Getting to Know the New OTB Team

About a month ago, On The Banks decided to expand to get ready for the B1G. After an extensive search for the best writers to cover Rutgers sports, I am pleased to announce the addition of four new writers to the OTB staff. I have no doubt that our new staff will continue to make this site one of the best destinations for everything Scarlet, and I truly believe that we'll make things even better.

Here are your new writers:

Ray Ransom

Twitter: @RayRansomOTB

Specialty: Football

Hometown: Princeton, NJ

Current City: New York, NY

How I came to be a Rutgers fan: Rutgers' rise to prominence coincided with the EA's NCAA football franchise hitting its own stride in terms of quality relative to the Madden football franchise. As a life-long Jersey boy, I knew what team I wanted to play as. When I discovered that Brian Leonard was unstoppable on FB Dive out of the I-Form, I knew I had my team. Like so many others though, it was 2006 that changed me from a casual fan into a hardcore lifer. I'll never forget seeing the entire city go nuts in support of Rutgers football the night we beat Louisville and I'm excited to see it go nuts again when we bring home our second national championship!

What I do for a living: Video game producer. Yes, I'm serious. Yes, it's as awesome as it sounds!

Andy Egan

Twitter: @eganandy1

Specialty: Football recruiting

Hometown: Clifton, NJ. My parents still live on the same street as OTB-hoops-guy Dave White's parents, where we grew up.

Current City: Basking Ridge, NJ

How I came to be a Rutgers fan: I graduated in 2007, and I was at RU during an interesting sports era. In 2003 and 2004, football was still bad enough that no game was a given, even the so-called FCS cupcakes. I watched us beat Michigan State, and then lose to New Hampshire the next week. My senior year, Ray Rice, Brian Leonard and Mike Teel led us to 11-2 and one dropped OT pass away from a BCS bowl. I was also there for the recent hoops high water mark, an NIT finals loss to Michigan. So I saw a lot of highs and lows, and was hooked for life.

What I do for a living: I am an attorney at a large national law firm in Florham Park. My practice focuses on business disputes, trust and estate litigation, and chancery matters in which the parties are seeking relief other than money, such as injunctions or ownership of land or a company.

Garrett Stepien

Twitter: @GarrettStepien

Specialty: Olympic sports

Hometown: Woodbridge, NJ

Current City: New Brunswick, NJ

How I came to be a Rutgers fan: Well, it's as simple as this: it's in my DNA. My mother is a Rutgers-grad, obtaining her bachelor's and master's degrees in New Brunswick in the '80s. Literally since I was born, I've bled scarlet. I still remember sitting there in the pouring, freezing rain as Rutgers would go on to lose 17-20 to Temple back when the team was the laughingstock of college football. You know, back during the days of Ryan Cubit and Ryan Hart. Then it all came to fruition in '06. I can't put into words how gratifying that win over Louisville was. I still see Ito point up to the sky-cam after knocking it through the uprights and hearing Chris Carlin boast, "THERE IS PANDEMONIUM IN PISCATAWAY!" Obviously football is the big one, but I've also lived for basketball of both men's and women's, and I've even attended a good amount of baseball games as a kid.

What I do for a living: I am currently a freshman at Rutgers in New Brunswick. I cover the softball beat for the Daily Targum (which can be found online at www.dailytargum.com/sports) and I contribute to a weekly WRSU Rutgers Sports Radio show "SportsKnight" every Tuesday night from 8-10pm, which can be listened to on 88.7 FM-New Brunswick or streaming live at www.wrsu.org (check us out sometime). I also broadcast on the station for select football games, basketball games, and baseball games. I am currently a Journalism & Media Studies major with a focus in sports, while looking into a possible minor in business.

Fun fact: I actually never wanted to come to Rutgers (I wanted to go somewhere warm and far away from New Jersey). But the way it all shook out, I obviously ended up enrolling here and I love it. It almost feels like it was meant, and I am definitely a Scarlet Knight, through and through. I look forward to contributing to the expansion on the banks and enriching the Rutgers community with what it deserves to hear.

Kevin Kirby

Twitter: @kevinkirbs

Specialty: Basketball

Hometown: East Brunswick, NJ

Current City: New York, NY

How I came to be a Rutgers fan: I've been going to Rutgers basketball games my whole life. Season tickets since 2001 where I have been sitting with my dad in the same seats at the RAC. My top three Rutgers basketball players are Sean Axani, Jerome Coleman and Hamady N'Diaye. I also fired the cannon at football games for three years.

What I do for a living: I work in the news.

Please join Dave and me in welcoming our newest team members to OTB!