Special thanks to Pleasant Dreams: An Atlanta Dream Blog for doing a better job tracking down other WNBA fan blogs on the net than I have done. Blogging is a "hobby" which garners much more enthusiasm when you begin than when you do it for a long time, and it is inspiring to see a new blogger really doing some of the things I have thought about before but never gotten around to doing. My blogroll has been updated with some of the blogs I found over at this site.
It has been really exciting watching the growth of WNBA coverage via the fan blogging community over the past four years. Many of my old favorites have fallen into neglect (I miss your insights into the Australian leagues and the Opals, Keegan!) but some real bright spots have moved in to take their place. Bloggers write mostly for themselves, but I think we all are inspired when we know that our work is being read and, hopefully, enjoyed by others. I know that for the first few years I had little to no comment/interaction with readers, and that I do appreciate the feedback and questions that I get. I have also made the electronic acquaintance of some people for whom I have developed a great respect with regards to their knowledge of and passion for the sport. I encourage everyone to traverse the blogrolls of this and other blogs and interact with the writers, it keeps us thinking and inspires new ideas for us.
As a niche sport, the internet offers a unique way to build and grow fandom which the WNBA has wisely chosen to nurture. It offers a way to build even more devoted, enthusiastic current fans and a way to nurture new fans that come along. Forum sites like Stormfans.org and Rebkell's Junkie Boards offer great places for fans to congregate, bicker, rejoice and commiserate with a large international community that exceeds the local fan bases and enriches our enjoyment of the sport.
So in addition to thanking the other bloggers, I want to take a moment to thank people like Crow, Norwester, TDAO, pd_swanson, shesgotgame, everyone at Women's Hoop Blog and others who have take the time to say hi in person at Storm games, drop an email to chat about the league or general statistical analysis or just to toss out constructive commentary, ideas and/or questions.
Of course, most importantly, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this blog entry, whether you are a regular reader picking it up by RSS feed or a browser bookmark or a new reader who got here from a Google search (the majority of unique hits to this site come straight from Google.)