Bethlehem Shoals is the pen name of Nathaniel Friedman, a popular American journalist and sports blogger, specializing in U.S. and international basketball. He covers the NBA as the primary contributor to the blog Free Darko, which he co-founded in 2005. Additionally, Shoals has written regularly on the NBA for the following notable publications: the website of the literary journal McSweeney's; AOL Fanhouse and Deadspin, the world's two most trafficked sports blog sites; and the online edition of SLAM Magazine, among others. Shoals has recently begun contributing, alongside Dan Shanoff, to The Sporting Blog, part of Sporting News (Wikipedia bio).
Before we get into the book, I have a quick question about the early history of Free Darko. While digging into the archives of your site, I noticed your first post was published on 1/1/05. Was this a calculated move or the improvising effects of NYE alcohol?
We actually started the blog in February, but that post—the second, I think—ended up dated 1/1 because of our incompetence at the time. We ended up keeping it there so it kept as much of a Plymouth Rock feel to it.
Your 4th anniversary on the WWW is upon us. Are there any special plans to commemorate the experience, in addition to book? Perhaps a silk FD leisure suit added to the online store?
These anniversaries keep sneaking up on us. If anything, this year I'm thinking we should shut the site down for the occasion, or go into hibernation. If society/sports/art cycle through a generation every five years, than we're just about irrelevant. Why not go out with some of our dignity intact? I'm sorry, I'm still adjusting to the fact that Devin Harris is a superstar.
I would say "we'll make an FD anniversry hoodie," but really, for how many people does that anniversary really mean anything? So it's more an internal issue or pressure.
Tell us a little bit about the FD team and your collective vision for the book. How did you tackle the project using your complementary skill sets?
At the risk of stroking my own ego, I'm kind of the brains/ego/visionary behind the whole operation, and I write and edit a bunch. Big Baby Belafonte does all the art and design. Silverbird5000 handles graphs and stats. Dr. Lawyer IndianChief and Brown Recluse, Esq. do writing. How we work together depends on what we're doing. There are almost always some general discussions about format between BBB, myself, and anyone else involved. But mostly it's a lot of trickle-down, or trickle-sideways, collaboration, with hijacking and interference kept to a minimum once a direction's been decided.
Gilbert Arenas was rightfully included in the chapter titled 'Uncanny Peacocks.' He was also selected to pen the foreward to the book. Is there any Lord of the Flies symbolism here? How was Agent Zero chosen amongst the collective cast of NBA characters?
Arenas has always been the patron saint, or muse, or chief model, for FreeDarko, in the same way that the 2004-05 Suns or 2006-07 Warriors are for teams. He's far from perfect, and hasn't played in ages, but when he was on, no one came close to his ability to be weird and unique on and off the court while still being an extremel productive player. He made the whole team, maybe even the whole league, change their perspective just a little.
I swear that Kareem's jacket - "the jacket" - recently turned up in our Columbia University coat drive. Some lucky homeless person will soon receive this fringed benefit. Describe the inherent benefits of picking up a copy of the Macrophenomenal?
Wait, are you serious? I would love to own that thing, or make it the cornerstone of a museum. I would say that the inherent benefits of buying the book would be similar to those of having looked at photos of THE JACKET repeatedly, hoped to find more of them out there, and written at least 1,000 words in your head about what this garment means to Kareem and Andrew Bynum's development. Also you can help keep our Amazon ranking up, which is really all I have left in this world.
Before we get into the book, I have a quick question about the early history of Free Darko. While digging into the archives of your site, I noticed your first post was published on 1/1/05. Was this a calculated move or the improvising effects of NYE alcohol?
We actually started the blog in February, but that post—the second, I think—ended up dated 1/1 because of our incompetence at the time. We ended up keeping it there so it kept as much of a Plymouth Rock feel to it.
Your 4th anniversary on the WWW is upon us. Are there any special plans to commemorate the experience, in addition to book? Perhaps a silk FD leisure suit added to the online store?
These anniversaries keep sneaking up on us. If anything, this year I'm thinking we should shut the site down for the occasion, or go into hibernation. If society/sports/art cycle through a generation every five years, than we're just about irrelevant. Why not go out with some of our dignity intact? I'm sorry, I'm still adjusting to the fact that Devin Harris is a superstar.
I would say "we'll make an FD anniversry hoodie," but really, for how many people does that anniversary really mean anything? So it's more an internal issue or pressure.
Tell us a little bit about the FD team and your collective vision for the book. How did you tackle the project using your complementary skill sets?
At the risk of stroking my own ego, I'm kind of the brains/ego/visionary behind the whole operation, and I write and edit a bunch. Big Baby Belafonte does all the art and design. Silverbird5000 handles graphs and stats. Dr. Lawyer IndianChief and Brown Recluse, Esq. do writing. How we work together depends on what we're doing. There are almost always some general discussions about format between BBB, myself, and anyone else involved. But mostly it's a lot of trickle-down, or trickle-sideways, collaboration, with hijacking and interference kept to a minimum once a direction's been decided.
Gilbert Arenas was rightfully included in the chapter titled 'Uncanny Peacocks.' He was also selected to pen the foreward to the book. Is there any Lord of the Flies symbolism here? How was Agent Zero chosen amongst the collective cast of NBA characters?
Arenas has always been the patron saint, or muse, or chief model, for FreeDarko, in the same way that the 2004-05 Suns or 2006-07 Warriors are for teams. He's far from perfect, and hasn't played in ages, but when he was on, no one came close to his ability to be weird and unique on and off the court while still being an extremel productive player. He made the whole team, maybe even the whole league, change their perspective just a little.
I swear that Kareem's jacket - "the jacket" - recently turned up in our Columbia University coat drive. Some lucky homeless person will soon receive this fringed benefit. Describe the inherent benefits of picking up a copy of the Macrophenomenal?
Wait, are you serious? I would love to own that thing, or make it the cornerstone of a museum. I would say that the inherent benefits of buying the book would be similar to those of having looked at photos of THE JACKET repeatedly, hoped to find more of them out there, and written at least 1,000 words in your head about what this garment means to Kareem and Andrew Bynum's development. Also you can help keep our Amazon ranking up, which is really all I have left in this world.
2 comments:
I linked you up on my blog - Thanks in advance for the return. Good luck!
I linked you. Good luck with the blog and thanks for the return exposure.
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