On a personal note, I want to thank everybody on Big Cat Country for allowing me to come in and write this past season. I realized a few days ago that it's been about 8 or 9 months that I've spent on the site. I started out as just a commenter, around week 6 of the regular season and enjoyed the back and forth. Then I thought "What the heck? I have something to say about the Jags." so I started writing some little fan posts. Then Alfie made me a contributor and I'd pipe in every now and then with whatever little story I thought I'd like to write. I know there are plenty of people who have thanked me for my writing as well as some who have trashed me for it. I appreciate all of it. The complements are great and honestly, if the negative comments bothered me, I wouldn't be a very good writer.

Sadly, I'll be leaving the site in a couple of weeks, not because I'm tired of the atmosphere or anything, but for a few exciting reasons. First off, starting August 28th, I'll be travelling abroad to Israel, where I'll be teaching English in the small city of Rehovot. I'll be there for ten months and I'll be rooting for the team just like all you other Jaguars fans out there. Of course, unlike most of you, I'll be up in the middle of the night to watch (Monday nighters start at 5:30 AM in Israel time) in a country that thinks football is played with your feet (crazy right?).

I informed Alfie that I would be reducing my involvement when I left for Israel and he was understanding about it. I want to stress that there are no hard feelings between myself and anyone else among the BCC writers. Of course, since that time, something bizarre and unexpected happened... I was offered a job by Bleacher Report.

Yup. A real, paying opportunity to write about the NFL. Honestly, it was something I never expected when I started here at BCC. I was only writing for funzies, expressing my silly little thoughts to a bunch of hometown fans who love their team as much as I do. I never expected anything of consequence to happen as a result until, out of the blue, I got an email inviting me to do exactly what I do over here for BCC for Bleacher Report... you know, for money. Like, real money. Like beer money and money to travel when I'm over in Israel. Money to buy an NFL internet package so I don't have to stay up till 5:30 AM to watch games. I can't explain the feeling of shock and surprise I felt when I was told that someone actually want to pay me to mess around on the internet and write about sports, but I'm very glad to have the opportunity.

Part of the B/R contract requires that I not contribute anything to "competing" groups, companies or websites. Hopefully, that doesn't include BCC, because I've enjoyed my time on this site a lot and I would like to pop in with little articles when I can.

Anyways, consider this my two weeks notice. As sad as I am to leave BCC, I have enjoyed my time on the site. This coming year holds a lot of exciting, new things, not just for me but for everyone here at Big Cat. There's a new quarterback in town, the Jaguars play a challenging and fun schedule with plenty of prime-time games, and there are signs of a solid, rising team all over the place. In '09, I predicted that by this coming season, this team would be competing for a playoff spot. By next season, I predicted that the Jaguars would be serious super bowl contenders. Hopefully, I'll be proven right in the future.

Thank you all for your readership,

Brian Levenson