The First Post

The First Post

According to blogging tradition, the first post of a blog is a pretty big deal, right up there with the 100th post, the 1 year anniversary, and many other landmark achievements bloggers reach as they ascend the ranks of bloggerdom (should definitely be a word, don't you think?)

The first post seeks to identify and explain the purpose of the blog. Why does the writer think anyone will be interested in reading his or her blog? It also establishes a certain tone, feel, and writing style that become trademarks for individual bloggers. It can be humorous, dark, witty, mocking, but whatever it is, it again tries to answer a question. If the writer is confident enough that people will be interested in reading his blog, what about the blog should stand out? And, more importantly, what about their writing style and general knowledge or experience makes them not only the ideal writer for this kind of blog, but an entertainer, and someone that will make you come back again to visit? After all, who writes a blog they aren't even remotely qualified to write?

In my opinion, a perfect first post puts the answers to these two questions into prose, although the first one can be answered by simply stating the purpose of your blog. Then, the answers are fused together and edited briefly (we're not writing a novel here). Ideally, you answer the questions about what you're writing about and how you're going to write it all in one chunk, without actually stating the answers straight up. This, while a lot easier said than done, makes a great post.

I'd like to think that I just established a nice formula for a well crafted first post for any newbie blogger. However, I am hardly experienced myself. I blogged for about a year on the network of blogs provided for fans and players alike by Major League Baseball, MLBlogs. It's a friendly blogging environment (also has a clever title, always a plus) and a nice idea by the MLB to get fans involved in the league through blogging. I wish leagues like the NBA or NFL could wise up and embrace this idea as well. I have absolutely no qualifications for advising young bloggers on their first post, especially considering I was never that popular on MLBlogs and am a complete rookie on Blogger. But I don't think this formula is so bad, and who says we can't try in life? I'm going to try to use this formula in my first post, and I'll see how well it really works. Knowing me, it will probably crash and burn worse than the '09 Cavaliers in the playoffs, but like I said, it's worth a try.

Maybe you've noticed a few subtle basketball references so far in this post; the one in the previous sentence is easy to spot. These references and a little bit of explaining lead me quite clearly to the purpose of this blog. I am a huge basketball fan (I'm also a big baseball fan, explaining the baseball blog, but after a year of blogging baseball I realized it wasn't really my thing). I love certain teams, players, even a few coaches (Doc Rivers, Larry Izzo, Mike D'Antoni, definitely not Phil Jackson and John Calipari), but most of all, I love the game itself. I love almost everything about the game, and I love that I can criticize whatever I don't love and think of my own alternatives to it that would obviously work better (this is one of the great things about sports, that feeling of power and good judgment a knowledgeable fan draws from their immense knowledge of whatever team or sport they love).

I love in-game action: crisp bounce passes that find gaps a cat couldn't slip through, a last second jump shot that seems suspended in mid-air, and perhaps most of all, a sports sound that is surpassed only by the crack of the bat in baseball: that heavenly "SWISHHH" the ball makes when it drops perfectly through the twine. I love both monster dunks and running floaters, both clutch threes and those ridiculous half court shots players seem to make at will as long as the game isn't on the line. The in-game action is what we see most of all, and when played right, basketball is a truly breathtaking game.

I also love off-the-court stories and events involving NBA players and teams (their antics, not so much): 10 guys from one team going out to dinner and a movie, tearful and outrageous press conferences and interviews, photos of teams in the locker room right after winning a championship. I love this stuff because it's as much a part of the game as what happens on the court (and can sometimes influence players' careers even more than their in-game play ever does).

I don't always love the way the league is set up: like any fan, I am sometimes outraged by All-Star voting (Dwight Howard is going to lead the league in this category every year for the next ten years), management decisions, and ridiculous player behavior (this all brings me to the main purpose of this blog). However, I never lose faith in the game of basketball because as a fan, I have the ability to voice my anger, joy, utter outrage and confusion, or whatever other feelings possess me at the time through this blog. The blog is a way for me to get my opinion on all things basketball out in the world and vent about anything that annoys me at the time involving this sport I love so dearly.

With this blog, I hope to recap recent events in basketball with my own opinionated (and hopefully somewhat humorous) take on them, to discuss possibilities for the future or stories from the past, to predict things (an ultimate goal of any sports fan is to be successful in even 60% of their sports-related predictions), and anything else that pops into my mind as I go. I haven't thought of a regular scheduling format for myself yet (leaning towards some sort of every Monday and Saturday plan) because my life is hectic, but I will do my best to post as often as I can on whatever interests me.

I don't know how many people will be interested in what I have to offer as a blogger, but the purpose for me in all of this is not to accumulate readers or make money, I simply want an outlet to share my thoughts on basketball and the NBA (college ball is fair game as well). I am beginning a journey that could take me anywhere, but I know it'll be fun. Along the way, I've already botched a formula for a first blog post that I thought of myself. Who knows what I'll screw up next? I'm like Isiah Thomas as the GM for literally any team in the NBA.

But anyways, here goes nothing. Wish me luck!