1 Year of Blogging from America

First of all, happy new year, I hope your year is filled with health, wealth, and happiness.  I also hope that this year sees all of our transfer dreams  fulfilled,  dozens of 3-0 Arsenal wins, a treble, and Sam Allardyce, Joey Barton, and David Bentley all permanently banned from playing/coaching/talking about football. That would be the perfect year!

Most of you don’t know this, but today also happens to be the one year anniversary of this blog. I don’t know what possessed me to start this insanity. I had been reading other people’s blogs and probably though “hey I could do that!” Or maybe I got frustrated that I thought the other members of message boards weren’t listening to me. So, my responses to them got longer and more detailed and better researched and I thought “why am I doing this for the guy who runs this place? I could run my own place!”

So I signed up with WordPress, picked up fingers and placed them on keyboard and started writing… Every day.

At first I justified it as me working on my writing but we all know that this is not an exercise in fine writing. This is madness. This is an obsession. This is one man yelling into the darkness, the modern version of the crazy man in the park standing on soapbox decrying the government cover up of UFOs.

And for the longest time, it was me, pretty much all alone: January of 2008 I had 955 views ALL MONTH! The numbers started slowly going up and up but I’m not sure how, maybe my two loyal readers told two of their friends and.. oh my god, it’s just like that movie “Pay it forward.”

It wasn’t until I got picked up by Gooner News that the numbers started really coming in. Which is how I have all of you. Well, all of you except the guys from Tacoma who my friend Russ is tirelessly recruiting for me (thanks Russ).

If there is anything I’d like for the new year (besides the aforementioned Arsenal sucess, oh and if Sir Alex Fergus could get an incurable case of Herpes on his face) If there was anything I’d like it would be to get a bit bigger audience. Like, if NewsNow would pick up the site. If you’ll permit me an emo moment: I don’t understand what I’ve done wrong by them. I think I’ve submitted the site according to their rules, I’m a better writer than 3/4 of the other sites they carry, and I’ve even emailed them several times asking what I’ve done wrong or what I could do different to get my site included with them: no response. It makes me wonder, after I cry in the corner and smudge my mascara.

Now that that ugly scene is over, I really just wanted to use this post to thank all my loyal readers, the lurkers and posters alike, you guys make this all worth while. So, thanks for reading and as long as you keep coming by and commenting, I’ll keep writing. After all, no one wants to be the crazy guy in the park talking to himself: those people are called “business men with bluetooth headsets” and they are shunned.

See you tomorrow with the #2 installment of the year in review — he he… #2.

0 comments

  1. Cheers mate. I’ve read your blog from Tag Surfer in WordPress and you’ve been great. Might I suggest talking to the Arseblogger (http://www.oleole.com/blogs/arseblog/) and linking to him. Maybe you could even speak on one of his Friday podcasts, who knows? All the best and keep blogging – you’ll get into NewsNow.

  2. Well done on the year, Tim. I first picked it up from GoonerTalk (which has lost a bit of its appeal since Chris franchised the writing) and have stuck with it ever since. It’s a good site, well written with sensible opinions, and it’s interesting reading from a non-English perspective. All good things. Good luck with the future.

    And I agree, Newsnow is quite snobbish.

  3. Well done on the year, Tim. I first picked it up from GoonerTalk (which has lost a bit of its appeal since Chris franchised the writing) and have stuck with it ever since. It’s a good site, well written with sensible opinions, and it’s interesting reading from a non-English perspective. All good things. Good luck with the future.

    And I agree, Newsnow is quite snobbish.

  4. Congratulations on your year. Enjoyed reading your rationale for starting up. You’ve done a nice job of avoiding regurgitation of the most recent “Daily Blah” story and bringing sufficient interest to merit a visit (usually daily now). I’m here in the US too as a legal gooner alien, east coast though so kick-off times are more civilised for me. Do you know if this week’s FA Cup match is showing anywhere? I try to get over to The Emirates about six times a year. Further for you. Ever make it?

  5. Congratulations on your year. Enjoyed reading your rationale for starting up. You’ve done a nice job of avoiding regurgitation of the most recent “Daily Blah” story and bringing sufficient interest to merit a visit (usually daily now). I’m here in the US too as a legal gooner alien, east coast though so kick-off times are more civilised for me. Do you know if this week’s FA Cup match is showing anywhere? I try to get over to The Emirates about six times a year. Further for you. Ever make it?

  6. Well done Tim!
    Happy New Year, 2009. NewsNow is full of complete crap, they really ought to clear out a lot of the poor sites they have on there and include some of the higher quality stuff 😉
    I’ve been a bit of a lurker in 2008, more posters in 2009!

  7. Hi,

    I am a gooner from the far east. i am swarmed by red devil, scousers and chelsea fans. I have been reading your blog for several months and I have really enjoyed it. Keep up the good work and i will try to find gooners in my part of the world to read you blog. Cheers mate! have a great new year!

  8. Great to know you are a year old. It means I am one of the early birds cos I started reading your articles March last year, just when I started my site too. I understand how you feel having been there before, it is a big achievement and you don’t even need to bother about Newsnow, once you are good please will always bring there friends.

    Well I have got a deal for you but there is no where to contact you on here but I will be glad if you can email me directly at admin at soccerfanbase dotcom. Just send me a little note and I will email you back.

  9. You should write a “The Best Way for an American to go see Arsenal” post. How to get tickets, where to sit, how to behave, what hotel to stay at…etc.

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