If this were any other day, I'd be elaborating on minor Bulls news that broker earlier. The Michael Jordan statue will soon return to its permanent location, though the construction by the United Center will render it inaccessible for half the upcoming season. Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotic will be opponents in Friday's U.S.-Spain Olympic semifinal, so at least one Bull is guaranteed to medal in Rio. But if I go on about these things, I'll bury the real reason I wanted to speak to you today.
For the past five seasons, since the 2011 NBA lockout ended in fact, I've given my personal take on every major issue facing the Bulls on this blog. While my job has affected the number of games I've been able to recap each year, I feel I've done a sufficient job keeping up. It's been a true labor of love that I've kept going even though the readership numbers have been less than impressive virtually all of the time.
As any journalist knows, low readership means less exposure. It's even more difficult to make yourself stand out when there are many other blogs like yours, plenty of which are written by minds who have greater knowledge and understanding of the subject matter than you. Obviously, it's a frustrating predicament, though not uncommon by any means. So sometimes, you need a push by way of an established brand.
That said, I would like to announce that, with the blessing of Chicago Tribune sports editor Joe Knowles, I am joining the team of Chicago Bulls Confidential, a ChicagoNow blog. They just had a change in leadership and were looking for new writers. I pitched some posts on this blog to new editor Mark Karantzoulis and just yesterday, he offered me the position. I won't be getting paid, so the only difference in my case, other than attracting more readers, is taking the bulk of my Bulls writing there.
What does this mean for Grabbing the Bull Horns? Even I don't know. It will probably depend on how things go at the new gig. But I do know this blog will likely be deprioritized.
I'm not sure how many other people are coming to Bulls Confidential, but it can be sure most, if not all of them will be lining up to talk about the games. If I'm able to talk about a game, but someone else is scheduled to recap it, I'll come back here and spill my thoughts as I always have. This is all speculation though, so don't take it as gospel.
I want to thank everybody who has taken the time to read Grabbing the Bull Horns these past four-and-a-half years. While this isn't goodbye to Blogger, it's my way of saying we need to lessen our contact for awhile. Please come hang with me at the next gig so you can see how much I'm sure to improve as a writer, both in general and about basketball. And until I return to this space right here, go Bulls!
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