11.30.06 FIRST, AOL CAME FOR OUR BLOGS…

…and I said nothing. As TrueHoop's Henry Abbott notes today, AOL is developing the NBA FanHouse as the next frontier after successful forays into the NFL and NCAA football. As with the first FanHouse installments, there's a list of blogging All-Stars that have signed on, proving that as much bloggers love doing what they do for free, they love doing it for money even more.

(Excuse me while I take off my "With Leather" hat…) 

Full disclosure: I write for the Seahawks FanHouse, and it's an enjoyable side project (even if most of the comments read like a chat room of teenagers and middle-aged housewives who couldn't grasp irony if you beat them with a tire iron). But the NBA has such a sprawling, marvelous blogosphere, with so many sites that have not just unique writing styles (I'm looking at you, Wizznutzz) but defining visual feels as well. Will Bethlehem Shoals's magic be the same when he has to abandon FreeDarko's mysterious imagery for the licensed photos at Getty? 

Well, whatever the case, if it gives splendid writers and original wits like Marcel Mutoni (who's everywhere these days) and J.E. Skeets a larger audience, I'm all for it. And I'm not just saying that because I'm contractually bound to AOL. Well, maybe I am. But this is as genuine as I get.