The end of the line: Find me now at Seattle Sports Report

That's right: After more than a year and more than 300 posts, Hangin' With The Nuss will be no more.

You can now find my writing at Seattle Sports Report (http://seattlesportsreport.wordpress.com), so update your bookmarks accordingly.

Why did HWTN have to end? Well, there are a number of reasons.

First and foremost, this site began as an outlet for my own personal opinions and desire to write. I had no blogging experience at that time, and I didn't really have a heck of lot of expectations for readership. I figured I would post once or twice a week, and it was more just for me and a few of my friends.

The bottom line is that the site has outgrown that. I've been posting frequently, gained considerable blogging experience and knowledge, found my blogging "voice," and grown a consistent readership that is beyond my original expectations. It was time for the blog to take the next step, and that frankly wasn't going to happen as Hangin' With The Nuss.

What does the next step include? Taking the focus off me and putting it squarely on the teams, for one. Hence the new name of the blog, which is part of a new nation-wide network of city sports blogs called "Behind Enemy Lines." It also includes adding more writers to the fold, so more viewpoints can be heard and discussed.

Additionally, I had grown tired of trying to make the Blogger template work for me and my readers. It just didn't provide a heck of a lot of flexibility, and I've grown tired of the look of the site. Changing it would have been a heck of a lot of work I frankly don't have time for. Wordpress' blog interface allows greater flexibility for communicating information and a simpler, more attractive layout where the emphasis is on the content -- not on colors.

Thanks for taking the time to read me here, whether you've been here since the beginning or more recently, and I sincerely hope you'll join us over at Seattle Sports Report. I think it's going to be a fabulous step forward, and I'm excited to be a part of it.

Thanks,
Jeff

New post to come tomorrow

Thanks for hanging with me during this crazy summer. I'm in Wenatchee right now as I write this, in town to look for a place to live, drop off stuff to my classroom, etc. So, no post today. But I'll have one tomorrow for sure.

Thanks for your patience, and believe me -- we will seriously ramp up as we get close to the trade deadline and the opening of training camp.

As promised: The answers you seek

So, many of you -- OK, maybe just Jo-Jo -- have been wondering what I've been up to. No doubt, it's been a conspicuous time to be silent, given the Mariners' play and subsequent signing of Ichiro, Kevin Durant's summer league debut, among other things.

However, I have had my reasons.

Besides the fact that summer's just a time to be outside and not sitting at computers much -- unless you're one of those unlucky folks to work in an office everyday -- you might recall that a little over a month ago, I accepted an offer to become a teacher at Wenatchee High School. Well, a couple of things getting ready for that move have consumed all of my time over the past few weeks.

First, we have purchased this little gem to have some fun with on the east side of the mountains:


No, I did not purchase the girl -- that's my beautiful wife Sarah. I'm talking about the 2000 Jeep Wrangler, which we've already had a considerable amount of fun with in the sun. Joshua loves riding in the back -- very important.

Additionally, for those of you unfamiliar with Washington, Wenatchee is nowhere near where I live. That means we've been getting our house ready to go on the market, and it's taken us the better part of three weeks to get both my old classroom cleaned out and our house cleaned and fixed up.

But, we're there. Observe:







The house is in The Buttes outside of Orting and is being offered at $325,000. You can find a link to the listing here. My wife's the agent, so you can contact me directly here if you're interested or know someone who is.

So, there you go. Hopefully, this will be the end of the silence -- after all, I'm going to need frequent respites while packing stuff up. I'll hopefully have some thoughts on the Mariners (among other things tomorrow.

Where the heck have I been?

I apologize deeply for the impromptu leave of absence. I'll be able to explain much more tomorrow. Hang with me, because I have a lot of thoughts about the Mariners heading into the second half of the season. It sure is a feel-good time to be an M's fan.

See you tomorrow.

Blog on 48-hour break

I'm heading out of town overnight for a retreat with the Washington Journalism Education Association, so I probably won't be able to blog until Sunday. I'll be keeping an eye on the Mariners from afar as they try to continue their winning streak against the Blue Jays, and I'll have some thoughts on that when I return.

In the meantime, enjoy your rainy weekend if you're in the Seattle area, or your sunshine of you're pretty much anywhere else at the end of June.

