Just To Make it Official...

So, after all that drama at the end of last year, I’m back for another year. There’s the grand announcement. Apologies to all for my awful farewell message last year-I’m not normally so obnoxiously melodramatic. But at the time, I had burned out a bit on trying to balance my basketball obsession with my other new obsessions in life. Admittedly, I flipped out a bit, but I’m back in balance. So let’s never speak of that embarrassing post again, okay?

That said, there are going to be some changes this year, as to allow me from losing my mind like I did at the end of last year. Not to worry, it’s nothing too groundbreaking, but my original manner of doing things obviously stopped working for me. So, without further adieu, here’s what I’ve got planned in terms of changes (all of which are dependent on me acquiring a working home computer before the season starts):

1) No more daily updates. Try as I may, I just can’t consistently do that anymore.

2) There will be better defined parameters for updates this year. I’m promising myself that I will be sharing thoughts on Sunday night/Monday morning and Tuesday and Thursday mornings of each week. My plan of doing three updates per week at the end of last season failed miserably because without a set schedule, I had too much freedom to skip a day whenever I wanted. So now I’ve got three set days when I’m forced to do something. When you’re as lazy as I am, you need to set more rigid rules for yourself.

3) That Monday-Tuesday-Thursday structure? That’s just a minimum. If I happen to sit in front of a particularly amusing fan at a Marquette game, or I’m at a WIAC game and the mascot’s pants fall down during an off day, I’ll still probably take time out of my day to make note of it. It’s tough to keep me away from the keyboard when there’s something really important like that to be discussed.

4) Just a guess, but there will probably be less high school talk this year. I’ve got a standing Tuesday night commitment that will keep me from most weeknight games, and finding friends to go to high school games with me isn’t easy these days. And while I’ve done it on rare occasions, I’ve never been a fan of being that weird loner guy at a game. After all, basketball (or any spectator sport, for that matter) is best enjoyed while eating a soft pretzel and making fun of the visiting team’s uniforms with a friend or two.

5) Due to a purely random decision when I moved last year, I’ve got a dish, and thus, have the Big Ten Network (yes, I did stay in and watch the upset of Michigan State by Grand Valley State on Friday), so there will be plenty of Badger talk this year. And for the many Time Warner games that UWM and Marquette have, I guess I’ll just be getting real well acquainted with their radio crews for away games. Good thing I like Jim McIlvaine.

6) Oh yeah–new email address this year–you can find it off to the side. After awhile I got tired of sorting through spam, and trying to find things that were wrongly sorted into my junk folder. And that Nigerian guy who I was assisting with his finances was getting to be a hassle. So I stopped dealing with my email. Sorry to those of you who sent me things that I never responded to–I legitimately feel bad when I miss responding to people who take the time to share their thoughts. You can try me at the new address off to the side whenever you feel like it. I’m going to attempt to respond to everyone this year. Well, except for that Nigerian guy.

Back tomorrow with thoughts on the exhibition games for Marquette and Wisconsin (they’re already written, but I can’t give you too much on day one of the new year), and some thoughts and predictions to start the season.