So let’s talk a bit about purpose for this little experiment here. This here is intended not to replace the daily, to which we’ll usually link — for instance, hey, Wade Dubielewicz is back! Who knew? — but to complement it in some way.
Now what way is that? A great big TBA/TBD. Among the ideas:
- Tossing up pregame tidbits. When pitching this idea to the bosses, I did up a retroactive prototype (blogotype?) that included a Justin Mapletoft injury subplot: A fake entry for Dec. 12 (“Hersheypark Unhappy”) mentioned meeting Mapletoft, wrist taped up “as a precaution,” in the Giant Center elevator; a fake entry for Jan. 30 (“Well look who it is”) mentioned watching Mapletoft unexpectedly skate in warmup. This might be especially worthwhile on the road. We’ll see.
- Expanded content and/or commentary. We’ve only got a certain amount of newsprint. Most days, it takes me all eight hours (and then some) to fill the piece I get. (I’m not that good.) But other days, I’ve got stuff crying at me from the screen, geeky stuff, numbers stuff, and I’ve got to cut it. (It screams; very sad.) This might be a repository. For instance, see this pseudopost from the blogotype last month.
- Shoutouts to my buds… er, links to stories of note around the league. There’s lots going on in this circuit, and it doesn’t always sneak into notebooks. I might just link ’em here, either before notebooking them, or instead of notebooking them. (It is a web log, theoretically, after all.)
- Random New Haven Nighthawks references. Somebody’s got to keep the memory alive — why not us? (With that: Steve Moria!)
- A monthly mailbag of the type done by numerous other newspaper writers on the Web, and hopefully up to their caliber. I remain available as always at the e-mail address, mfornabaio@ctpost.com, though sometimes more available than at other times. Maybe toss “MAILBAG” in the subject line if you’re willing to go live. Not that I won’t sneak you on there anyway if you say something good. Or bad. Or just noteworthy. Or funny. Please write; otherwise, I’ll have to make up questions, and the ones I made up for the blogotype referenced Sideshow Bob, A Hard Day’s Night (the movie, not the song nor the album), Page Six, a diner in my mom’s old neighborhood, an old interborough-rivalry joke, and my near-trip to the injured list in February. You don’t want this to happen for real.
(A working knowledge of 1950s and ’60s popular music, contemporary prime-time television and the arterial highways of the New York metropolitan area will be helpful but will not be required. I’m gonna try not to get too roadgeeky or point-for-the-referencey, but no promises.)
(Oh, wait… “The Simpsons” production code in the header, TOTALLY point-for-the-referencey… Too late. Oh well.)
Any comments, suggestions and criticisms are welcome. Let’s see how this goes…