Ok, so maybe getting kidnapped by Maoists wasn't the answer...

I've been hearing some rumors lately in the comments section that this blog is dead. I'm not gonna name names, but let's just say that the all-time leader in assists and steals isn't satisfied with the direction of the site. OK, fine, it was Stockton. But that's not really the point, is it? The point is that this blog is in trouble, and the time for pretending otherwise has past.

Part of it is on me. I haven't been writing as much as I used to, and it's quite possible that I peaked with that Jerry West story back in October. However, even when I had my foot all the way down on the accelerator, it was pretty clear that the auditorium was getting draftier and the seats were getting emptier.

Now, this is not a Dear John letter, and I'm not announcing my retirement. I'm writing this because I believe in this site, and I want it to make a full recovery. I may be naive, I may be crazy, and perhaps I shouldn't be writing on so many painkillers after rupturing my achilles; but I think we got some great days ahead. Yet in order to get there, we need to be honest about where we are now.

It isn't 2007 anymore. It's not even 2011. The Great Basketbawful may or may not come back, I honestly have no idea about that. What I do know is that I still have a few coherent sentences left in me, and there are still some readers out there looking for something different than what the mainstream offers. Back before I started writing for Bawful, I was a fan. I read this site because I wanted to be informed and entertained, and I suspect this is a common motivation. The purpose remains the same, but the question is how do we get there. Can I handle a full season's worth of Worst of the Nights while incorporating parody pieces and keeping up with breaking news? Evidently not. Can I inform you when J.R. Smith whips his cock out while occasionally crafting satirical pieces? Yeah, I probably can.

So that's what I'm asking. How are we going to evolve? I was going to write this letter after the playoffs, but the direness of the situation feels like it's increasing, and I'm suddenly less confident that the postseason will provide a deux ex machina. We have to do this ourselves. True, we've grown smaller, but there's a strength in that. As a smaller community, each voice has more power.

To those of you who've been keeping a dialogue going this season, (Wormboy and Barry I'm looking at you; yeah you too Stockton, also JJ, senormedia, nbacares, always dude your best!, the ubiquitous anonymous, and several others) I sincerely thank you. Your comments have kept me in the game.

Hopefully airing this stuff out will do some good. If not, my bad.