Junior returns tonight -- thoughts later

I wanted to do a full post on the significance of tonight, but it turns out today was a bit emotional saying goodbye to my students, whom I'm leaving behind as I move on to Wenatchee.

I'll be at the game tonight, then I'll be in a wedding on Saturday, so I probably won't have any more thoughts on anything until Sunday.

See you then.

Where the heck have I been? Part II

Well, the busyness finally has begun to come to an end, and that's good for you, the reader.

Just to give you a little perspective on what has gone on in the past week, I interviewed for the journalism job at Wenatchee High School in Eastern Washington on Monday. So that sucked up a good amount of my time, both in preparation beforehand and in the travel afterward, which returned me home after midnight.

I was offered the job, and I've accepted, so I've been dealing with the transition since then. Never mind the fact that I was at the school until midnight on Tuesday with my newspaper kids, then at the school last night until 9 p.m. because of our journalism banquet.

So, needless to say, I just haven't had a lot of time to watch baseball or surf the Internet, my two main sources of inspiration when it comes to the blog.

That should change, starting tonight, as I've got an eye on the NBA Finals. And I'll have some thoughts on the Mariners as they try and rebound from dropping two out of three to the Cubs. Looked like that overworked bullpen finally caught up with the M's today. Hopefully it's not a portent of things to come.

Anyway, I look forward to getting back into the swing of things as the end of the year winds down at school. Thanks for sticking with me!

Where the heck have I been?

Well, the short answer is, busy. The longer answer involves interviewing out of town for a journalism teaching position at an Eastern Washington high school, so that's kind of been consuming my time.

However, I did get text updates last night on the M's, and I do have some thoughts on the playoff "races" -- if you can call them that in June -- that not many people have considered yet. I'm going to work on getting a post on that up tonight, although newspaper deadline with my students beckons. I think I can squeeze it in, though.

See you then.

Check out my brother's new blog; and other quick thoughts

I don't have a lot of time to write today, so I want to pass along a few things.

Apparently, in some roundabout way, I had a hand in my brother entering blogdome. He's launched a new site called I Got The Broken Cookie, and though it only has one post so far, it explains just how I was able to influence my impressionable younger sibling to join the rest of us who spend far too much time in front of our computers, writing.

He's an excellent writer with fabulous voice, and while I doubt he'll write much about sports, if you're into politics and humanitarian interests, I Got The Broken Cookie will be a place you'll want to stop.

Some other quick thoughts, since I won't be able to write any more tonight:

• I wonder if Lenny Wilkins' tenure as president of a franchise is the shortest in history. I also wonder if the guy is operating with a full deck anymore. From the way he botched the announcement of his imminent hiring as president -- I was listening to KJR when he sort of let it slip out of the bag, and it was rather feeble and pathetic -- to the way he botched the hiring of the GM, I'm glad the guy is no longer in charge of the franchise. Frank Hughes at The (Tacoma) News Tribune details all that went wrong here. The "put out to pasture" quote seems especially apt.
• I love the hire of Sam Presti as GM for the Sonics, as I think he'll bring a much needed breath of fresh air and a fresh approach to the franchise. I can't see this guy stockpiling the roster with 7-foot projects the way Rick Sund did. I'm a little troubled, though, that we have an owner who once owned part of the Spurs, and a GM who was a VP with the Spurs ... can Spurs assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo be far behind? (Although I have to admit, I think Carlesimo got a bit of a raw deal the first time around, and might have learned something from his years in San Antonio.)
• Here are some thoughts on the M's other first-day picks from Dave Cameron over at USS Mariner: "After the first round, the M’s selected five more players - college 3B Matt Mangini, HS outfielders Denny Almonte, Daniel Carroll, and Joe Dunigan, and college RHP Nolan Gallagher. Don’t read anything into the fact that they loaded up on toolsy young outfielders and any hidden meanings about their intentions regarding Ichiro - the decisions are completely disconnected from one another, and they were simply taking the players they thought were the best available at the time of the pick." Sounds like he really liked the draft, and since he really liked last year's draft, too, we can only hope that more sustained success lies ahead.
• Speaking of Phillippe Aumont, here's an interesting look at him from Geoff Baker, a fellow Canadian from the same area as Aumont. It's a very unique perspective that you won't get anywhere else.
• Is LeBron James going to get any help in this series? That's the only way the Cavs have a chance. Somebody else besides Drew Gooden is going to have to show up tomorrow night. I haven't seen that much standing around since noon hoops at the YMCA.

