The Sultan is Back

Thirty-four years ago on this day, I was born in the Salem General Hospital in Salem, Oregon. For as many years since that day that I can remember, I have been a fan of baseball. Over the last decade, my fandom has spread to football, basketball, The Olympics and occasionally lacrosse and others. But the love of baseball has always remained number one in my heart and mind.

In 2003, I began writing for a website that was launching here with dreams of also printing a newspaper. When the founder of the website was arrested for various tax-related crimes, one of the other employees took over the website and distanced itself from the former founder. We went on for a few years covering local Oregon sports. In 2005 our dream of newsprint came true with the first print of The Oregon Tailgater. We weren’t around for very long before we realized that there was just no advertising dollars in print media anymore, at least not new publications.

I have spent the last several years writing on various websites, on community blog sites and on my own blog trying to stay in the game. Over the past 2 years or so however, I have really felt out of it. My job takes a lot out of me physically and mentally too I’m afraid. In 2010, I posted 39 articles on my latest blog “The Sultan of Squat”. In 2011, just 13 posts made it on. And in 2012, I wrote something only 6 times, the last being in April.

Why am I bringing all of this up? Because it’s a new year, both on the calendar and for me and I have decided I am not going to let the confines of my job hold me back from what I truly love anymore. I am not going to force myself to have a perfect opinion in the waiting before I share it with the world. I am not going to force myself to talk about other sports or topics that I don’t really care to share a genuine opinion on. From here on, The Sultan of Squat will talk about baseball and if the mood strikes me, I may chime in on NFL, NBA and college sports. But like the name for which mine was based, I will be dedicated to MLB coverage.

I hope this doesn’t deter a lot of people. I know that MLB has lost a lot of favor with general sports fans. But I truly believe that it is still America’s Pastime and can become the love of the nation once again. Hopefully, with a little help from me, that can be true.

I’m not gonna guarantee how many posts I will create in 2013, nor am I going to say when I will post next. I just hope you are all willing to read the ramblings of a 34-year-old man talking about baseball when the time comes. I am tired of reading articles online or listening to coverage on MLB Network or ESPN and hearing an analyst say something and having my wife turn to me and say, “Hey, you just said that the other day.” I have spent the better part of my life studying baseball; watching it, reading about it, writing about it, collecting baseball cards. It has been a major part of my life and I’d like to think I know what I’m talking about.

I’ll let you decide. Stay tuned America.

The Sultan is stepping up to the plate.