On Tuesday, I returned home from the Second Annual South Park Convention to find that my house was in perfect shape thanks to my friend Chris who watched my house while I was gone, that my shipment of books were being delivered the next day, that my friend Joel Gertner had contacted me about doing some wrestling stuff with him – and that South Park fired me.

I received a call from my boss at Comedy Central who informed me that they decided, due to budgetary reasons, that the South Park Booster Club Digest would cease existence today, Friday, June 28, 2002 and would be replaced with a weekly message board on Comedy Central’s website – and that as a result – my job as Booster Club Moderator would no longer exist.

Besides the fact that I was shattered that I no longer would work for South Park as of Friday – I received the terrible news while unpacking my suitcase from the South Park Convention. It really would have been nice if my boss would have waited at least one day after I returned from the Convention to tell me – but that is consistent with his behavior – and in my opinion exactly why this Digest is being cancelled.

To be honest, I am not bitter about losing my job – because for one thing, I knew that it would not last forever – and because the members of the Digest have insisted that I simply create my own Digest, which I am already beginning to do. What I am bitter about is that since I began this Digest – Comedy Central simply didn’t “get it”.

Let’s face facts, if you are not a fan of the television show South Park, then you would not understand me if I quoted a line or made a funny gesture from the show. But if you work for the show – then you should have some idea of what is going on. And moreover, if you are in charge of a Digest – then you should be as much of a part of it as the fans are. While I in no way credit myself for the success of the Digest – I know that if I had the attitude that he did – this Digest would have ended three years ago – not today.

Granted, the Digest is about South Park and of course we talked about the show in great detail, but when you correspond with the same people day after day after day – you will eventually begin talking about your own lives. From successes and problems to life stories and funny jokes, it is impossible to keep other subjects out of a daily Digest. But whenever someone would send in a post that had nothing to do with South Park – my boss told me to delete it entirely. While I can understand and even remember posts that were so vulgar that they had to be deleted – why delete a perfectly good post just because it has nothing to do with South Park? One of my most vivid memories of this occurring was when Sara sent in a post describing how sad she was that her dog Toby died. Seeing this heartwarming and tear jerking post – my boss told me to delete it. I even called him up and pleaded with him to let me keep it in – but he was not listening.

Besides the fact that a post would not make the Digest unless it had the words, “South Park” in it, what really burned me up was when I called him and told him that two members of his Digest, Dan and Kandice, who both separately signed up for the Digest years earlier – had given birth to the first baby to be born from two members of the South Park Booster Club. After hearing the news that there was actually a second generation Digest member – he sounded more like I was wasting his time then he was excited. It would have at least been decent to send them a baby basket and congratulating them on meeting through the Digest – but that would have been the right thing to do.

I am in no way trying to knock my boss – or I guess I should say former boss as a person. I am simply saying that he was either too busy to get what was going on in the Digest – or he simply didn’t care. I am going to go with the latter simply because no one can tell me that they are too busy – because I have so much going on that it is a wonder I have time to even do the Digest much less love it as much as I do. But whatever his reasons, feelings, or love for the Digest is – it no longer matters – because I sent my final official South Park Booster Club Digest this morning.

I guess I knew that at some point in my life I would come to this moment, but whether the moment came last year, today – or ten years from now – it would have been too soon. The bottom line is that I was a South Park fan that simply tripped over a job with my favorite television show and happened to have spent the last two years, eight months and twenty-eight days working for the show I loved so much. I made friends with wonderful people, received countless cards, letters and gifts from fans of the Digest, spent two June weekends in Colorado with two groups of amazing people, received the most amazing amount of prayers and love for both me and for Doug following the September 11th attacks – and have a Godson who I get to watch grow up with an extended family that all came from the South Park Booster Club Digest. All that and then some – simply because I sent Comedy Central my movie review of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.

I cannot thank Comedy Central enough for all they have given me in the almost three years that I was their Moderator. Through simply giving someone a chance who they never even met – they brought South Park closer to me then I could if I watched every episode in a row. They doubled my amount of friends – and gave me the honor of being able to tell people that I worked for South Park. And despite the fact that my tenure is over – I will forever be in their debt for all that I have gained from this truly unique experience.

What I will not do is simply take my ball and go home. If I cannot Moderate the official South Park Booster Club Digest – then I will simply create my own. The most wonderful thing about losing my job at Comedy Central is the fact that when word got out that the Digest was being shelved – the members immediately insisted that I create my own and said that they would post to it as if it was the real thing. Words cannot convey how much that means to me – and it really made losing my job a lot easier to deal with.

So with one less business card in my wallet, I am no longer an employee of South Park – but what I am is a very lucky and blessed man – because I have a collection of Digest members that are willing to walk away from Comedy Central’s message board and embrace my new Digest as if nothing at all has changed. So that is just what we will do – together – like a family.

Thanks for the opportunity Comedy Central – it was…fun.