Wednesday, October 1, 2008

NBA Dramatique: An Introduction

I started my little blog here just to have a place where I could put my own two cents in regarding the activities of the NBA. I’ve liked having that place, but there have been a number of things working against me being able to turn the page into what I ultimately wanted it to be – a well-known forum for fans of my favorite sport to convene and converse. For starters, I wasn’t posting anything on a regular basis. I’ve always been a procrastinator, and the blog was certainly a victim. I’ve had big, big changes sweep through my life since I started the blog, and I wasn’t making a priority of my writing. Secondly, I didn’t see much point in busting my butt to put information out there that any web-savvy basketball fan could find on a dozen other sites. I realized that I needed to find a unique voice if I was going to bother speaking on the subject. I gave it a lot of thought over the summer, and I found the idea I was looking for.

What I’m going to attempt here is a fictionalized account of the NBA season as it happens. I don’t think this is going to interest everyone, but it interests me. I hope that my enthusiasm translates into something that at least a few people will enjoy following.

This idea came to me by looking for a way that I could express just how impressive and dramatic I find the game. I thought about the things that entertained me, not just in basketball, but all around. I've always liked stories. When I was a boy, I especially liked myths and other tales of heroic drama. I was a huge comic book fan for many years. Even as a kid playing with G.I. Joe or He-Man action figures, the story came first for me. I would think up plots or copy them from comics or shows, and then I would tell my younger brother what we needed to accomplish in that play session. Ridiculous, right? But this has carried over into many aspects of my adult life, and watching the NBA season unfold has never (for me) just been about guys playing a game. There are story-lines all over the place, and the more of them you know, the more you can enjoy what happens. I've tried to inject an other-worldly element into how I'll describe the game to you as a way of trying to express how awe-inspiring I believe the sport to be. I wanted to be able to show the super-human and fantastic elements of professional basketball without falling into the clichéd and over-used descriptions of the play-by-play commentator.

Here is a very important disclaimer: this is a work of fiction. The story will unfold in a way that is inspired by the real-world events of the NBA, but it is not necessarily meant to be seen as an editorial statement on the teams or players as portrayed. I don’t know any of the people that work for the NBA or play professional basketball. The names I use are representations of characters, inspired by real people, but not meant to be a reflection of any real person’s thoughts, attitudes, actions, or behavior. Think of it as a big epic fantasy sci-fi war story that I cast using the stars of the NBA. I love this game and I love the league, and the last thing I want is to offend anyone that is a real participant in the game. That being said, I have to make bad guys out of some of these people for dramatic effect. It’s nothing personal.

I’ll begin things by posting an introduction to one team each day leading up to the beginning of the season. My plan is to continue the story on a daily or near daily basis, all the way through the last game of the finals. I hope you enjoy this as the season progresses, and I hope I can see it through to the end. I’d love to get your feedback on what you think of the story.

1 comment:

  1. You know what, Jake? So far, I like what I've read and I'm looking forward to following your posts. I'm proud of you.

    MON

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