A Fan's Notes

Allow me, at the start, a moment of angst before we get to more interesting topics:
I am programmed to worry about everything; it is an integral element of my DNA. My parents spent a good deal of time teaching me the nuances and fine points of worrying. I take pride in my ability to worry.

And so I am unsure of what form this blog will take, or what it will mean, and if that sounds metaphysical, well, I apologize, but for reasons I cannot begin to explain, I find myself listening to Hall and Oates this morning, and nothing begs introspection more than a song about a woman who literally masticates men by moonlight. I also realize that I am approximately five years behind the cultural Zeitgeist, as is my wont (though I've heard good things about the Apple IIc. Oh, and about this, too).

I began my career in newspapers--I spent five years, in fact, at a once-proud institution in Akron, Ohio, in the late 1990's. And we all realize what's happened to newspapers since then. All this innovation has all happened so quickly, and there is so much noise out there, and it seems both my industry and my country are both in the midst of a major reboot.

All of which is a roundabout way of saying that I'm going to try this, anyway. And I'm not sure where it will lead me; I'm in the midst of writing a book about sports in the 1980's--focused primarily on 1986, which, I am poised to argue, is the beginning of the "modern age" of American sports--and so I'm sure I will indulge in nostalgia, and I'm sure I will write very often about how sports (and sports fandom) might fit into this very odd era we are currently living through. There are blogs I like and there are blogs that drive me insane, but if there is a model for what I would like to do here it is this, by Joe Posnanski, because it actually manages to lend nuance to a medium--blogging, and specifically, sports blogging--that is still finding its voice, and it never resorts to snide comments about photos of Greg Oden at a frat party.

Anyway. Here is what I will not do:
--Post pictures of Megan Fox
--Quote Arianna Huffington
--Make gratuitous Snuggie jokes
--Engage in long discourses about SABRmetric nuances*

Beyond that, I have no idea.

*I have no real issue with SABRmetrics, or specific SABRmetric practitioners, one way or the other. I am just not very smart.