Site Announcement: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Blogosphere

In 2007, my friend Matthew Cornelius and I started an NBA blog.

Seemed like a harmless enough idea. I was getting ready to marry Paroxi-wife, and I needed a hobby that didn’t involve Shiner. She said I really needed to invest myself in something I liked, something to give me a creative outlet that didn’t result in me standing on top of a bar room table singing “I Got a Woman” by Ray Charles. Badly.

I’d always loved the NBA, been fascinated with it, followed it, and written at a few places on it. We thought it would be fun to post on how widely insane the NBA game is, how much fun it is, about all the players whose potential was still untapped. Mostly, we wanted to post about Ron Artest.

(And boy, Crazy Pills, did we. )

Three years later, the short of it is, I’m making “the jump” as it’s called.

I am very excited to announce that I’m joining CBSSports.com as a full-time NBA blogger for NBA Facts and Rumors.I actually started last week. Sorry about that, would have told you, but with free agency, things got hectic and I… I know. I’m sorry. I’ll never hurt you like that again, internet .

As a heads up, I’m still writing over at ProBasketballTalk.com and for AOL FanHouse.

And oh, yes, the Paroxysm is still open for business. Made in America, sold worldwide.

That’s the gist, but if you’re really curious, you can click through for more details and an obscenely long list of thank you’s.

Joining me on this rather risky expedition will be Royce Young, who you may know from Daily Thunder.  We have lofty goals, Royce and I do. We want to bring you the news. And the breaking info. And what’s termed “original content.” That means information from players, coaches, and management. We want to bring you awesome videos and funny sides-stories and statistical analysis and we want to do it in such a way as to make it accessible to your average reader. I’m also planning on making a pass at cold fusion and lightspeed, but I really need to cover Salmons’ projected efficiency first.

It’s a bold approach, a challenge I’m looking forward to. Mostly I’m looking forward to the opportunity to do what I love the most. I never anticipated being a sports writer, never thought the road would take me here, but now that I’m here, I’m thrilled. I couldn’t be more excited. And terrified. And confident. And generally pumped. It’ll be fun, and I hope that many of you who have read our little collection of paragraphs over the last few years will join us. I promise we’ll make it worth your while.

The following list of people could be considered a formality, some sort of rote function of this latest step in my so-called career (no, Paul Shirley does not own copyright to that term). It could be considered a paltry gesture, and it will mean very little to many of you who read it.  It certainly can be construed as arrogance, since my “jump” isn’t anything that big nor am I that important. But I need to say it, because this space has turned into a place that has found both my joys and frustrations with life, the musings of mine on culture and the universe interwoven with basketball spilled all over its HTML. So if I’m going to make the effort to personally thank the people who have gotten me here, and they are many and they were all invaluable some degree, I need to do it here. I think one of the best things you can do with your life is to thank the people who help make you happy to some degree. So please forgive me this brief, well, not so brief interlude of gratitude to thank the people that have helped give me an extraordinary opportunity in a time where opportunities of any kind are hard to come by.

My sincerest thanks to:

Henry Abbott is considered the Godfather of NBA blogging, and it’s only right that I begin with him. People have raved about his work, his intellect, his professionalism, how he’s helped bring blogging to a new level of legitimacy, how he’s made the NBA more interesting. And they’re all right to do so. But what is seldom mentioned is his staggering level of selflessness. You’re talking about a guy who works for ESPN, is constantly taking calls from GMs, agents, and the folks at the World Wide Leader, and yet he consistently makes time to help young writers that need it. Under his guidance, the ESPN TrueHoop Network is becoming a bastion for writers looking to get gigs, and more of us join the professional ranks every day, proving you don’t have to sling AP copy for four years to prove something if you work hard to provide the best content. Funny story. The first time Henry Abbott linked me? He torched me. It was a very poorly written article I wrote about Steve Nash, rebutting an article claiming racial bias in his selection as an MVP. Henry linked to it, mostly as an illustration of how NOT to present an argument. The biggest thing I learned from that was that even though this is the Internet, the Wild Wild West, you’d still better bring your A game and it better be A quality if you want to make an indentation. So I worked harder. And throughout the years, Henry’s provided me with enough traffic to conquer a fairly large country if I could convert pageviews to soldiers. He has always taken the time to answer questions, to stop me from doing something idiotic, and to occasionally tell me when I’m being an outright moron. He has always helped no matter what request I had, big or small. He believed in Paroxysm’s writers enough to bring us on to the TrueHoop Network, even though NBA generalist blogs have about as much leverage these days as some sort of LOLcat knockoff. Henry and I haven’t always agreed on everything, and still he consistently has answered emails, phone calls, and IMs asking for help. I cannot point enough gratitude towards Henry for the help he’s given me. Good dude, that Blogfather.

