Dear Friends,

Since September of 2003, I’ve been interspersing the odd bit of commentary amidst heavy cut & pasting on a daily basis. I can’t deny it’s been a rewarding experience — the checks from Google ads are fantastic! —- and I’ve been blessed to have met so many of you, either in real or “virtual” form.

That said, I’ve had to pay a heavy toll for my devotion to CSTB.  My beautiful wife recently left me after almost ten years of marriage, announcing she could no longer tolerate my shouting John Franco’s name during love making.  In some twisted sense of competition, I’ve written some incredibly cruel things about talented, hard working bloggers, one of whom has apparently killed himself.

With the advent of Spring, there’s no better time for me to take stock and accept responsibility.  Though I realize I’ve made some serious mistakes, many of them occurred while under the influence of  drugs and alcohol.  And with that in mind, I’ll be going on an extended hiatus, starting Monday morning.

During my absence, CSTB’s consortium of contributors —- David Roth, David Gooblar, Sebastian, Liz Clayton, Chuck Meehan, Joel Hunt, Ben Schwartz and Kevin T. Murphy — will have free reign. Major editorial decisions have been left in the hands of an exceptional young man who needs no introduction to denizens of the blogosphere. And given the above cast’s tendency to take weeks, if not entire months off, I’ve made arrangements for a content share scheme with another sports blog that I’m sure you will agree, is the closest you can come to matching CSTB’s aesthetic without having to read about Phil Mushnick.  And guys, I don’t think you’ll mind the eye candy, either, if you know what I mean.

And you do know what I mean, right?

Anyhow, that’s the deal. I’m going to enjoy my last day of active blogging duty for a while, and I do hope you’ll wish me luck.  This is bound to be a tumultuous personal journey, but I’m confident that once the dust clears, I’ll be a better person and CSTB a far better blog.

Thank you, and G-d bless you all.

Gerard Cosloy