They say all good things must come to an end. I guess that would also include Gilbert Arenas’ blogging. Gilbert was the pioneer in the field — the first athlete to use and popularize a blog/internet as a means of reaching out to fans and building a base of support. At first what started out as just funny stories and excellent humor turned out to be a tool that divided a team and gave the rest of the league fits. While the blog got Gilbert known amongst sports fans, it helped build up Gilbert’s reputation as a loudmouth/showboater. That’s part of the reason he’s shutting things down:
“I started looking at it as, before, it was fun, and everybody has fun reading it. And then it’s like everything I said, everybody started using it as firepower, instead of saying it’s just entertainment. You know, people started using it, trying to take bits and pieces instead of enjoying the blog,” the three-time All-Star said. “So once I started seeing that, I just started visualizing, eventually, this is going to be the double-(edged) sword thing. It made me and it’s going to kill me, so I might as well stop.”
I’m glad Gilbert did realize this and put an end to it. He was riding high for a period there but when he predicted a monstrous game against the Blazers and then stunk up the joint he looked pretty bad. It’s also hard for a guy who’s been out as long as he has to talk crap or try to gain publicity. When you’re averaging 25 a game, as Alvin Gentry said, you can do anything you want. But when your game isn’t strong and you have nothing on the court to back up your words, you don’t have the right to talk. I bet that’s a big part of it for Gil. Also, with guys like Shaq and Charlie Villanueva making news twittering, it’s probably best that Gil leaves now, knowing he was the one who blazed the path. Now the game is too crowded and just simply old.
