How Does This Work Again?

[*dusts off keyboard*]

How does one go about apologizing to his thousands hundreds dozens handful of loyal readers after inexcusably disappearing for over a year?

Well, for starters, I think I would say that if you are actually here reading this, I truly appreciate you sticking around all this time.  Then, I would let you know about how painful this past year was, both in terms of not being able to bring you the Pulitzer-worthy writings you had grown to love and expect from my little corner of the world wide web, and the actual reason I became so suddenly unavailable.  Finally, I would tell you how sorry I am, hope you can forgive me, and promise I am a changed man and that things will be better than they were before my indiscretion (cause, you know, apparently this is now also Lifetime's next drama about a lover scorned . . . don't worry, I didn't spend the last year trying to make up for sins committed against My Better Half; a wise man knows when he has massively out-kicked his coverage and does everything in his power not to screw that up.)

Long story short, people left our firm, which resulted in a little game I like to call "Shuffle the Associates."  Now, I work by a motto my father taught me: "Work Hard; Have Fun; Make Money."  The theory is, if you work hard, and have a little fun while doing it, you are going to be successful (make money).  Well, when the game came to an end, I end up being assigned to partner of firm whose motto, if he had one, would be: "Work Hard, Work Harder, You're Not Working Hard Enough, WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM WITH WORK?"  This might come as a surprise to you, but it turns out that is (1) not a fun environment to work in, (b) may cause some employees to resent you; and (iii) does not create a very productive work experience (shocking, right?).  While I never let it break me, it certainly did restrict my ability to enjoy the creative outlet that is GameTime, TBD©.  I kept fighting the good fight, grinding it out, and eventually I was able to find my way onto a team with a partner whose operating philosophy is more in line with mine.  In the words of William Wallace . . . FREEDOM!!!!!!!

Now, I can not guarantee it will be business as usual around these parts.  I have got to find my mojo again; and there will certainly be times when work gets in the way; but I love sharing my wisdom with you all too much to not make this happen.  So much has happened in the past year, I have plenty of ideas on how to make GameTime, TBD© better than ever, both in terms of user experience and content.  In just writing these first few paragraphs, I can already feel the excitement returning.  So stick around, it is bound to be a great show.

Well I finish getting things back up and running, reaching out to my contacts, and crafting my battle plan for continuing world domination, here are some things you might have missed from the past week to get you through your Friday afternoon.  That is right, my dear readers, it is Link Dump time:

• It is rivalry week here in Los Angeles, so naturally this and this happened.  GO BRUINS!
• Dear NCAA, Just a friendly reminder that your mission is to protect student athletes and their future.  Kthxbye.
• Somewhere Herm Edwards is reminding people "You PLAY. TO WIN. THE GAME."
• When do the owners cancel Gary Bettman's life?
• Surprising absolutely no one, this happened at a Cleveland Browns game.  Oh, Cleveland.
• Last time I checked a map, Cincinnati and Louisville were west of Philadelphia.  Did someone re-align the country again without telling me?   
• Hey bro, probably should have thought this one through a little more before going to print.
• Not very often you can say a team scored 104 points in a high school football game and did not run up the score.
• With Thanksgiving right around the corner, the end of the year is nearly upon.  And that means all those "Best of the Year" lists the Chief hates so much.  Like this one, that proves sports and innuendos go hand-in-hand.
• Speaking of Thanksgiving, that means it is time for Black Friday sales.  If you are headed to Williams Sonoma, here is some advice.
• In non-sports related news, do yourself a favor and check out the image.

I guess it is true what they say, some things in life truly are just like riding a bike.  You get back on and get going. [Editor's Note: that's what she said!]  It feels really good to be back in the driver's seat, so let us keep this party train moving forward.  First we tickled your brain, now we tickle your eyes . . . and may a few other places:

• When we last spoke, "model" Melanie Iglesias was flipbooking her way into your heart with some Halloween costumes.  As luck would have, she released a new flipbook today in an effort to untz-untz her way back into your heart.
• What, was Rebecca Black not available?
• I am sorry, what?
• Nice tats boss . . . oh, and that goal was pretty solid too.  [Editor's Note: speaking of tats, wow . . . just wow . . .]
• You see . . . I . . . uh . . . well . . .
• Exactly how does one break a rib and three vertebrae?  Oh, that does not look like fun.
• Current favorite word of the week: equinophobia.
• What do you get when cross the Galapagos Islands with the Miss Reef calendar girls?  One ass-tastic piece of art.

Man, it feels good to be back.  Have a great weekend everyone!