It is with great sadness that I am announcing my resignation as site admin of Bright Side of the Sun. It has been an awesome experience to write about the Phoenix Suns and to follow them more closely on a day-today basis than I ever had in my life before I started writing this blog. It has been a very rewarding experience. From the opportunity to write little blurbs that ended up on the Sports Illustrated and ESPN web sites to the chance to work with so many great bloggers in the sports blogosphere to having great conversations with so many readers on the site.
The only way I could describe the site (or any good sports blog) to people who asked what I did on the site was to say it was like going to your favorite sports bar every day where you know everyone and everyone knows you (yeah, kind of like Cheers) but without the drinking. And I had the privilege to come in every day and jump-start the discussions. A lot of times they didn't go exactly as I had planned but that was the beauty of a blog. You say your piece and then you see what others have to say about it. Most of the time you have a lot of people disagreeing with you and it makes you really think about your opinion. There were times that I changed my opinion after discussions. There were other times when I was convinced everyone was wrong and never did change my mind.
I know there are several people who are probably glad I'm leaving (I'm thinking of all you Spurs fans out there who detest me and my writing). If that's the case, I'm glad I could help make your day just a little brighter. But I'm definitely going to miss this blog. It's grown from just a few page views per day to getting up to a few thousand per day. Not a lot in the grand scheme of things but considering this blog is so focused on one thing, I think it's pretty good.
Some of you may be wondering why I am giving up such a great thing. Well, to be honest, it's because an even greater opportunity has come up. Check out this commercial and you can see what I'm experiencing: Priceless
A few weeks ago I was offered a full-time job as the Web Analytics Coordinator for the Phoenix Suns. Basically, that means that I'll be spending every day trying to help the Suns.com web site get a little better and produce better results for both fans and advertisers. Working for the Phoenix Suns was something I had dreamed of as a kid but I never thought it would become a reality. When the opportunity came along, it was just something I couldn't pass up. While I probably won't start out doing any writing, I hope to possibly talk them into letting me have a small part on the official Phoenix Suns blog so I can keep writing publicly about the team that I love.
Your next question is probably concerning what will happen to this blog? Once I found out I would be working with the Suns, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep writing on this site. It just wouldn't work. So I had to decide on a replacement. I feel like I kept a fairly consistent tone on the site that was different than other Phoenix Suns blogs out there and I didn't want to let just anyone come in and change that. Once I realized that, the decision actually became easy. So with no further ado, I present to you TexSUN, your new BrightSideoftheSun.com site administrator. I will let her explain herself to you and what she hopes to do for the site over the next few days. But I did want to say that I think the blog is being turned over to very capable hands. I think she'll be able to write about the Suns in a passionate and intelligent way and will help further the discussion of the team we love to watch. She has been a faithful contributor to the site since it launched and I think those of you who haven't read her diaries will learn that she knows what she is talking about when it comes to the Phoenix Suns.
In conclusion, this will be my last post as a site administrator. Effective immediately, TexSUN is your new go-to person for any questions or comments about the site. Now she gets to deal with irate Spurs fans e-mailing her to talk about what losers Phoenix Suns fans are. Now she gets to deal with online reporters from rival cities making thinly-veiled jabs at her and her writing. Now she gets to get called names like "idiot", "jerk" and "blatantly unlikable". She's going to love it.
And you know what? I'm really going to miss it all.
Good luck to everyone and I hope to keep reading your writing and comments in the future. For anyone who wants to still keep in touch, you can e-mail me at sunsblogger@gmail.com. Otherwise, keep visiting BrightSideoftheSun.com and definitely come check out Suns.com. There is a lot of cool stuff there and when the season gets back in gear, we should have some pretty good blogging there as well!