Thank You, Blazersedge, For 6+ Great Years

A few weeks ago, I accepted a new position as an SI.com staff writer. That decision requires that I resign my post as editor here at Blazersedge, effective immediately.

It's a lot easier to write 4,000 words about some random Tuesday night Blazers/Bucks game than it is to say goodbye to a site, a staff and a community that has been a central part of my life for more than six years. I covered my first game for Blazersedge on Dec. 17, 2007, and the credential from that night still hangs next to my desk at home. Little did I know that my whimsical venture into unpaid moonlighting would pay off as it has, time and again and in so many different ways.

I have often joked that one of our primary goals at Blazersedge was to get you fired from your job because our content was so consistent, consuming and addictive. After watching the site grow exponentially over the years, I depart feeling confident that we have accomplished the spirit behind that objective.

Blazersedge has always generated a lot of feedback - comments, emails, tweets, etc. - but nothing has been as rewarding as running into people in my daily life who were avid readers. Earlier this year, a Comcast repair technician wanted to break down Portland's 2014-15 backcourt rotation as he fixed my cable box. A few weeks later, my refrigerator delivery guy graciously went out of his way to say that he enjoys the site. Again, nothing beats that.

I want to thank Dave Deckard for giving me a shot, exercising patience, and providing both guidance and friendship along the way. I've never worked with anyone for as long as I have worked with Dave, and our chats during his annual visits to Portland for Blazersedge Night were always a highlight. Big thanks also to Timmay! who has helped keep the site running at peak levels for longer than I can remember, and especially over the last two seasons, as well as ESPN.com's Kevin Pelton, for all his work and insights on The Dontonio Wingcast (rest in peace).

Dave understood and preached from the very beginning that the community drives Blazersedge and separates it from other websites. He has proven many times that he can adapt the site's content to the community's changing needs, while also maintaining the site's fundamental principles. I can't wait to see where he takes things from here, particularly with Chris Lucia, Sam Tongue, Dane Carbaugh and Sagar Trika all providing their unique takes on the Blazers and the game of basketball. I suspect that Dave has some tricks up his sleeve, and I'm sure he will be sharing those with you shortly.

I can feel Dave Chapelle tapping me on the shoulder and motioning with his eyebrows towards his "Wrap It Up" box, so I'll quickly say thanks to you guys for reading, commenting, sharing, applauding, yelling, raging, and everything else.

Thanks to Paul Fichtenbaum, Chris Stone, Ryan Hunt, Brad Weinstein, Matt Dollinger, Ben Eagle and Rob Mahoney at Sports Illustrated.

Thanks also to Tyler Bleszinski, Seth Pollack, Tom Ziller, Mike Prada, Michael Bean and Brian Floyd at SB Nation.

Finally, I would like to thank Andrew Wiggins, because I still feel bad that LeBron James omitted the 2014 No. 1 pick from his "Coming Home" essay with Lee Jenkins.

I'm not going anywhere, in real life or online. I will continue to live in the Portland area and my email address, Twitter handle, and all the rest will remain the same. I'm really, really excited about what comes next at SI, where I have had a blast over the last 22 months. I will continue to cover the NBA.

One of the most common questions people have asked me is how many hours I've put into Blazersedge. I've tried to calculate that, and it always comes out to some figure that looks like it would be a department of labor violation. Perhaps the best answer is the same three-word phrase that came to mind when Damian Lillard cashed in his series-clinching buzzer-beater against the Rockets: too much time. I loved every last second.

- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter