Today Is My 10-Year Blogging Anniversary

Today is the 10-year anniversary of the beginning of my blog, The Sportz Assassin.  What started as an AOL Journal, turned into AOL's FanHouse and then part of the Yardbarker network has really been quite a ride.

Ten years ago, I was recruited to join this thing called AOL Journals.  From there, I got involved with various others who had their own Journals, including Jamie Mottram.  Mottram also hosted an internet sports radio show Sports Bloggers Live which he graciously allowed me to guest on.  He even pimped my blog (and my offshoots like Pigskin Assassin) on ESPN's Cold Pizza, the precursor to First Take.  Mottram then headed up AOL's big leap of created a mega blog called FanHouse and invited me to blog fantasy football, NFL and college hoops for the site.  After the site got big and decided to hire professional writers, I moved on with my former boss Alana Nguyen at Yardbarker, where I currently work.

Let me just say that the fact that any of that happened is beyond me.  All I've ever tried to do on this site is give my take on what's going on in the sports world, break down what is happening and give a little insight into my love of sports.  I don't rely on snark, though you'll probably find some if you look hard enough.  I don't really care who is screwing who or any of that pop culture nonsense.  I love sports and I love talking about them.  Don't you?  When I found out that even one person read what I wrote just blew me out of the water.

Back in 2004, there weren't many sports bloggers so there was a nice community.  Now, there are thousands of sports blogs and the lines between them and mainstream media are extremely blurred.  We used to be nerds who blogged in our parent's basement and now moguls blog.   Progress is good.

I honestly don't care about being famous for it.  I'm not and never was.  It's just cool to see someone -- anyone -- take an interest about what you're saying.

In these past ten years, I've watched my Tar Heels win two NCAA Tournaments.  I watched my Lakers win two NBA titles.  I watched my Redskins ... well ... I watched them on TV.  I've seen amazing Super Bowls, amazing players, sad stories, steroids ruin sports and inspirations everywhere.  From LeBron James to Tim Tebow, there's been a lot to talk about.  Not just those big stories, but writing a post about the sports knowledge my dad gave me growing up ... and having my mom tell me how happy he was when he read that is one of my favorite moments in blogging.  My dad passed away nearly three years ago.

I don't post as much as I did before.  I don't feel the need to give my take on every single thing that happens in sports and in a lot of cases, I did already.  I do get excited for my two main annual blogging posts of my "Stops To Super Bowl", my NCAA tournament Bubble Watch as well as my preseason picks in nearly every sport.  I've seen my posts on SportsCenter, in publications as a reference and been called an idiot by a commentor.  Hey, it is all awesome.

Ten years ago, I was 28 years old and had that all out love for sports.  I still own that love, but as a 38 year old I've seen a lot of stuff and understand that sometimes what we see in sports is just as simple as what we actually see.  No breakdown needed.

Thank you for reading this now or if you ever read this before.