Welcome to Managing Madrid!

"One Crest to Rule Them All" via www.avatars-mania.com

Hey Madridistas!

Managing Madrid is extremely excited to be joining the fabulous team here at SBNation--hope you all like the new site (I know I do)! Over the course of the next few weeks we'll be moving all of our archives from our old site on to this one, and forever retiring the beloved--but, sadly, old and decrepit--managingmadrid.blogspot.com.

But never fear! Our home may have changed, but we haven't: we'll still do podcasts, and post even more now that this transition is complete. More on the transition, and on us if you don't know us, after the jump!

I'm Gabe Lezra, resident Madridista-in-Chief, and I consider it my duty to bring you all my very biased thoughts on everything Real Madrid. I've been a Madridista for about as long as I can remember (some of my first memories are of celebrating in the Cibeles, actually), and watch every Real Madrid game like I have front-row seats to my child's brain surgery. Weird analogy, I know, but it pretty much describes the level of passion I have for this team. 

My co-Madridista, Josh Zeitlin, was born in the UK to utterly sport deprived parents, and grew up in North London only minutes away from Highbury without ever having the slightest inclination toward football. He moved to the USA at a tender age, which, sadly, stifled still further his budding sporting mind. It was only upon meeting me that he began his torrid love affair with Real Madrid and football, beginning with the 2006 World Cup and the stunning 2006-2007 La Liga season during which Madrid snatched the trophy from the grasping claws of the Catalans on the final matchday.

I consider myself almost wholly responsible for Josh's love of Madrid, and believe it to be one of the greatest things I've ever done. No joke.

As we ramp up our coverage of everything Real Madrid, there are some things we want you to know:

• While we hate FC Barcelona with a furious passion, we do respect their fans. We believe in open, good-natured dialogue, in respectful banter, and in well-argued debate. We also like jokes. Let's make this work.
• We host and produce in a podcast, that we'll post on the site. You can also download it on iTunes (search for Managing Madrid). If you want us to answer a question on the air, shoot us an email at managingmadrid@gmail.com!
• If you're interested in writing for us, send us an email. We're always looking for new contributors, so fire away!

Now, as we head in to the tumultuous months of the transfer season, we'll be bleeding white all day every day. Hope you're ready for the ride.

Hala Madrid!