This is it – the dawn of a new era.  TWB has been reborn and is now in its third incarnation.  The blog started humbly on WordPress and built up a modest following.  Then came the trade that rocked Minnesota and uprooted the foundation of the franchise.  With KG on the move, Wolves Nation was in turmoil and so the three leading Timberwolves blogs at the time merged into one, creating a beacon of hope for our fellow fans.  That was TWB 2.0, a powerhouse of Minnesota basketball coverage, that for a time, was the most-visited Timberwolves destination on the entire web.  However, the problem with being at the top is that there’s only one direction to go from there.  For better or for worse, work, kids, pirates (yup, you read that right), and even Bloguin itself got a bit in the way.  As a result, TWolves Blog wasn’t able to provide the top-tier coverage we once did.  We still had big chunks of Daily News thanks to Sonia and a great forum community, but things just weren’t as good as they used to be.  The giant had fallen asleep for a bit.
Then this happened…


You see, there was this other Wolves blog out there, you may have heard of them, called Canis Hoopus. Anyway, they had started up their own Wolves blog sometime around when the TWB 2.0 merger occurred.  They wrote some good stuff, and we helped their site gain notoriety by throwing them tons of links in our daily updates.  They participated in our forum discussions, and things were pretty congenial.  All in all, it was a good friendship.  They provided Wolves fans with tons of statistics, and we provided them with daily news and a forum.  It was a good yin and yang type setup for Wolves fans.

But it wasn’t a good setup for Canis, apparently.  You see, they wanted the stats AND the news.  Like HBK, they had to have it all to themselves.  So while Dave and I were busy building a blog network and assisting hundreds of other bloggers to do what they love, the Hoopus boys decided to blindside us with some Sweet Chin Music and throw us head-first through a window.  For those of you who need more elaboration on that analogy, they basically snuck in and stole away TWB’s bread and butter, our leading content contributor, Sonia.

(Here’s where I say thank you to Sonia for all her amazing work the past two years, that she’s a wonderful friend and person, and that we will truly miss her here on TWolvesBlog.)

At this point, Dave and I were stunned and bloody, unsure of how to replace such a vital member of our team.  Part of us wanted to give up.  We had our lives, our regular jobs, and Bloguin.  There was only so much room on our plates.  But, the thing about Dave and I is we were trained in the temple of Kevin Garnett.  And if there’s one thing that man taught us, it’s this: when things get tough, when you’re defeated, when things seem impossible – that’s when you dig down and push just that little bit harder.  That’s when you refuse to quit.

“I’m ready. I can’t even describe it. I feel like it’s rookie season all over again, with the energy I have. You guys have been talking all that bull, so I’m ready to prove all you wrong. I’m here. Hey, when stuff got tight, when Steph [Marbury] left, I’m here. When we went through the draft pick [forfeitures], I’m here. When we got put out six years in a row, I’m here. I’m going to be here until they don’t want me anymore. I’m ‘Sota, man. This is where I live, 365 days. I’m here. Life is tough. You can’t run from everything.”

timberwolf smallThat’s a quote from a man fresh off his sixth-straight first round playoff exit.  That’s a quote from a man who’s about run dead smack into a seventh.  The man was going to war with Troy Hudson, Wally Szczerbiak, Kendall Gill, and Rasho Nesterovic, yet he refused to give anything but his all.

We may have lost the biggest asset this site has ever had.  We may have lost her to our friend-turned-rival blog.  We may be bruised and out of the Royal Rumble.  But I can tell you this – we are not out of the fight.

Today, we launch TWB 3.0, and with it, we bring a completely new brand of Timberwolves coverage that is unlike anything else our fanbase has ever experienced.  We’re tired of seeing this team lose.  We’re tired of inept management and poor decisions. We’re tired of the lame coverage that this team gets.  We’ve all been bored and sleeping for the past five seasons and it’s time to change direction.  Whether they meant to or not, Hoopus woke us up with their blindside.  Now that we’ve successfully removed the knife from our back and touched up the site, we’re pulling the covers off the rest of you and kicking you out of bed.

So good morning, Wolves Nation.  Here’s our first piece of daily news:

We’re back, we’re P.O.’ed, and we’re about to change everything you knew about Wolves coverage.

Oh yeah, and…

ANYTHING IS POOOOOOOSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIBLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEE!