As some of you know, one of my favorite blogs is Fire Joe Morgan. As some of you may also know, I have a slight problem with anonymous writing. If a man won't tie his name to his writing, well then, in my humble opinion, he's just another piece of shit human crying fire in a crowded theatre. Nevethereless, some of my favorite bloggers write anonymously. Recently, this included Ken Tremendous from Fire Joe Morgan.
He and his ilk outed themselves (I'd link to it, but I'm lazy) and let us know who they are and what they do.
And in my humble opinion, that's the way it should be.
I am Nathan DeGraaf. This is not my fault. My parents named me. I could have been Gilbert DeGraaf or Demetrius DeGraaf or even Jason DeGraaf. But they picked Nathan. So that's my name and there's nothing I can do about it. But it's mine and I'm happy to tie me to it.
Now, as some of you know, there comes a time when us internet folks, because we make seed money doing this shit (if any), must sacrifice our names to get careers. It will happen to me and it has happened to other PIC writers (Rebello). Life's a bitch and I can understand all that. Sometimes, the way that it has to work is not the way that we want it to work. And if you don't believe me, talk to Germany.
At any rate, the folks at FJM outed themsleves. And they basically spent a few years ripping on every shitty piece of sports writing on the web. And now their subjects can find them. And, as a guy who got death threats for writing a to-do-list for the women of America back in the day, I understand the risk. It can get a little scary.
I'm not a critic and I spend very little time critisizing writers (though I have), not because I'm above it , but because there's more competition for critics and I'd rather just be a writer. Everyone's a critic, as the saying goes, and I am not everyone. But whatever.
The boys at Fire Joe Morgan, for whatever reason, wanted their real names out there. And I say, “fuck yeah.” Because being real is what makes writing on the internet better than writing anywhere else. We can say what we want without editors. We can root for Ron Paul, celebrate blowjobs and dedicate our lives to the search for something better without worrying about what some company wants us to say.
But when we do it anonymously, we're just pussies throwing eggs at cars and walking away whistling.
FJM has come clean. And now they're for real.
As my dad always said, “You gotta respect your name. It's the only one you got.”
I've never done a cheers or jeers gimmick (again, I ain't no critic) but I gotta hand it to the boys at FJM for putting their Johnny Hancocks on the chopping block.
Your move, Big Daddy Drew (KSK).
Your move.