviewing former greats like John Madsen, Josh Grant, Nick Jacobson, even the late Rick Majerus, among many others. And we're very pleased to be able to bring the same knowledge and enthusiasm for University of Utah sports to SB Nation.

We know the BlockU community is an active one, and we're looking forward to interacting with each of you. We tip our hat to Sean, the former site manager, for establishing a solid foundation and thriving community from which we hope to build. We're building a team of talented and eager journalist to bring you more than just football and basketball, more than just a box score.

We believe that there are many more like the Shaky Smithson story that have yet to be told. We want to go beyond the stat lines and post-game analysis and bring you the people behind the face mask, behind the perfect 10, behind the game winning shot. As you get to know us, we hope to help you get to know your Utah Utes.