Trey Kerby is a pretty chill bro. He’s also someone I consider to be a close friend, despite the fact that all combined, I have spent probably less than 24 hours together in the same room with him. We have been supportive of each other’s careers, shared some lafs and a few livechats. When Trey got the Ball Don’t Lie gig, I was so excited I was screaming in my house, terrifying Paroxi-Dog. Trey’s a good dude who has a better basketball mind than he gives himself credit for and understands basketball culture (which is entirely different from NBA culture) better than anyone I know. He and I also agree on absolutely nothing, and yet continue to seek out the other’s opinion on things. Our one unifying opinion? We have absolutely no idea what we’re talking about. But his support has helped me in those times when I thought I had to bail on the whole gig. He’s also got the best beard of any NBA blogger.

J.E. Skeets has put up with my constant link-begging and has obliged as only a star NBA podcaster can. He and Tas Melas were some of the first to prove that smart NBA analysis at a broad, league-wide level is something people had an interest in, and if you know an NBA fan that doesn’t like the Jones, I can only assume they’re related to Mike Bibby. Skeets has been prolific, but he’s always helped the site out, dropping links and being open to conversation. He’s a down to earth guy who tends to wander off after too many hurricanes.

Tom Ziller. Whoo. The Ghostface Ziller was the first person to help me write professionally, getting me on with FanHouse, which made me a better writer, blogger, and educated me on a great many things. Plus the money got Paroxi-wife off my back a few nights. But beyond that, Ziller’s work and basketball mind are exemplary in his field, and his counsel has always been available whether it’s what I should do career-wise or some sort of salary cap wrinkle. And at one point, when I was ready to bail, frustrated by the limitations of my options in comparison to how badly I wanted to do this, Ziller gave me the best advice I’ve ever gotten about writing. “Don’t think about it. Don’t think about your career. Do what you do. Write. Write all the time.”  Even though Tom is woefully wrong when it comes to tacos, he’s usually the first guy I bounce writing ideas off of and I hope someday to put a face with that ahem… name of his.

Kelly Dwyer makes all of us better. He just does. He puts so much into his writing, into his work, into the love of this game, that it shames us into wanting to be better. We talk about him and all of us are simply discouraged by what we produce because it’s not as good as what Kelly does, every single day, night in and night out for umpteen years. Dwyer’s hard to reach, but if you reach out and it’s important? He’s there, and he’ll be sure to set you straight. Additionally, he once lived inside of 1000 feet from my wife and that freaks me out.

Kevin Arnovitz, who in his time as head of the TrueHoop Network has become an invaluable source of counsel for me and who often talks to me about inane blogging concepts even when he’s trying to cook or drive. The Network’s in good hands and we’re excited for where it’s headed.

Kurt Helin. In 2010, Helin took a huge chance and hired me as the weekend editor of NBC Sports for ProBasketballTalk. It has turned out to be the most rewarding writing opportunity of my life. Kurt’s a fantastic boss, supportive and communicative while not being a micro-manager. He’s a fantastic writer and his support for my career has been astounding, all the more so, considering, well, you know, the Lakers thing. I hope every writer is blessed enough to have a leader like Kurt Helin blazing the trail. The fact that he keeps telling me I’m awesome is nice, too.

Matt Watson. First weekend I met Matt Watson at Summer League we wound up wandering the streets of Las Vegas with Frank Madden from BrewHoop arguing about exactly how much Kirk Hinrich sucks (I said he was a top 15 point guard in the summer of 2008, Watson said he wasn’t. He was right. He’s usually right.) Two years later Watson does a fantastic job as the editor at NBA FanHouse. He’s put up with my rabble rousing and constant complaints and still given me the freedom to write what I want and gave me the opportunity to lead the D-League section. I owe Watson a lot.

