On a more descriptive tip than the one we had before, I’m pleased to announce the relaunch of Poor Man’s Commish, aka the Dream League Blog aka “dreamblogue”.
What’s different about the blog this time than the last one? Well, let me start by saying that the last one was more of an experiment. I didn’t really know where I was going with it. Now that some time has passed and I’ve gotten into a regular mode of seeking out basketball stories, along with a better grasp on when to expect something to drop in my lap, I’m more confident with what needs to be said. It’s kind of like that day when you, as a basketball player, not only finally realize you’ve learned how to play the game, but you’re cognizant of it. Btw, if you haven’t reached that point yet, don’t worry, you will (okay, probably you will, haha!).
I still think I’m quite possibly the Bizarro (or at least one of the bizarros out there) of David Stern. It amazes me how many things that happen in the NBA, happen in Dream League amateur ball — be it at high-intensity/talent levels like our national tourneys or even at the lowest “for fun” recreational levels. I’m sure that Dream League’s adoption of the NBA’s rules and regulations has something to do with that.
When I started Dream League back in 2002, I was still very much an active player in the local community — namely, the Japanese League and tournaments (aka NAU or “Nisei Athletic Union”) — and very much wanted to score 20 ppg and help lead teams to championships, but as the years have gone by and my role as Commish increased exponentially, I’ve come to appreciate the game more wholly from a more “global” perspective. Even if my body were in tip-top shape, I don’t necessarily have a desire to succeed as a player anymore. When I do play, all I care about is helping my team win, making my teammates rise up, and I don’t necessarily have to be playing for this to happen. Being Commish has helped me mature into a basketball “manager”, if you will.
I hope to share this knowledge with you. That’s my primary goal with this blog. But there’s also a secondary goal.
My closest friends know that I’ve had some Forrest Gump basketball-related experiences ever since I made being the Poor Man’s Commish — the running of the leagues, not the writing of this blog! — my full-time endeavor (I think there are only two other people I know who are full-time Poor Man’s Commishes). And things keep happening. My favorite class in college was Sports in Society, with awesome lectures from Professor Harry Edwards. His whole thesis is that sports is a reflection of society. Not only do I wholeheartedly agree, but I would also like to add that even the smallest thing that happens in your immediate community of basketball could have ramifications in the bigger world of basketball and society itself, be it NBA-related or not. I hope to share these stories, both as I reminisce and as they happen.
There’s one caveat, though. I have no desire to transform into a journalist, by definition. Sure, this blog could be deemed a journal and at times I may be trapped by the ethics of publicizing something, but I am not a real journalist, aside from abiding by copyright laws as I would expect others would abide by with anything I write. I’m a decent writer, though, and I know that if I really put my mind to it, I could become a true journalist, but I really don’t have the time. It’s not like I’m out to obtain a press pass to an NBA game. Furthermore, I will not be spending extra time to make my posts particularly witty or perfect. I will not be sending drafts to editors prior to posting.
I will also not be going out of my way to have a blogroll, but of course I will link as appropriate. Some of the basketball info out there is initiated from well-known basketball blogs, but it usually turns out that they got it from somewhere else! You should see the tricky things that some of the bigger blogs do to make it appear that the story came from them. I wouldn’t do that. And now everyone’s using Twitter and re-tweeting left and right. As long as we give props to the source, that should be enough.
Speaking of source, unless something happened in Dream League, happened to a dreamleaguer, or is a Forrest Gump experience, I doubt it got sourced here. And if it did, I would only put my heart and soul behind a story if it is something unique to being the Poor Man’s Commish and is important for you to hear. Other than that, I’m just here to pass on basketball knowledge, preferably in much shorter form than this particular post.
Most blogs, you’ll find that the knowledge being passed needs to have some wit, humor, complaining or other argument added to it. Or the part they excerpt isn’t as interesting as another part, because they are so focused on supplying you with “commercial” NBA material or what have you. Suffice it to say that if you’re looking for standard NBA debate fare which doesn’t necessarily expand your mind as a student of basketball, this is not the blog where you’ll find it, at least not in general.
I must admit, however, that having carved a “self-employed” profession as a Commish, sometimes I just need an outlet for basketball stuff crying to get out of my brain. I think that’s a situation for most bloggers though. They don’t really have a watercooler place to go and vent. Also, I’m usually too busy running leagues to get a chance to talk shop with people at the gym, which is seriously something that I miss. Ah heck, we’re all going Facebook and Twitter with each other anyways! As I have often seen in the basketball world, somehow it all works out.
Also, I’ll be inviting other writers to contribute as well, especially if they are also a Poor Man’s Commish. Brian Yang and the rest of the Gotham crew at Dream League New York come to mind. Matter of fact, there’s a few old DLNY-sourced stories that I hope to squeeze in as we go to catch up, especially if it’s an unusually slow week, such as the Xmas holidays or something. Incidentally, Brian has a wonderful blog with observations from his alter ego life as a professional actor. Trust me, there are other Poor Man’s Commishes — as well as Poor Man’s Players, Coaches, and General Managers — out there with good stories to tell (definitely contact me if you’re one of ‘em!).
I’d also like to keep some topics open-ended so that the Dream League community can comment on them, but at the same time, true to being the Commish and ensuring sportsmanship on the court (and knowing that basketball players can often act very immature), I plan to adopt similar commenting rules as one of my favorite off-topic blogs, LifeHacker.
To comment, I encourage you to use your Facebook account, which you can login with in our comment box. However, you may leave a comment as a Guest without logging into anything. I decided on going with the IntenseDebate comment engine since it is somewhat “portable” in that, theoretically, if we ever have a bigger dreamleague website with its own player/user logins and stuff, we can output those comments which are essentially stored on an accessible, centralized database. Well, that’s all in theory.
And speaking of Facebook, now that I’ve tied this blog to Dream League’s facebook account — http://facebook.com/dreamleague, btw — I hope to connect with more of you through Facebook, as I really haven’t had the time nor the motivation to do so in the past. This goes for Twitter as well — http://twitter.com/poormanscommish. Yeah, I know, Poor Man’s vs Dream League. It’ll get confusing, but I’ll do my best to delineate the differences and, well, make it less confusing as we go.
Finally, how many posts do I expect to make? Well, I don’t really know. I do have an obligation to run my leagues first. I certainly expect to make more than before and on a regular basis. And I truly hope it fills a niche for you amongst all the other stuff you’re getting fire hosed with!
Alright, enough of the background and ground rules. I’ve been dying to post the first real, new post for Poor Man’s Commish, the blog. Can’t wait to tell you what it’s all about!…
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