Only kidding. It’s just us.
When Denton and I started this silly-ass blog back in 2004, we did it for one reason: It was cheaper than therapy. And in the aftermath of the 2003 ALCS, we needed a whole lotta that stuff to ease the pain and, particularly in Denton’s case, get back into solid foods. Two jerks riffing on the Red Sox. Just like we’d do at the bar, or the picnic table, or the local Jiffy Lube. Plain and simple.
Since then, well, things have been good. The Sox won two World Series, which is two more than I ever expected to see in my lifetime. More surprisingly, this site has taken on a life of its own. We were approached to compile our 2004 scribblings into a book. We appeared on TV a couple times to talk about our blog (I still threaten to upload our infamous interview on WBZ which features, among other things, Denton and I playing wiffle ball). We were asked to contribute to FanHouse’s inaugural season and ESPN’s Face of the Franchise project (where I still enjoy seeing my name next to Amalie Benjamin’s). Deadspin named us one of the three best Sox blogs. And Jerry Remy actually uttered the words “Surviving Grady” during a NESN telecast.
But the sweetest thing of all, without sounding too Nat King Cole, has been seeing the ever-increasing number of folks who’ve hopped on board this train wreck of a blog. The folks who make Surviving Grady part of a nutritious albeit slightly goofy breakfast. The people who have made our comments section and game threads among the most entertaining in the blogosphere and spread the gospel among the unwashed masses. The people who take time out of their schedules to write us, send us tips and recipes and carpet-cleaning instructions. Basically, the folks who seem to “get” whatever the hell it is we’re doing here. We honestly can’t thank you guys and girls and ex-cons enough for being a part of this.
Your dedication also helped us land two nominations in the New England Sports Blog Awards, in the “Best Red Sox Blog” and the “Best New England Sports Blog” categories. We’re not quite sure what to make of it (we’d have put some of our favorite Sox sites, like Jere’s or Ian’s or the incomparable Chad Finn’s over ours any day). But we thank you for your support, and are quite humbled by it, actually. Also, as there’s a cash prize involved, we’re willing to swap free hugs for your votes, which can be submitted here.
This week marks the fifth anniversary of the week we launched this thing. We can’t promise you that we’re getting any wiser or better. But we can promise that we’re gonna keep doing what we’ve been doing since day one, and hope that you’ll stick around.
Oh, and by the way, Denton and I will be liveblogging tonight’s game along with a couple Devil Rays bloggers at the invite of Baseball Daily Digest. We’ll have a post with details and whatnot before gametime. Come root for the home team!
Thank you. And now, back to “Bruce Hornsby’s Celebrity Rodeo.”
