|
May 21, 2013
Who is Shyster?
Monthly Archives
May, 2012
November, 2009 October, 2009 September, 2009 August, 2009 July, 2009 June, 2009 May, 2009 April, 2009 March, 2009 February, 2009 January, 2009 December, 2008 November, 2008
Or you can search by:
Most Recent Comments
Sam Zell’s Nightmare Continues (10)
William S. Stevens: 1948-2008 (22) Teixeira’s Options (18) Cole Hamels Meets Talk Radio (23) Appropos of nothing (4) Shyster's Daily Circuit
Rob Neyer
AaronGleeman.com Joe Posnanski Blog Baseball Analysts Baseball Musings Cot's Baseball Contracts It IS About the Money Keith Law Cardboard Gods Baseball Think Factory MLB Trade Rumors Retrosheet Vegas Watch Way Back and Gone Bats -- NYT Baseball Blog The Biz of Baseball The Daily Fungo U.S.S. Mariner Braves Journal Scott Simkus The Common Man Jorge Says No! Baseball Over Here Fack Youk Wezen-Ball Chop-n-Change |
Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.Tuesday, November 03, 2009Programming NoteWhen I started writing ShysterBall in the spring of 2007, the idea was to give myself a place to be where I could escape the stress and unpleasantness of my legal career, if only for the briefest of moments. As time went on, it began to consume more and more of my waking hours and, in all honesty, interfering pretty significantly with that legal career. No, I never dropped the ball on a case, but it has been a struggle. I mean really, how is someone supposed to prepare for an oral argument when Roger Clemens is testifying before Congress? I'd like to say that I eventually managed to find balance with all of this, but that would be a lie. My life hasn't been in balance since at least 2006. Maybe earlier. Something has to be done. So I'm doing it:I'm quitting the law. Starting November 30th I will be writing about baseball full time for NBC Sports.com. Obviously this wasn't a unilateral decision on my part. NBC has decided that they want me all-in on Circling the Bases, and that's not the kind of thing you have to ask me twice. The people over there have been fantastic to me since I started moonlighting back in April. They've never censored a word I've written. They've never declared a topic off-limits. Their instructions to me when I started were to make some f*cking noise, and they've allowed me to do that non-stop since. When they asked me to do it full time, it was a complete no-brainer. I don't yet know how it's going to all work out -- the enormity of this is just starting to sink in -- but to say I'm excited would be something of an understatement. Q: But Craig! Where am I going to go for my daily ATH fix come April?! A: Right here. Well, to THT at least, because NBC has been good enough to allow me to keep doing ATH and posting it at The Hardball Times (see above about NBC being totally cool). It likely won't be in ShysterBall, because the ShysterBall name is going to go into mothballs. Right now the smart money is on it appearing as a daily post at THT Live, but we'll give you lots of advanced notice once the good Mr. Studeman and I figure it out. The upshot, though, is that everyone involved realizes just how valuable an outlet and how outstanding the readership and community is at THT, and no one wants to mess with a good thing. Day-to-day blogging will be at NBC, but ATH will continue to appear at The Hardball Times. Q: But Craig! How can you subject yourself to the kind of abuse you get from the commenters over there every day? A: I've learned a lot in a short period of time. I've also noticed a slight uptick in commenter quality as time has gone on. I credit many of you for that, as I have been seeing a lot of familiar commenting handles migrate over to NBC as the year has progressed. I hope that continues. And I'm sure that it can. None of you are the type who can't handle more baseball in your lives, so I'm sure you can make a point to be good boys and girls and read your THT, and then come over to NBC to see what I'm up to. Q: So, like, what does this all mean for you? A: I don't know. No shaving. Pants optional. Walking kids to the bus stop. Cheaper coffee. More time to go to the gym. Occasional cushion forts in the living room. I'm sure it's going to be an adjustment process. I'll ask Neyer what he does with his days. OK, enough self-indulgent crap, we have almost a month to get all of that in. In the meantime, let me offer some thanks to some people. Thanks ShysterBall readers of both the commenting and the lurking persuasion. I could bring more bloggy noise than anyone, but it's worthless if there's no one there to read it. I'm not the statcounter obsessive I used to be, but whenever I've lost the will to write, I've checked in to look at the numbers. When I see people who have way better things to do with their lives click and click and click like you've been doing for so damn long, I'm reinvigorated. And away we go . . . Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 1:52pm Comments
Alex said...
as an employee of a law firm, I can safely say, Craig, that you are living the dream of 9 out of 10 lawyers: reaching the day when you don’t have to be a lawyer anymore. Congrats. Posted 11/03 at 04:43 PM
Kevin Tooke said...
