Gilbert Arenas has become this season one of the fan favorites in the NBA. If you want to know why, read this post. If you've ever wanted to know what a pro athlete thinks while playing, or how he reacts to the bizarre world of pro sports, read this post. If you hate Skip Bayless, read this post.
Gilbert is probably the first of many pro athletes to really embrace the internet, to reach out to his fans and the world at large and let them into his world. It helps that he's articulate, funny, and insightful, and that's a rare combination in or out of pro sports. For the last few years, I've wondered why more athletes don't keep a blog/journal. I don't because I can't imagine many people being interested in my life. But these people regularly perform in front of tens of thousands of people, who buy merchandise with their name on it and know more details of their career than they do the careers of close friends or family members. How can their private lives not be interesting to some people? I love reading awkward draft diaries with lines like "I went golfing a couple of times and saw some a bunch of movies. Daddy's Little Girls is a good one to check out." But Gilbert's blog is not just interesting, it's fun. And I think there have to be more funny, articulate, insightful athletes out there who are going to see his success and say, "hey, hang on, I can do that."
If Robert Smith were playing today, he would have a blog.
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