Why do you call the site "Balls, Sticks, & Stuff"?
The two sports I follow the most are golf and baseball. Both entail striking a spherical object, such as a baseball or golfball, with a utensil often referred to as a stick (as in, "Yeah, I can tee off at 5, but I have to swing home and get my sticks"). I tacked "Stuff" on the end because I am only 99% obsessed with sports and so sometimes I'll post something non-sports related.
Where are you from?
I reside in the suburbs of Richmond, Va., but I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania. Update: In June 2005, The Missus and I re-located to the Philadelphia area.
How do you remain such a strong Phan even though you live in Virginia?
Mostly through the internet. I watch Phillies games on MLB.tv, I faithfully read the team's coverage on Philly.com, and read a lot of other great Phillies blogs (check the sidebar and links page). But to be honest, there was a time not so long ago when I didn't follow the Phillies. With the Phillies wallowing beneath medicority for much of the 90's, living in another state, and not having any Phillies phriends, I sort of drifted out of touch. I followed baseball closely, but didn't have a particular team I lived and died with. Then a couple of years ago, I made a road trip to Cooperstown and the Hall of Fame. Seeing all of the Phillies history there reminded me that the Phillies are in my heritage (talk about baggage), and so ever since then my interest in the Phightin's has been renewed. Update [June, 2005]: Despite The Move, much if this is still true, the only difference is that instead of watching the Phillies on MLB.tv, I can now watch them on My.tv or The Local Watering Hole dot tv...basically all around me. Awesome.
What is your greatest Phillies moment ever?
Well, a close second is 1980, but for me, the greatest is a simple regular season game in July of 2003 against the Expos. Surprising me for my 30th birthday, my wife rented a room at the Vet, catered it with food and birthday cake, and managed to get all of my best friends and family there. Friends, family, birthday cake, and baseball...the only thing that was missing was pony rides.
What is your worst Phillies moment?
Joe Carter.
Where do you get the statistics and facts for your posts?
Several places: ESPN.com, Sportsline.com, MLB.com, Philly.com, The Hardball Times, USA Today/Baseball Weekly/Sports Weekly, and Baseball-Reference.com.
What is the "trackback" link I see at the bottom of your posts?
It's basically a way to promote discussion amongst blogs, and it's quite easy to use. For instance, if someone has a blog and wants to link to a particular post I've made, the trackback feature can be used to let me know that the link was created. Click here for more info.
What makes you write all this stuff down?
I have quite a few friends who are strong baseball fans, but there are few who want to get into the minutia that I like to, so this gives me an outlet for expression and discussion. But the main reason is because I realized I missed writing. I did quite a bit of it in graduate school, and there is something about the process of boiling a concept down on paper that I enjoy. If you asked my wife (usually referred to as The Missus) she would tell you it is because I am my own best audience.
What is your policy on comments?
If you have something to say of the non-malicious or non-spam variety, then post it!
What is the Highlight Reel?
It's a collection of posts that I refer to often in other posts. They are planks in the Balls, Sticks, & Stuff Party Platform.
Why are some of the links in your archived posts to a Blogspot/Blogger site?
Originally, my blog was hosted at ballssticksstuff.blogspot.com, but for the purposes of customization, reliability, and all around user-friendliness, I moved everything over to Typepad. So while I was able to import all of my posts from Blogger, there was no way to update all the links within all of my posts. Unfortunately, none of the reader comments made their way over either.
What is the Back Page?
As Balls, Sticks, & Stuff evolved over at Blogger, most of my posts were longer diatribes regarding the Phillies and baseball, however, there were little things I would want to point out to readers that didn't warrant a long post. So rather than clutter up B.S. & S. with short little blurbs, I created a second blog and called it the Back Page. Since Typepad enables posts to be sorted into categories, I decided that having a second blog was unneccesarry, but the concept remains.
If I was bored enough to ever come back to this site, should I go to www.BallsSticksStuff.com or ballssticksstuff.typepad.com?
As of now, I have no intention of moving away from Typepad, but one never knows what some pasty high school kid is developing in his basement, so someday I might move. But since I own the BallsSticksStuff.com domain, you will always be able to find me that way.
Is there anything else?
No, I think I've learned more than enough.
OK, email me if you think of anything else.
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