In my last post I wrote about my blogging “career” and how that wasn’t really what I wanted to do for a job. I wrote it and I meant it, but then I thought about it some more and I realized how stupid I sounded. Basically what I was saying was “I am good at this, but I don’t want to make money doing it because it’s not my career goal.” And I am good at it too. I’ve completely self-marketed the website and so far this month I have around 10,000 unique visitors. That’s pretty good and for me not to want to monetize that is pretty stupid, even for me. So I decided to take the jump and join a blog network.
So as of… now I guess, Miller Park Drunk is a member of the Yardbarker Network. They will handle all of my advertising, leave me alone to do my own thing and when I write something good that hits on a popular topic it could be carried on the front page of MSN or FoxSports. So, yeah, pretty sweet deal. If I want to have a hit article that’s featured on the main page of one of those sites I might have to change my ways a little bit, maybe stop making so many rape jokes, but that’s okay and I think it will be worth it in the long run. It’s always better to be funny without that stuff (so they say) so why not give it a try?
If it doesn’t work out, no big deal. If it does, let’s see what else we can do. I’ve been thinking about starting a Milwaukee Bucks blog for next season, I could do that too. Maybe a Seahawks blog as well? How about a wrestling blog? Actually, no on that one because I’d have to start watching it again to do that. (Yes, I am already over that phase.) Maybe I should take Phil Ivey Rules, start updating it again and add it to the network. Anything is possible, really. I am good at this and I should embrace it. So that’s what I am going to start doing.
When the Sonics left Seattle to move to Oklahoma City I decided that I was done with the NBA. I didn’t watch any games except for the few that were on TV when I was at a bar. The only game I went to was one that was free from work because I won’t spend my money on the NBA. I don’t want them to profit from me because in my opinion David Stern screwed me. He has all of the owners in his back pocket and when it was time to vote on “Is it a good idea to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City?” Only two voted no. When in reality nobody would ever vote to move anything from Seatte to Oklahoma City. Why would you want to go from the 13th largest market in the country to a place where tumbleweeds are a common occurence during rush hour? It’s stupid. Which is to say, it’s all about money. (By the way, the only two owners to vote against this were Mark Cuban and Paul Allen. Which should be all you need to know. The only smart one and the only one who loses a rival (that was probably his favorite team before he bought the Blazers.))
I’ve kind of let this drift and last season I watched a few more games, mostly to see Lebron James. The thing about basketball is that the people playing it are the greatest athletes in the world. I firmly believe that Lebron James could play ANY sport. That commercial where he joins the Browns? That could really happen and I wouldn’t blink an eye. An NBA player, a great one, is the height of athleticism. They can do things that other humans can’t, simple as that. After baseball it’s probably my favorite sport to watch just for this reason. I’ve started to realize that and despite the Sonics thing which kills me to this day, I should watch some NBA. This led me so far as to even look at ticket prices for the Cavs in Milwaukee this season (unbelievably overpriced), but then something happened that changed my mind. I watched SonicsGate.
SonicsGate is an EXCELLENT documentary on what happened to the Sonics. It doesn’t miss a beat and actually covers a few things I forgot about. It made me remember how much I hate Clay Bennett, Mayor Nickels, David Stern, Wally Walker and Howard Schultz. It made me remember how completely fucked out this entire thing was. It showed me, once again, how little the NBA actually cares about the cities they have teams in. Say what you want about baseball, but no league is as ruthless and money grubbing as the NBA. It’s sickening and I can’t wait til the NBA goes on strike in two years. This movie hits the nail right on the head and they have re-affirmed my belief that the NBA doesn’t deserve my money. I might watch a game on TV, but I won’t be buying any tickets. Screw them. Which is ultimately the highest praise I can give this movie, “I was ready to forgive the NBA for the Sonics thing, but now I say screw them again.”
You can watch the whole movie on their website or check out the trailer right here.
I’ve been thinking of opening a Brewers-related site for awhile now. Not necessarily analysis or anything like that. There are people much smarter than me when it comes to numbers to do that. The site would be more about going to Brewers game and drinking and funny Brewers related stuff. And drinking. I think it’s a good idea, but I haven’t been able to come up with a name and I still feel like there’s something missing. Today I was reading an old Jim Caple column and came across this quote:
Just as at County Stadium, there is one stand named for Gorman Thomas, the former Brewer outfielder/DH/famous eater. A reporter told me he once called Gorman about nine in the morning to ask a question on a breaking story and began the interview by apologizing for the early call. “I hope I’m not calling too early,” the reporter said. “Oh, that’s OK,” Gorman replied. “I’m just sitting here in front of the TV eating pizza and drinking beer.”
My Phil Ivey Blog averages around 50-60 hits a day which I think is pretty damn good. I’m #1 or #2 when you search “Phil Ivey blog” and I’m #1 on page 2 for “Phil Ivey” (which honestly drives me crazy to no end). I am happy with the amount of traffic I get and do my best to keep the site updated so I don’t lose that placement. Then on 1/4 my traffic jumped to 325 hits followed by another 158 on 1/5. I had no idea why until I logged into Google Analytics to find that there was a perfectly legit reason for it.
I'm 29 years old, a single dad and my name is Vince. I write about my life and the things that I find interesting which covers everything from movies to TV to wrestling to writing. I'm just trying to have fun, have a good life and figure out how I can be even more awesome. Still working on that last one. You can find my baseball blog at Miller Park Drunk. I've been told it's okay.
In my last post I wrote about my blogging “career” and how that wasn’t really what I wanted to do for a job. I wrote it and I meant it, but then I thought about it some more and I realized how stupid I sounded. Basically what I was saying was “I am good at this, but I don’t want to make money doing it because it’s not my career goal.” And I am good at it too. I’ve completely self-marketed the website and so far this month I have around 10,000 unique visitors. That’s pretty good and for me not to want to monetize that is pretty stupid, even for me. So I decided to take the jump and join a blog network.