Good morning!

At some point today, I'll have a post up on your newly crowned Comeback Kids. Until then, check out Jeff Sullivan's great recap over at Lookout Landing.

See you later today.

No post tonight, either ...

I've been at my house for about four waking hours since Saturday morning, so I have been pretty well disconnected from the sporting world for a couple of days. I'll be getting back into the swing of things tomorrow.

See you then.

Blog shall return tomorrow ...

Been away from the computer for the past 24 hours or so, barbecuing and hanging out in the sun and such. I'll try to have a post up tomorrow night -- here's to hoping the M's can close out 3 of 4, and I can't wait to watch LeBron James in the NBA Finals (even if they're going to get swept by the Spurs).

See you then.

Out for the night

I'm off to do a little Memorial Day barbecuing. I hope to keep relatively decent tabs on the M's so I'll have something insightful to say later tonight or tomorrow. Unless you think I rarely have something insightful to say, and in that case ... why are you here in the first place?

Comments back up and running

Had a little bit of a snafu with the comments on some of the posts -- that's been fixed now. So if you wanted to comment on a post ... comment away to your heart's content.

I'll be posting on the Supes later tonight or tomorrow. Holy crap. If this doesn't get the ball rolling on an arena, nothing will.

Sorry about that!

I know I said I'd have a post up on Sunday, but hey -- it was my wife's first Mother's Day! Then today, I was in training all day and away from a computer, only to emerge to 70 and sunny ... good time to get the lawn mowed and cars washed.

I'll try to get some Mariners thoughts up tomorrow. I also finished reading Game of Shadows yesterday, so I'll have some thoughts on that and Barry Bonds.

Thanks for stopping by.

Off to watch the M's; blog on hiatus until Sunday

I'm on my way to catch my first game at Safeco Field this year, and it hopefully will be a good one.

I'll be getting back late tonight and away from an Internet connection all day tomorrow, so I'll try to post some thoughts on Sunday. Have a great weekend!

New post hopefully this afternoon

Another busy, busy day here in high school journalism land as the kids prepare to go to press tonight. I'm hoping to get a post on the Mariners up this afternoon.

Until then, here's the question of the day: Who's the only guy in Seattle happy Jeff Weaver is a Mariner?

Answer to come in the post.

No posts for a couple of days

I'm out of town for the weekend with my wife, so you won't hear from me for a couple of days. See you on Monday.

Busy morning, hope to get a post up this afternoon

Um, yeah. Pretty much what the headline says.

Exciting new ways to get your hands on content from HWTN

I'm always on the lookout for ways to make it easier for readers to get their Hangin' With The Nuss fix. Like many of you, I know there's just something that's a little irritating about visiting a site 14 times a day to see if any new content is up, since I update it at different times of the day.

Fear not.

You now have more options than ever for getting my latest thoughts. Check down the right-hand side of the blog, and under the "About Me" piece, you'll see three new options for getting content delivered just the way you like it.

• Subscribe via e-mail: This is just what it says. Enter your e-mail address, then follow the confirmation link on the message that is sent to you and you'll be all set to receive daily content updates. The downside (or upside, depending on your perspective), is that it only sends you updates once a day, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. No instant notifications when content changes.
• Subscribe via RSS feed: This option is if you use an RSS reader, a great tool available through most every Web browser and e-mail client. The benefit here is that you get content delivered to you instantly when it's published. If you click on the link, it will take you to feedburner.com's feed site, which will help you get it into things like Google or My Yahoo. If you're just interested in the XML link, here it is. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read here. (Basically, RSS feeds keep you from having to visit a hundred sites a day to check for new content by delivering new stuff straight to you. Huge time saver once you learn how to use it.)
• Add blog to Technorati favorites: Use Technorati to keep track of your favorite blogs. Click on this link to get started.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions on getting any of that stuff set up, feel free to e-mail me here. Happy reading!