Last week I realized something. If I’m going to put some news out into the world, I better make sure the site can handle it. I’ve been in the process of evaluating different providers, and I found that I should have some headroom to handle large bursts of traffic should it come this way. There are other things I need to cover too such as caching, which will be part of the ongoing work here.
You may remember the five-part Lew Wolff interview from 2011 (Part 5). If you havent read it, do so. This blog format allows for the kind of expansive interview on display there that isn’t possible in a tightly edited form of media such as print. I know that you come here for expansive coverage, and I do my best to deliver it. To ensure that this work continues, I’m asking for donations, just as I did for the Wolff interview.
I’m asking for $10 or more, if you can afford it. The donations will help pay for ongoing site costs, travel expenses for meetings in Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, and elsewhere. There’s a donate link to the left which will get you to PayPal. This worked quite well before, so I’m going with the same method this time around. This is not a request that I expect to make more than on an annual basis.
What will you get? Well, let me explain a few things. A handful of you know that I’ve been working on a book based on this blog. The book will not simply be a reprinting of articles. It will be fully chronological narrative of everything that has happened, going as far back as the early Finley and Haas eras. This book can’t be finished until some decision is rendered regarding the A’s future in Oakland and the Bay Area, which has frustrated me to some degree.
Until that’s all squared away, I’d like to offer a digest version of all of the important articles on this blog. It will include all of the analysis and opinion pieces written from 2005 to the present. News recaps will not be included. I’ve already been organizing all of this information for the purposes of the long book, so editing it for what I’ll call the blog archive is a relatively trivial matter. The blog archive won’t be ready this week, but I promise that it’ll be ready early during spring training. Included will be a preface, which won’t be posted on the blog. Like last time, I’ll provide a ZIP file containing multiple formats (PDF, ePub, Mobi for Kindle). If you’re interested, I may provide the archive organized by topic or in chronological order or both. I’m open to suggestions. I’m also exploring Apple’s iBooks format, though that’s probably for something else down the road which may involve a Kickstarter campaign or something similar…
Anyway, I appreciate your support and readership all these years. I’ll try not to blow a gasket putting together the archive, so that the tome gets to you as soon as possible.
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Regards,
M.L.
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P.S. – I should warn you that having written 1,700+ posts here, and the average length of each post being 500 words, even if I pull out a lot of the chaff the archive could look downright encyclopedic. That would preclude any chance of an actual print volume, though I suppose no one’s stopping you from printing parts of the PDF out. As I get closer to finishing the editing, I’ll provide an update on the length. Look at it this way: if you’re paying by the word, it’s CHEAP.
newballpark.org 
OT: there’s a bar called McCoveys in Walnut Creek? A’s territory? What kind of @&$% bull shit is that?! A’s to San Jose soon! (Don’t worry RM, I’ll hook you up soon $)
Lol at all the 49er fans…NOW SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN….STILL RAIDER NATION WILL WIN A SUPERBOWL BEFORE THE 40 WHINERS…ENOUGH
Is this tax-deductible?
@pjk – Despite the .org domain, the blog is not organized as a non-profit or 501(c)(3) organization, so no, donations are not tax-deductible.
Special CalTrain ticket option posted today for tomorrow: 49ers Parade
@ Berry – Shouldn’t the Raiders make it to playoffs, much less have a winning season before entertaining any thoughts about a Super Bowl victory? I guess the “commitment to excellence moniker” is devoid of things like class….
@ML – I would suggest you tie the donation into a “premium” membership for this site (possibly showing that in the names somehow).
“I wish I had Carson Palmer instead of those pesky draft picks”-No One, Ever, Anywhere.
Thanks M.L.!! it’s been a very, very long time waiting for a stadium, and the coverage of events in Oakland, San Jose, and at one time Fremont, are very much appreciated.
A book, including history back through Finley & Hass would be awesome!!
Great game yesterday. All that homophobia by the 49ers was atrocious.
eb, Culliver? Or was there more?
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Anyway, I have made my donation! Keep on kicking ass ML.
jeffery,http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/gets-better-movement-pulls-49ers-video-two-players-214212867–nfl.html Left a bad taste in my mouth. That kind of attitude is hard to root for (along with Moss and Harbaugh.)
ML – haven’t posted before, but I never miss a post. Thanks for the good work, and some $ is on it’s way.
@ eb – what attitude is that? One idiot kid spewed forth homophobic remarks, but many distanced themselves from it and even some embraced their former teammates (K. Harris) coming out. I don’t see what two guys who didn’t know what video they were shooting for had anything to do with the rest of the team?
eb, hadn’t seen that. Of course, when you throw that into the context of the shit storm that hit Culliver for what he said (And he deserved every ounce of that shit storm. Bigotry shouldn’t be tolerated in any of it’s ridiculous forms), I’d probably not want to comment on anything remotely involving a controversial topic at all.
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I was particularly impressed with Jered Weaver’s take on a gay baseball player int he face of Robert Fick’s jerkishness. Also, Delanie Walker said some smart things on the topic.
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Not that homophobia is rare in professional sports. It makes me smile every time I hear anyone talk about gay people in some stupid way… Because, the joke is on them. They don’t even know that they know gay people. The gay people are too normal for them to realize it 🙂
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Anyway, I am a 49ers fan. I was excited to see them play so well in the playoffs and wish they would have won the game. You won’t hear me say bad things about any other team (or it’s fans or players) because it is the same as when the A’s lost in the playoffs, yet the Giants won the World Series. Many of my fellow A’s fans spit sour grape juice all over the place. I won’t do that.
Lotsa whining from the 49er organization.
Hey anon 49ers suck and u guys moving into Santa Clara empty handed. Sit down dude.
I vote we change Berry’s alias to Ruben Sierra….
oh, was that just a high road route to VI?
@ Jeffrey – I doubt he’ll get it, but I see you did! :X
@ ML – donation sent
@ berry so the raiders nation will win a SB before the 49ers will? starting when? Let see Raiders last SB ’83 guess you were not around for niner sb in 88, 89 and 94. But i understand when your bitter your bitter lol…
The A’s deserve better, which, unfortunately, is looking like a French-speaking city north of the Border. Faults, in order: Giants ; California Voters.