Fear Not, Diehards! Times’ Hoops Blog Will Thrive

I generally make the assumption that if you’re reading Montlake Madness, you probably also read The Seattle Times’ Husky Men’s Basketball Blog. In fact, I’m sure at least some of you do because I got a bunch of emails this week asking me what I thought about the change in authorship over there. Here goes:

As I’ve written before, I didn’t grow up a Husky fan — I grew up in New York City where college hoops hasn’t really had a logical team to root for since the Felipe Lopez “tease” era at St. John’s (when the entire city thought the team was on its way to big things, but it wasn’t).

When we moved here a few years ago, I had a kind of tough time being so far from my Mets, Knicks and Jets, and I craved something local to root for. Shortly after we moved here, a friend took me to a Husky basketball game against Cal — I remember we won that night by virtue of a late run triggered by a couple of Ryan Appleby three balls — and I’ve watched every game since.

I sunk my teeth into everything I could read about the team, which included, more than anything else, reading Bob’s coverage. Bob’s writing is a big part of the reason that, like many of you, the Huskies are “my team” now. I’m thankful for that.

So, Bob’s moving on now and Percy Allen is taking over. Percy’s covered basketball for the paper for over ten years, formerly as the beat writer covering the Sonics. He sometimes made a cameo on Bob’s blog, always providing a slightly different look, but great writing and insightful opinion.

And that’s really what this change comes down to for readers: a different look. It seems like a small number of readers are concerned about what’s going to change, but why worry? I’m looking forward to seeing if Percy covers a pre-game column a little bit differently, or has a different take on Coach LoRo’s in-game decisions, or whether he can dominate the Pac-10 picks each week.

And, keep in mind that we’re lucky — not every team has so much free, dedicated coverage. I know this well, because when I’m doing research for a post, I’m often stuck with some pretty lame stuff to pick through when reading about other teams.

The Seattle Times’ beloved Men’s College Basketball Blog is being handed off from one talented, experienced beat writer to another. And, of all things in this world to be concerned about, someone bringing new energy and a new look to one of my favorite sites just doesn’t rate for me. I’ve loved what I’ve seen so far, and I’m looking forward to more from Percy as the season grows nearer.

The fast-growing readership at Montlake Madness is a source of pride, and I intend on bringing you the fan’s perspective on Husky basketball as long as you keep showing up. That said, if you aren’t reading the Times’ Husky Hoops Blog, you’re missing way too much of the best coverage available about “our college hoops team.”