Well Hello There!

First question: How in the hell do you start one of these things? Seriously, I've been sat here for literally 15 minutes trying to come up with a good intro for my blog contributions. It went something like this, "Type crap, delete crap. Type crappier crap, delete crappier crap". Ad Infinitum.

Second question: Will anybody actually read it anyway?

Hopefully the answer to quetion number two is yes. Obviously we'll be looking at a flow of traffic directly from the Smash Lives forum but what else can we do here that can attract, and hold, the attention of the masses?

Well, firstly, I intend to use my blog to get my thoughts out there on issues that mean a lot to me. We could be talking football, pro wrestling, food, tv, music, beer, books, Glasgow or even the reason we don't have Tab Clear over here anymore. I guess you'll just have to log on and come for the ride, whether it be a slow, rambling piece on the state of the world or a high octane rollercoaster of emotions as I dive into the many reasons why Scottish football is so utterly shit right now. Well, maybe not a rollercoaster but that particular subject should make for a bumpy trip.

Secondly, I like talking. Although I am quite a shy person in general, if you get me started on something that matters to me then more often than not you'll be confronted with an altogether different beast, one that has a lot to say for itself. Where better for me to undergo this transformation than on our brand new Smash Lives blog?

So, that's it for now on the welcome front but look out for my first blog of note in the near future which will be a quirky autobiographical piece about me that I hope will serve as an interesting introduction for those that don't know me.

Cheers

Anthony

Wilcommen Bienvenue Welcome!

Hi everyone, and welcome to SmashBlogs!

A bit of history to start...

For years now we've had the Smash forum community. Starting out as an offshoot of the SmashWrestling site, what was a wrestling forum soon became "Smashlife" - a site for discussing pretty much anything. And we did. We saw Dis-X, the rise of Shibby-ness, Spurs v Arsenal debates (a lot of them...), Alan Lee worshipping, fantasy baseball/football/march madness, movies, music, short lived quizzes, games that never ended, great jokes, bad jokes...it was great

Unfortunately and for unknown reasons, the site went down last year. A small group of us stayed in touch on Facebook or independantly, but our online clubhouse was gone. After a few months, I got a job as a professional Forum moderator and that made me think about whether we could bring back the good old days. I spoke with the guys, found out they would be up for it too and lo! Smash was reborn as http://www.smashlives.com/! Word went out and, whilst we're still short a few guys, the team is back together again.

The thing is, whilst we can talk about pretty much anything in the forum, it tends to be short bursts of read-respond-read between people who know have known each other for years. Blogging is different - you can make a long and serious point yourself about what you wantever to talk about - just put it out there without thinking "will this start a conversation...?" And a lot of us have a lot to say. Plus, of course, we want to bring new people in, to keep the forum growing and vibrant.

So I spoke with my fellow Mods - Sweatsock and BoD - and we decided that we to bring in something different, a new angle. Hence SmashBlogs...Some of the biggest posters on the boards getting the chance to stretch their legs and show the world what they're really thinking.

Enjoy...and then come meet the bloggers on the boards!

Garibaldi