Congrats Craig! Finally a programming note that didn’t depress the rest of my day! Seriously, awesome. Can’t wait to see what this brings. Posted 11/03 at 04:46 PM
TC said...
SOMEONE IS GETTING THE EXTRA INNINGS PACKAGE! Craig- Congrats, really. I found ShysterBall in summer 2007. You had killed a Sarah Schorno post on HuffPo, and I was e-friendly with Schorno and the Epic Carnival crew at that time, and so someone shot me the link to your post, so I could share their outrage. I followed, read, and found myself agreeing with you. And so, I stuck around, and you have become one of my very favorite authors, right beside Posnanski among baseball writers. Part of me will miss the familiarity that comes with your modest readership. I comment occasionally, and still recognize the handles of virtually every commenter. I don’t know how possible that will be when a popular post gets triple digit comments instead of 40. That said, it’s a small concession that I am happy to make to allow you to be a full-time writer. I’m super happy for you. A variety of blessings. -TC Posted 11/03 at 04:50 PM
Beanster said...
Congratulations CC!! You do a great job each and every day, and the full-time gig is well-deserved. I’m glad our daily ATH fix will live on, and wish you all the best in your post-legal life! Posted 11/03 at 05:00 PM
Patrick said...
Craig! Congratulations! That’s wonderful, super great news. I’ll miss Shysterball, though - The absence of accompanying photos makes it easy to read at work! Circling the Bases is much harder. Oh well… Good stuff. Great stuff, in fact. Congratulations, Craig! Posted 11/03 at 05:04 PM
cosmic charlie said...
Holy Cow! My heart also sank as I read the beginning of what I thought was goodbye. But instead, I think you just became my personal hero. Posted 11/03 at 05:05 PM
D.J. Short said...
Well done, man! Posted 11/03 at 05:06 PM
DXMachina said...
Congrats and best of luck with the full time gig. Posted 11/03 at 05:07 PM
Jonathan (Virginia) said...
Congratulations Craig, you truly deserve this. Posted 11/03 at 05:10 PM
Jeff said...
Congratulations! I’m one of the many that read the start and said, “oh ####, what the hell am I gonna do now without Shyster.” Incredibly exciting news! Best of luck! Posted 11/03 at 05:11 PM
Wells said...
Wow. Congratulations man! Posted 11/03 at 05:12 PM
Wells said...
Also, could you please convince the folks @ Circling the Bases to put the whole story in the RSS feed?! Posted 11/03 at 05:14 PM
mkd said...
Dude. This is awesome. Way to go. Posted 11/03 at 05:16 PM
Pete Toms said...
What’s the expression? Have the conviction of your dreams.? Craig told me once that he believed the internet to be the last meritocracy. Perhaps he has proven that. I date back to “classic Shyster” pre THT. I abandoned my baseball blog in part because it was so AWFUL in comparison to his, (plus, NOBODY read it) but I always enjoyed Shysterball immensely and he has been supportive and helpful in my efforts elsewhere on the net. I’m kinda sad that Shysterball is ending, it was cozy and clubby. I never got in the habit of reading CTB @ NBC but I guess I will. I can’t leave the flock. Congrats Craig, you deserve it. You’re smart, funny, humble and you worked your a** off, Posted 11/03 at 05:16 PM
MatthewA said...
So Craig fought the law. Now Craig won. Wait, that’s not how it goes… Congrats, Craig. Bonne chance on the full time gig! Posted 11/03 at 05:20 PM
Andy L said...
But wait, I don’t understand. I thought you were “the worst writer” and “why does NBC let you keep writing this drivel?” I fucking love you, man. I knew you when. Posted 11/03 at 05:25 PM
Greg Simons said...
Craig, you’re like the curly, New Wave redheaded guy in “Say Anything” when he’s talking to Lloyd Dobler about dating Diane Court. You give us hope. Way to go, Craig. Congrats!! Posted 11/03 at 05:25 PM
HP3 said...
Markie Post? I am with you, man! Oh and congratulations; nobody likes lawyers much anyway. Posted 11/03 at 05:30 PM
Hugh Lippincott said...
Not sure if I’ve ever posted a comment, but I’ve been reading since those first Neyer links. Congratulations, Craig (assuming I can call you by your first name), and good luck. Posted 11/03 at 05:34 PM
Page 2 of 6 < 1 2 3 4 > Last »
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. Next Post: Great Moments in Being Vicente Padilla>> <<Previous Post: The McCourt divorce: messier than you could possibly imagine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Congratulations, Craig. This is fantastic news, and a well-deserved success story.