Will Brinson. A great friend of mine and a better blogger. A blogger’s blogger and the guy that taught me SEO. Will’s good people.

Tim Varner is an incredible blogging mind, versatile and reliable. He’s the Manu Ginobili of blogging, and the work he’s doing at 48 Minutes of Hell should not be overlooked.

Scott Schroeder of FanHouse and Ridiculous Upside, who has pretty much been covering my ass in regards to D-League coverage for two years. People say I’m someone who knows people? Schroeder knows people.

And quickly, a list of bloggers and blog-related personnel that I owe something (or much in many cases) to. I regret A. that I’m inevitably going to forget several people, please understand it wasn’t intentional and B. that I don’t have time for the personal notes, but please realize I can rave about the work and character of all of these people:

Brett Pollakoff at FanHouse, a great guy despite being a Lakers fan who is fun to argue on podcasts with. Nate Jones, a FanHouse crewman with a terrifically bright future whatever he does. Chris Tomasson, Tim Povtak and Sam Amick at FanHouse, the professional crew that set a high standard. Randy Kim who has been a constant source of support at FanHouse and has executed the new vision there flawlessly.  Mo Brooks. Will Leitch,  who gave me a one-off at Deadspin. Unsilent Majority. Dan Devine. Bethlehem Shoals.   Matt McHale, a kindred spirit who I’ve shared many the snarky comment with and who needs to be hired immediately. Seth Pollack of Bright Side of the Sun, a terrific blogger that’s great to bounce ideas off of and a solid guy in a pinch. Mark Haubner, whose Painted Area needs to be on your radar every day every day. Richard Cordella at NBCSports who has been terrific so far in supporting Kurt and I’s half-brained ramblings. John Ness, for a variety of areas of support. The amazing writers for SBNation who have provided links and roundtables and generally every day contribute excellent writing in relation to the NBA: Jeff Clark, Seth Rosenthal, the guys at NetsDaily, the guys at Bullets Forever, especially Mike Prada who is arguably the third best NBA writer on the web right now, Andrew Sharp, Evan Dunlap, Frank Madden, Matt Bernhardt, Tom Lewis, David Arnott, Nate Arch and Wyn Douglas (a true ShareBro), Dave at BlazersEdge, Ben Golliver (who is so good it’s not fair), Basketball John, Steve Perrin (the poor bastard), Josh Tucker (come back to blogging, jerk!), Wondahbap, Clark at SSR, Tom Martin, David Clark, Lee Grammier, Ronan at the Hive, Latin D and Wayne Vore at PtR, Allen Law. How about the TrueHoop Network guys? Sebastian Pruiti (Bassy, the NextGen), Eddy Rivera, Mike at Knickerblogger, Jeremy at Bucksketball, all the guys at Raps Republic, Bret LaGree, Zach Lowe, Brendan Jackson, Brett Hainline (read his stats more!), John Krolik, Steve Weinman (now of NBA.com (congrats Steve!), Jeremy from RMC, Dan Feldman (and his Hilton suite), Rahat, Darius at FB&G, Chip Crain and Josh Coleman (wherever you are), Ryan Schwan, Royce, Michael Schwartz, and Spencer Hall at SLC Dunk.  I’d also like to thank John Karalis from Reds Army for consistently irritating and cracking me up. Don from With Malice. Joe Treutline. Kevin Pelton. TickTock6 for being awesome in general. Loren Lee Chen for being very intelligent and elusive, like a ghost in Mario Bros. Every blogger that’s ever dropped me a link, sent me a note, or written something worth linking to. I love good basketball blogging, and there’s so much of it it makes me sick, like I’m a fat kid overloading on chocolate.

I swear to God, I’m almost done. You’ve made it this far, it won’t kill you to make it the rest. Probably.

Now for the Paroxysm crew.

Our stats writers, especially Jon Nichols and Tom Haberstroh. You’ll both be working for NBA teams in the near and extended future, and your work at Paroxysm has been exemplary.

Holly MacKenzie. Holly’s moved on from the Paroxysm, but she’ll always be part of the family. Her work at the Score is tireless. She’s a fantastic young writer that works her tail off consistently and is a positive force in everything she does. She has an amazingly bright future ahead of her and her support of the site is much appreciated, even if she won’t write the guest columns I keep begging her for.

