Housekeeping Notes

As I noted at the end of my thoughts on Marquette, today I’m addressing a couple of housekeeping issues on the blog. I’ve made two major updates, which I’ll discuss below:

Links

Yesterday I had the opportunity to update my links off to the right side of the page. Having gone at things remarkably half-assed over the past two seasons, I had allowed the links to fall into almost total disarray. A large number of the blogs that I had linked to were no longer operational, and a number of the pages that I had linked to had changed their locations. In fact, I’d guess that you were more likely to end up frustrated than informed if you tried to use my links. So yesterday I cleaned house, got rid of some old links, added some new ones, and reorganized the categories that I had previously carved out. A few notes on the updates:

1) A number of the blogs which I deleted from the links section had mostly been there because someone had e-mailed me a few years ago looking to exchange links. I may have read some of them once or twice and perhaps even liked them, but then rarely, if ever, returned. That’s not the case now–every link off to the right is to a blog or site that I find personally useful or compelling You have my personal endorsement on everything (as of today, at least).

2) I’d like to specifically note two blogs that I added links for yesterday which should have been added long ago. First, to all of my friends who have mentioned it over the years, yes, I’m readily aware of the amazingly witty Club Trillion blog, written by now-former Ohio State walk-on Mark Titus. I’ve sort of missed my time window for linking to the blog (though I’ve been reading it almost since its inception), as Titus has completed his time at OSU and has entered the real world. Thus, he can no longer pontificate on what it’s like to be a walk-on for a big-time college basketball team. But because he has indicated that he will keep on writing, and because his track record implies that he will continue to be amusing, I’m giving Club Trillion a link. (And as I alluded to in my Marquette thoughts, he’s also doing occasional pieces for ESPN, which is officially awesome.)

Second, I’ve probably mentioned it in passing over the years, but former Marquette great and current Marquette radio color commentator Jim McIlvaine has one of my favorite blogs around. McIlvaine is equally comfortable sharing bizarre photos from old media guides as his is giving serious insights about basketball (with an occasional diversion into amusing non-basketball territory). His blog has never been an easy find, hidden on the website of Milwaukee’s ESPN Radio affiliate, but now that you know the secret, I guarantee it’s worth your effort to give McIlvaine a read.

3) Because high school basketball is a uniquely local thing, I’ve added section for High School Media Coverage, with links to the websites of a few of the more notable newspapers in the state of Wisconsin. I’m by no means an expert on areas of the state outside of Milwaukee and Madison, though, so if there’s a Wisconsin newspaper that seems like it should be included, please shoot me an e-mail or leave me a comment below.

4) I’ve not been as frequent a reader of basketball blogs over the past few years, so if I’m missing something new and awesome off to the right, drop me a line and let me know. Similarly, if you have a blog that’s new and awesome, let me know. As you might suspect, I tend to favor things that take a light-hearted approach to basketball, but I’m not opposed to serious discussion, either.

Twitter

So, I’ve signed up for this Twitter thing that everyone is talking about. Frankly, I have no idea how this will go. On one hand, I’m currently a bit intimidated, as learning how to read things on Twitter feels like learning a foreign language (and I truly hated French class in high school). I’m also skeptical of my ability to say meaningful things in 140 characters or less. However, the ability to give real time updates about mascot mishaps and obscure high school scores leaves me intrigued. You can follow me @chriswesthoops. I’ll be attempting my first tweet sometime this evening, in conjunction with my attendance of my first game of the year. I make no guarantees that I won’t completely suck at this and shut it down by the end of 2010. But seeing as it’s 2010 and not 2004 anymore, I suppose I can’t just have a plain old blog anymore...

I'll keep you advised of any future significant changes. Back tomorrow with my first set of game thoughts of the year.