The End...or Close to It

I think the time has come to take a much needed vacation from the blog. Ok, that's not really the truth. A vacation would imply that this is my job and that it is something I need a break from. Really, that's not the case. I try to blog on the side because I enjoy writing and frankly, because I don't have the opportunity to sit around, watch games with my buddies and then discuss them at the caf the next day. This was my way of expressing my thoughts on whatever sports item I was interested in at the time.

When I started the blog back in April 2010, I didn't exactly know where it would go. I had hoped that it would not only be a place for me, but a place for my friends too. Ultimately, that didn't work out. I found that it was one thing to send emails back and forth about the Mets, but when it came to actually posting something on the blog, no one besides my faithful Devils blogger Jay Walker-Martin was actually interested. And you know what, that turned out to be fine. Instead of having this blog be something that a lot of strangers read, it quickly became apparent that this was something that only a handful of my close friends read.

So to all of you who have read and provided comments, I thank you. Nothing made me happier than seeing a message in my inbox saying that someone commented on one of my posts. I always appreciated that.

The fact is that I am not only watching less sports these days but I just don't have the disposable time I once did. I can find time to blog, but it means I am taking away from my sleep. And it means that I am just getting sloppy. Last week I posted something on UW and made 2 mistakes. It obviously wasn't a huge deal, but it was to me. I simply didn't take the time to do any research because I wanted to get to bed at a reasonable hour. (to be fair, forgetting UW was at Qwest next year was simply an oversight - no research should have been needed for that).

I could simply continue to throw opinions around without anything to back them up, but then I would become a blowhard. Part of the reason I enjoy writing about sports is that I am a stats junkie and I love spending random Thursday nights on baseballreference.com to research a story on whether Justin Turner deserves to be the Mets everyday second baseman. I want my writing to be passionate. I am not a fan of errors.

But this isn't about one simple entry with mistakes. Nah, it's just that this is becoming more a chore than it is fun. I think I still will want to blog when something big happens with the Sounders or Mets, but having 4-5 unique columns a week just isn't going to happen. So if you're reading this and want to check in occasionally to see if anything new is up, then great...I would love it. But if not, then I appreciate the time you have spent reading.

The bottom line - I have other things going on in my life. So for the time being, I am going to step away from blogging. But like all the previous times I have done so, I expect to be back. Why? Well, because I always come back. I just can't stay away.