Just over a year ago, I started SonicsCentral.com with the noble, if cocky hope, of making the best Sonics fan website on the internet. Little did I know then how far this site would come in such a short period or where it would take me.

I began writing about the Sonics, first at BskBALL.com and later here, as merely a hobby . . . a chance to share my crazy rantings about the Sonics with a captive audience. It soon became apparent to me that I wanted to write about basketball as more than a hobby, to make it my living. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly easy to break into this business, especially for someone like me with no newspaper experience whatsoever. As a result, when my cousin pointed out an ad to me in the UW’s Daily and I saw the opportunity to write for Supersonics.com, there was never any doubt in my mind that I had to go for it.

Now that I’ve gone through the interview process and actually gotten the job with the Sonics, the feeling is as well described yesterday in the SC message boards - bittersweet. I’m extremely excited (and quite nervous too) about starting my internship with the Sonics, but at the same time I’m saddened to leave behind the great times and great people at SonicsCentral.

In truth, however, I don’t really feel I’m leaving you guys (and EJLover) behind. You’ll still all be able to read my writing, and I’ll definitely continue to at least read the columns, news reports, and discussion here, if not join in the discussion. As well, my various e-mail addresses (though I probably won’t be able to be reached through my hoopsworld account anymore; I suppose I’ll keep kpelton@sonicscentral.com) and AIM screen name are readily available for you to get in contact with me, which I really do encourage you to do since I obviously loving talking Sonics with all the readers and posters.

My feeling throughout this process has been that even if I could not take an active role, I definitely wanted to see this site continue. To that end, I am working on putting together a “coalition” to jointly run the website which should become clearer in the coming days (if you have any interest in being a part of this coalition, please e-mail me). At the risk of completely losing my modesty, I don’t think any one person has the time, energy, and skills to do all of what I do for the site on a daily basis. With a strong leadership group, however, I think this site can continue to thrive. A week and a half ago, when SonicsCentral celebrated its first birthday (in a strange coincidence, that was also the day I interviewed for the job), a number of posters seemed to clearly associate the site’s success with me. I don’t think that’s fair. If this was just me posting columns, I might have a handful of readers, but assuredly not the community that exists right now. What’s important in my opinion is that SonicsCentral has always offered a wide spectrum of opinions, whether through various columns or in the active and intelligent message board. It’s the quality of the community as a whole that keeps this site running, and I don’t see that changing in the future.

Not mentioned above was that I started the site in large part to fill what I perceived as a ‘void’ in coverage of the Sonics. Between the three local papers, I think we get a good cross-section of news about the team. However, there is painfully little original commentary about the Sonics, which is one thing I have emphasized here. Also, Supersonics.com and the print media naturally have to target a broader cross section of fan than the diehard who ‘bleeds green and gold’ this site has reached out to. As I go on in what is hopefully a lengthy career writing about the NBA, now my goal is no longer to ‘fill’ any void, but eliminate it. I don’t want anyone expecting me to do the same thing I do here at Supersonics.com, but I do hope to provide more and better content in the future, ambitious as that may be. To that end, I’d encourage everyone to e-mail me suggestions for what you’d like to see on the site. I can’t promise to make them reality, but I can guarantee you they’ll be considered.

Finally, I’d like to take this last opportunity to thank everyone who’s been involved with making SonicsCentral a success from day one. That has to start with my cousin, without whom there would be no site, or it would all be .bmp pictures and unformatted text. Next I’d like to thank all of the various columnists over the past year or so, notably Heavy, Ontario, and SFS, who have the most columns after me. Also, Grumpy D, who was instrumental in the creation of the history section (though it’s one of my biggest regrets that this still remains unfinished). Thanks to Chuckballer, who did try to help with the site design, though who knows if we’ll ever get to use his work. Also, thanks to everyone who’s contributed to the SonicsCentral message boards, from our most active posters like GM Brumdog (who’s almost matched me in the time he’s been here) to those who only posted a handful of times. Again, let me reiterate that it’s all of you who have made and will continue to make this website a success.

Kevin Pelton has served as beat writer, columnist, editor, copy editor, and webmaster for SonicsCentral.com since its inception. He also writes a weekly column for Hoopsworld.com and is a student at the University of Washington in his spare time. The Candid Corner is updated every Monday. Kevin can be reached at kpelton@sonicscentral.com. All opinions expressed in this column are solely the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other columnists or the SonicsCentral.com staff.

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