Welcome Back!

Don’t call it a comeback!

Actually, call it whatever you want. I’m just glad you’re reading, and I send my most sincere thanks to all 12 of you. (By the way… Hi, Mom!)

To those of you who don’t know, or don’t remember, Hoopservations.com is a blog where I share my observations about hoops, in the hope of generating conversations about hoops. Get it? Hoopservations are observations and conversations about hoops.

I launched it six years ago, and had a good run until my daughter was born. Having a baby around left no time for hoops. By the time she got into a routine, her little brother was born. Now he’s old enough that we’re in a routine that allows me some time for hoops. I even started to have some social interactions again. Many of those conversations wound up being about the Knicks, or LeBron, or the NBA Draft, or something related to hoops. After a bunch of such conversations, I figured it was time to dust off the ol’ blog, and try to get this thing fired up again.

Before I take up too much of anyone’s time talking about basketball, I should probably mention my credentials, so you know what to expect, and understand where I’m coming from. My main credential is that I played high school basketball, where I was the 12th guy out of 12 on a team that won the New York State Championship. That’s the highlight of my playing career; being exposed to guys who went on to play a lil’ ball in college, giving them water during timeouts, and experiencing first-hand what excellent coaching and team chemistry look like.

Any credentials other than that, which give me standing to opine on basketball to the world? Um… Let’s see… Sean Kilpatrick played at my high school about 15 years after I did, and this year he played in a bunch of preseason games for the New Orleans Pelicans. Does that count as a credential for me? Sean’s never heard of me, so it probably doesn’t count. Separately, a fraternity brother of mine from college has excellent seats at Knicks games. The seats are so good that he can sometimes hear what they’re saying in the huddle. I once asked him whether he got any valuable insights about hoops while sitting so close. He told me that the Knicks hardly talk about basketball in their huddle. He picks up some interesting information about nightlife in New York City, and he learns where the cute girls are sitting in MSG, but he doesn’t hear much about basketball. So I can’t really claim that as a credential.

Basically, to be honest, I have no credentials. But here’s the thing: I’m very opinionated. And I love hoops. I watch hoops, read about hoops, and listen to analysts analyze hoops. And I talk about hoops, whenever I can. It winds up being fun, because as much as I like to share my opinions, I also like to listen. This combination of things means I often wind up in heavy debate about some basketball topic, like whether it’s still sensible to be mad at LeBron for signing with Miami (it is, in my opinion), and whether Carmelo Anthony should be traded (crazy-talk, in my opinion). My in-person interactions with friends often tend to be about basketball, and most of my friends are people I don’t speak to as often as I’d like. The idea for this blog is that it becomes a place where I can have those kinds of conversations electronically, enabling me to channel my love for hoops somewhere productive, and to stay in touch with friends I don’t speak to nearly as often as I’d like to.

In sum, a long series of events have led me here… sitting in a corner of my house, while my kids are sleeping and my wife is upstairs on the phone, pouring my energy into a blog nobody is going to take seriously, drinking a beer and eating Doritos. Most people call that pathetic. I call it socializing. And I’m psyched about it.

A few housekeeping items….
This blog now has a Facebook “group.” Each time I post something new, I’ll post a link to the group. That’s probably the most reliable way to stay current. I’m going to try to get better about generating some discussion via Twitter, so if you follow @MichaelKraver, you should be able to stay current. Other than that, the main thing is that this ain’t gonna work if it’s just me rambling. The goal here is to generate some discussion. If I say something you disagree with, I hope you’ll push back at me in the comments, and if you have things you’d like discussed on a blog like this, hit me up.

Check ball, ya’ll. This season’s gonna be fun.

4 Comments:

  • Kerry Kittles

    NYK > westchester knicks > CE under 16 > bk nets

  • Ross Corley

    Kerry whatdoes that comment mean?

  • Sip

    Will you be following the big storyline tonight as the Thunder are in Washington? Folks without an ounce of creativity will belabor the notion of KD returning “home” and potentially signing there for next season. But surely Hoopservations is a lot more Lewis & Clark than lemming so you will have a different angle no doubt. Go OKC!

  • Westchester Amato

    I am looking for some hard hitting D-league bball analysis! Is this the right place??? Like why don’t the Knicks call up Trice? Why are there only 2 spots to buy beer at westchester knicks games?? I want some game tape breakdown of the Maine Red Claws zone defense and ratings of the D-League officials and cheerleaders.. Get your act together if you want to call yourself a real hoops blog!

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