Kyle Weidie. Somehow, no one’s snatched up Kyle, even though he has a comprehensive archive of video footage from the most disastrous NBA season in history. Kyle’s an infrequent contributor to the site, but everytime he says he’s posting I’m blown away. Someone hire this guy.

Jared Wade. Jared needs to write more. Basically. He also looks great in fur.

Zach Harper. I threw a writing gig at Paroxysm at Harper without having seen much of his stuff. I knew him from Twitter mostly, and had read a few things on TalkHoops. So when I met him in a blur at Blogs With Balls 1, I made an offer on impulse. Little did I know I would be bringing on arguably the fastest rising blogger I’ve ever seen.  Zach is a genuinely great writer. And he’s a good guy, one who had an instrumental part in helping me with the CBS gig. I’m excited to have Harper as a colleague for as long as I’m doing this, and if he ever quits Paroxysm I’ll kill him. Also, his favorite team’s general manager just spent $20 million on Darko Milicic over five years while devastating Al Jefferson’s trade value. Sorry, Zach. couldn’t help it.

Rob Mahoney. The Prodigal Blogger. Finding Rob Mahoney may have been the best thing I ever did for my career. Which is funny, since I was mostly just mad that he had stolen the blogspot address I wanted. Rob’s contribution to this site have been immeasurable. He puts fingers to keyboards and you need to read them. Every time. He never half-asses a piece and consantly outdoes himself in both approach and execution. He’s been a huge reason for this site’s growth, and I can’t believe how many years we get to read this kid’s stuff. It’s just not fair. And his support has always been invaluable. Even if he won’t do the stupid SEO stuff I ask him to do.

Some personal ones and we’re out of here.

Graydon Gordian. Graydon’s a great blogger, don’t get me wrong, and awesome at everything he does. But Graydon’s also a good friend and his support for my writing has always meant a lot to me. Dude’s got a ceiling like Kevin Durant.

My family who never once laughed at my suggestion of doing this for a living, despite having seen my jump shot. My friends, especially Lindsey Johnson, Daniel, Kevin, Jesse, Mark, Jesse, Casey, Jason, Anne,  and a billion people my brain has stopped being able to list. My brother, who is my biggest fan even if he could give a crap about basketball. I just hope I wind up as half the writer he is. And that he doesn’t steal my kidney.

Matthew Cornelius, because without the Corndogg, there would be no Hardwood Paroxysm, I wouldn’t have gotten crazy psycho back into the NBA, and who always gives me someone to argue with. A great friend, even if he can’t pick top draft picks for anything.

*******************************************************

Two more.

It’s cliche to thank your wife. Isn’t it?

It’s not with me. I’m not doing it because she’s my wife and I’m supposed to. I’m not thanking her because she’ll be mad if I don’t.

I’m thanking her because I wouldn’t have started this if she hadn’t demanded it. I wouldn’t have stuck with it time after time if she hadn’t always been there to tell me who proud she was or to suggest we NOT watch the latest episode of the reality TV show she loves and instead watch Pacers-Clippers. Look, this isn’t easy. I vanish from her evenings for most nights, typing away on this infernal machine. It sucks up weekends, and weeknights and I’m on the phone talking about basketball or writing about it or reading about it and she puts up with it night after night after night. And she didn’t sign up for that. But she does it because that’s the kind of person she is, the kind of partner she is. She lets me know when I need to dial it back and when I need to keep it up. She handles all the late nights and early mornings and God-help-us the opening month of the playoffs with pride and grace, and she never asks me to take the dog out when we’re inside two minutes under five points. This is in addition to all the other ways she makes me grateful on a daily basis that she said “Yes” when I asked. Plus, she doesn’t mind me calling her Paroxi-wife. And that’s just funny.

Finally we come to you.

You’re the ones who got me here. Who helped make this site a success, and to whatever small degree I’ve achieved, me a success. You’ve been reading, and linking, and carrying the banner of a small, independent NBA generalist site that tries to talk about this game smarter and in a fun way with the occasional Dikembe Mutumbo joke. That you would ever consider anything I type of value is something that blows me away every day. Thanks, so much, for reading. I hope you’ll continue.

GOOD GOD. Okay, I’m done, and I’ll never do that again, I swear.

PS: Crazy Pills, thanks for just being you.