6 Years Of The DNB

Today marks 6 years of doing the Dino Nation Blog. It has been an interesting and great experience in my life. It has also been a period in which the Raptors have been hard to love and not really had any kind of real success. Last night was a night like many others over the last 6 years. The Raptors had an opportunity facing a team that was plagued with injuries and failed to take advantage. So many times the Raptors have disappointed over these 6 years it can make it hard to stay motivated to be completely honest. .

I wonder if I have become more jaded and less optimistic over the years. My goal from day one of this blog has been to present a realistic and honest assessment of the Raptors. I think by and large that is what I have done here. I also try to do it way that speaks to what fans are talking about and your concerns and address them. In my writing, interviews and in all that we do in the DNB. I am the first to admit my writing is done in a way that is more of a conversational way than your traditional writing. While I don’t think I will ever be considered the world’s greatest writer in any sense that is fine with me.

I am much more interested in creating audio and video content. That has been an on going struggle to make that happen. It became pretty clear a few years ago that for DNB to be what I ultimately wanted it be I needed to find some people to help with the writing end of things. When you look at other sites they have many contributors and I have attempted to find people to do that here. In large part that has not been the greatest of successes through no fault of the folks we have contributed.

It has been a lot of frustration in not just the way the team has performed but in being able to produce the best content for all of you. I really question how well that has been done in the last year or so. It has been a challenge trying to make this all work and try and generate some income from my work as well. I also have wanted to spend more time with my mother who is getting on in years and don’t want to miss out on moments with her.

I entered this season kind of feeling like that famous wrestling promo where Shawn Michaels tells the world he has lost his smile. I have been feeling that way to some degree at times this year. I for the first time considered the idea of what If I wasn’t doing this anymore. At the end of the day I would really have liked to build to something else by this point.

I entered this season just saying let’s see how things go for this year. That remains my feelings to get to the end of this season and see where everything is at. In some respects I feel like I have accomplished a lot and do not just want to give that up. But at the same time I am not sure I can continue to invest the amount of time I have and keep things going the way they have in the past.

Bottom line is that so many people over the years have reached out to be a told me how much they enjoy the work I am doing. It is what has likely kept this thing alive for as long as it has been. It has been heart warming to me that some people that have read this blog for years consider me a friend and I consider them a friend. I never starting doing this to build relationships but I have in fact done that. Being completely honest this blog is the longest relationship I have had in some ways.

I don’t have any idea for once of what the future holds. What I can say is that this blog has been one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life. It has made me find a whole bunch of people that share my passion for basketball and to a lesser extent the Raptors. I have had many experiences with broadcasters like Jack Armstrong and players like T.J Ford and others that I will cherish forever.

This all sounds like a good bye but it might not be. I rarely share my struggles or frustrations with my life and how things are going. You come here to hear about basketball not about my personal issues. Hopefully brighter days are ahead for me and for the Raptors. It has been a struggle for them as well.

In any case it has been a pleasure to serve you all with my thoughts, opinions and hard work for these 6 years.