I will be entering in to my fifth season covering the Denver Nuggets for Denver Stiffs. It’s hard to imagine it’s been that long, to be perfectly honest. I’ve managed to entertain/bore with my long form articles on Nuggets history and the like, maybe a couple articles about social issues as they impact the NBA. I hope to continue to do so for a long time.

Yet, I am here today to address a scourge that plagues the blogging community as we enter in to the dregs of the NBA offseason. This blight affects everyone, without discrimination. You may know someone in your life who has suffered from the following symptoms: Lethargy, irritability, constant looking up at the ceiling … as if searching for something, absent-mindedness, increased wrinkles on forehead from constant furrowing and finally … explosive diarrhea. Wait. Scratch that last one….. ahem.

Anyway, when the offseason rolls around, I've found that the time's I've spent staring blankly at the screen, wondering what the hell to write increase by a wide margin as opposed to during the season. There's something about the constant movement of the season, along with breaking news that keeps everything flowing. When one thing drops off, another thing comes up. Topics abound. Then the offseason rolls around and toward August you are left to your own devices. Creativity needs to be produced out of whole cloth rather than set before you on a silver platter.

That used to be no problem at all.

As the years have rolled along I have found myself coming up with an idea, and then a split second later I wonder if I’m repeating myself. I think Have I written this article on Danilo Gallinari before? (insert snickering from the Denver Stiffs readership). So I paralyze myself with doubt, and then whatever idea I had is gone in a fit of confusion and banging my head on my desk. It happens when you’ve written as many articles, game previews, recaps and news posts as myself (as I’m sure Andrew and Nate can attest to)

Just this week I sent a text to my buddy Nate, telling him I quite literally had nothing in my head to write. Nate, kindly, stepped up to the plate and produced a fine article on Dick Bavetta's retirement. Something I should have, and probably did, think of before I was left curled into the fetal position … weeping at the top of my lungs. I've been working on this massive article for the better part of a month and the sheer amount of research I've put in to it has dwarfed other things. When it's done I'm sure it will be in my usual lugubrious/boring style that you all enjoy/hate so much.

One of the greatest things about the NBA is it's constancy. If I was covering the NFL, I think I would have reached some sort of existential burnout halfway through the preseason. Pondering about what life really means. Waiting a week between games leads to repetitiveness and that's one thing I can't stand. How many times can you hear John Fox say in his hoarse voice "You know, any time you have a situation, umm, you just have to deal with the thing and then, you know it's next man up." If I was a reporter covering that I would find my inner happy place VERY quickly. That's not a criticism of the NFL as much as it is the tremendous blanks you need to fill in as a reporter due to the massive amounts of down time.

You get addicted to the fast pace of the NBA season. Yes, it has it's doldrums … but there's always something going on. A game to cover. This is one of the many reasons I love writing about my favorite team for Denver Stiffs.

800 words on writers block is an odd contradiction. I'm aware of this. Yet even as I write this I'm wondering what to compose for my next article as I await the completion of the big one. I would love it if the local NBA team would comply with some sort of news making, but that is likely not to be. I'll fight through it. We as Nuggets fans have an interesting season before us, and the questions outnumber the answers.

Maybe my mind is overwhelmed by the questions about the Nuggets, in search of more answers? Yeah. That's it. A little zen clarity is all I needed.

*stares at ceiling
* furrows brow
* bangs head on desk