This blog has been active for a few days but most of you are just finding it for the first time. We've used this function once before for "Dunham's Diary," a blog series that followed PDT Sports Writer Chris Dunham as he covered the Shawnee State womens basketball team on their National Tournament run last season.

Now we've got one blog per writer and we'll be updating them far more often. To give you a little taste of some of the things you may see on these blogs I'll start with this.

"Top 10 things I've learned covering basketball"

10. Never buy a hot dog until the fourth quarter, the price tends to go down by then.

9. There must be a rule that forces referees to stand in front of my photographer.

8. The first answer from every coach in a post game interview is a derivative of "We played hard," which, while usually true, doesn't make for the best reading.

7. According to the most vocal fans, the spectators should call the fouls.

6. The "best" halftime speeches come from smokers outside, far from earshot of either team.

5. Gyms that don't have a spot for media to sit means keeping stats in my lap. Keeping stats in my lap usually means giving up on keeping turnover or field goal percentage stats to save time

4. If an offensive player is within one foot of the paint for more than one second, the entire opposing sideline will shout "THREE SECONDS" for the next minute.

3. Somewhere between the scoreboard, visiting scorebook, official scorebook and my own stats are the correct scores. It's just a question of interpretation. (FYI, we always check with the official score book)

2. Officials are the bravest people on earth after soldiers, cops, firefighters, EMTs and Chuck Norris.

1. No humor here, we really have some of the hardest working athletes and dedicated coaches in the entire state right here in this area.