Respect Kobe 2.0: Back to Beta

Think of this as a State of the Union address. Things have changed for me, and those things directly affect my ability to maintain a high level of involvement with RespectKobe.com. As a result, things are changing here at Respect Kobe, as well.

So I’m going to tell you a little about my life these days (sorry if that bores you), and I’m going to tell you what that means for the future of Respect Kobe.

As many of you know, in May of this year I moved from Oregon, where I had lived for 4¹/₂ years — far too long — to Kansas, where my wife’s family lives. The demands of moving resulted in a pretty slow period for Respect Kobe, but all of my regular readers/commenters were more than gracious, insisting that I take whatever time I needed to get settled.

The Playoffs were exciting and, ultimately, very difficult, for reasons that shouldn’t need to be explained. After the Lakers’ Game 6 loss, resulting in a Boston championship and a missed Lakers opportunity, I again disappeared for a while. Some, to be sure, presumed that the Lakers’ loss in the Finals was hard on me, or that I was silent because there wasn’t anything positive I could say about Kobe Bryant (his critics, of course, assume that I only write about him when there is something good to write — much like they only comment when there is something negative to highlight).

Nothing could be further from the truth. It took me a day, maybe two, to recover from the Lakers’ loss — mostly because, as an analyst, I took the Celtics to win in six once the Lakers lost Game 4, and so I was ready for it. After that short recovery, however, I was my old self again, and I had a lot that I wanted to say.

So why didn’t I say it?

Perhaps a rant from the “mouth” of Matt Moore, of growing Hardwood Paroxysm fame, says it best — and I recommend you read the whole thing. The simple truth is that basketball had consumed an inordinately large amount of what little free time I possessed for quite a long time. And it wasn’t just my wife needing more time with me, and being upset because she sometimes felt second to The Game — it was me, too. Kelly Dwyer may watch 10 hours of basketball per day — and he probably watches re-runs, “classics,” the Olympics, and Summer League during off-season to stave off NBA withdrawals — but that’s him, and it’s not something I can do.

I needed to spend more time with my wife. I needed to bring some balance back into my life. For that matter, I simply needed to sleep more. In retrospect, I probably should have “hung in there” until the final few things that needed to be said had been said, and then taken my break. But the mind and the body took over, instinctively, and removed me from basketball altogether.

This leads us into the discussion of elements that will directly affect the future of Respect Kobe: time and money.

As I wrote in June, I do not make money from RespectKobe.com. At that time, I had made a grand total of $7.95 from ads on this site. A month later, that total is up to $8.73. And of course, Google still requires that my total reach $100 before they’ll send me a check — so I still haven’t received a dime.

And that’s okay. I didn’t start this site with the idea of making money. I started it as a hobby, and I did so because I felt that many arguments in the general Kobe Bryant debate were poorly made, out-dated, or invalid — and that many others that should be made were missing. I felt like I could address all of those issues, so I set out to do so.

Over the course of the 2007-08 season, Respect Kobe evolved. It had started as a medium through which to tackle some of the overall arguments relating to Kobe Bryant. It soon became a place for all things Kobe. My aspirations, originally apologetic in nature, were transformed as I became enthralled with sports journalism — something I loved and felt I had knack for. I went from tackling overall issues in the Kobe Bryant debate to covering Kobe in a very present, journalistic mode.

I was excited. I loved it, and people seemed to enjoy my work. Hell, even my biggest critic — that would be me — enjoyed my work. I had found something I was both passionate about and good at, and I desperately longed to pursue it.

There was only one problem: I wasn’t making any money. (Did I already mention that?)

Given time and distance with which to find some perspective, I have come to see that this is not something that I can do at this level in my spare time. When I started this, I did most of my reading and writing at night, after my wife was asleep, averaging between three and four hours of sleep per night. But I’m not as young as I once was, and I can’t live on a steady diet of 3 hours per night, the way I once could.

I also can’t do this in my afternoons and evenings. While I write quickly — and I do write quickly, with very few drafts and revisions, if any — an article that meets my standards takes anywhere from four to eight hours to write, and that leaves me with zero time to do anything else. My wife deserves more, and I have other hobbies, goals, and of course, responsibilities.

And frankly, as much as I love doing this, I love my wife more — and neither you guys nor the joy I derive from silencing the Kobe haters is worth my marriage.

So I have come to the realization that unless (or, for the optimistic, until) I can get paid to do this — allowing me to write during “work hours,” rather than during family time, personal time, or sleep time — I’m going to have to scale this back quite a bit.

I hate that this comes down to money. I really do. But it’s a simple fact of life that you must make money to survive, and I have bills and other financial responsibilities that take precedence over time-consuming hobbies. Because of how much time and effort this requires, I simply can’t do this at this level while working at the same time. So, until I can do this instead of working (or as my work), the bills take precedence, and Respect Kobe gets the back burner.

I’m not talking about stopping my work here at Respect Kobe, altogether. I still intend to chip away at many of the nonsensical, irrational arguments made against Kobe Bryant, with the eventual goal of having created a resource that addresses most, if not all, of the major issues in the Kobe Bryant debate. It’s just going to take me a little bit longer — or maybe a lotta bit longer.

What, you’re probably asking, does this mean?

Well, when Respect Kobe really got going, I was writing anywhere from two to four articles per week. This means that you might get one or two per month, and maybe sometimes three. It means that some months, I might struggle to find the time for just one article.

It also means that I’m going to be spending less time covering Kobe Bryant from a journalistic perspective, in the present (like this, for example), and more time addressing the issues that have been disputed throughout his career (like this).

It means that if Kobe has a great game, you’re not likely to read my recap the next day, the way you did in the latter half of the 2007-08 season. Instead, I’ll be busy dissecting the Shaq vs. Kobe debate, and other such “bigger picture” issues.

It also means that I won’t be able to respond to comments as much as I have in the past. Some readers have expressed appreciation for my efforts, throughout this past season, to respond to virtually any comment of substance. My apologies in advance, and it saddens me to say this, but I won’t be able to do that as much anymore.

There you have it. That, in a nutshell, is the plan for the foreseeable future. Respect Kobe is going back to its roots (if such a thing can be said of something that is not yet seven months old).

I want to leave you with a couple of commitments that I’m making to you, my readers (or anyone who cares):

1. I promise that Respect Kobe isn’t going away — it’s just slowing down, and shifting its focus a bit.
2. I promise that if my situation ever changes — if I’m ever able to afford to dedicate a significant amount of my time to writing — that Respect Kobe will return to the level of operation you enjoyed earlier in 2008, and perhaps even beyond that, churning out articles just as quickly as I can write them.
3. Until then, I promise that I’ll do the best I can with what little time I have available to me.

Thanks for understanding, folks. And remember, the fact I’m not writing as much or as often doesn’t need to prevent you from stopping by and contributing your own thoughts.

Strength and Honor.