Super Bowl Sunday seems like a hazy memory at this point. Banners have been taken down and school schedules have returned to normal.

Still, when I think about this city’s recent Eagles win, I think about the importance of teams. As publisher of the Local, I am honored to be part of a dedicated team. The staff at the Local cares deeply about our northwest neighborhoods, and serving readers, residents, advertisers and visitors. Each week, we have the same daunting, yet exciting, challenge: putting our paper together. 

In the aftermath of all the Eagles excitement, I thought it might be fun to celebrate our own winning team – and recognize the contributions each person makes.

Carla Robinson, our quarterback, aka editor, is responsible for calling every play. She sees ten steps ahead and is expert at passing the ball to her editorial staff.

Running backs are Kristin Holmes, deputy editor; Maggie Dougherty, digital editor; and Tommy Tucker, news reporter. They catch their assignments and run toward the end zone of deadline day.

As tight end, Len Lear catches more than his fair share of assignments. The man churns out four or five stories a week and is always giving Carla a wealth of copy.

Our freelance contributors, too numerous to name, act as offensive linemen, protecting our fearless quarterback and making sure that the paper is full of interesting news, sports, reviews, and so much more.

Leisha Shaffer, defensive tackle extraordinaire, wears many hats as our sales and marketing manager. She’s responsible for ensuring that our advertisers, who provide essential services to the community and act as the backbone of our Northwest neighborhoods and the Local’s revenue, are protected and able to advance toward their unique and particular endzones.

Leisha is joined by George Ward, Leslie Cerf and Diane Lauro, phenomenal linebackers and cornerbacks who see the community and defend our advertisers by ensuring that people know about the wonderful work they do and where we can find them.

Production manager Blaise Brugger is no other than a wide receiver. He has to remain agile because, each week, we expect him to catch errant passes and run us toward our goal. He’s become adept at fielding editorial changes and last-minute ad requests. His players - Joanne Davis, Hannah Pilling and Amy Jacoby are safeties in the truest sense of the word. They don’t let anything get by them, which matters because the production team actually puts words on pages and sends them to the printer. So while you might see our ad reps or editorial staff out in the community, the production players are quietly bringing the paper across the goal line every week. 

What about our special teams?

Stephanie Wright, our in-house accountant, has become a returner we can trust. She takes whatever comes her way and manages to make sense of the numbers. Without her, we’d be fumbling.

Samantha Gibb Roff is our kicker and she never misses. You’ve heard about all the recent successful grants that have come to the Local, but what you may not know is that she’s been the one to secure those grants. She spearheaded the Local’s Better Together campaign efforts, including coordinating Shop & Dine Week with four local businesses (McNally’s, Cosimo’s, Weavers Way and Chestnut Hill Brewery). Her development experience and acumen are essential – and there’s no denying the cumulative effect of her field goals.

Last but not least, the Local has an incredible board. Our staff is lucky to have Jane Hughes, Valerie Brown, Erica Bailey-Paul, Yvette Ousley, Donna Shaw, Richard Tuttle, Stephen Shoff and Richard Stein as our coaches. Each brings invaluable expertise to the staff, and to me, which makes them indispensable, whether they’re providing high-level advice, or rolling up their sleeves and scrimmaging alongside us.

And then there’s you, our loyal readers. You are our biggest fans. You celebrate our successes, bemoan our failures, tell us what we’re doing right (and wrong), and have our backs. We could not do what we do without you, so thank you.

As for my role, I see myself as a cheerleader, shouting out the staff, the board, and the community as a whole. So, give me an “L.” Give me an “O”...

And let’s go LOCAL!