5 minutes with : Joe King

Yesterday we had part one of our interview with the crew of the Pyle of List. Jon Pyle went first, and now Joe King (aka Lunchbox), his partner in blog crime, gets to bare his soul to the masses. I asked both gentlemen the same questions, with the option to answer where applicable.

So, on to the show.

The facts..

Name : Joe King
Age : 25
Occupation : Administrative Assistant and part-time student
City : Los Angeles, CA.
Teams : USC Trojans, San Francisco 49ers, Sacramento Kings, San Francisco Giants


I see that you always ask the people you interview for a list, so yes, give me a list

I'm...injury-prone...accident-prone? Whatever you'd like to call it, I've had a few doozies.

1. Got a tib-fib fracture playing ultimate frisbee. (My leg is still crooked 4+ years later.)
2. Broke my nose trying to head a soccer ball. I hit someone else's head instead of the ball.
3. Ruptured a tendon in my foot trying to defend a fast break layup in a city-league basketball championship game.
4. I recently got nailed with a line drive that hit me within 3 inches of the end of the world while pitching a softball game.


So, you just wake up one morning and decide to start Pyle of List? How does that happen?

Well, I had done some previous blog experiments on my own. It was mostly just me writing about stuff that pissed me off with a post every month or so. It was just an outlet for me to vent once in a while and I think my roommates were the only people that read it. More recently, I had considered starting out on my own sports blog but I kept putting it off because of work or school or any random assortment of distractions. My girlfriend and some of my close buddies had been encouraging me to start writing for a couple reasons. First, I tend to have an opinion on just about everything. Also, often when we watch sporting events, I'll make observations which are repeated moments later by the announcers. Now, I don't know if that's because I read the same things they read before the game, if it's because I just know the announcer's tendencies, or if I sort of know what I'm talking about. When JP emailed me about PoL, I was primed and ready. I jumped at the opportunity.


Describe the creative process behind PoL. How do you decide on content?

Like JP said in his interview, Google Chat is the name of the game. We talk several times a day and just talk about whatever we have been hearing or are excited about at the moment. We try to bring a different side of the story sometimes, anything we can do to stand out in the talented sports blogosphere. JP is better than I am with the networking, so he makes sure the sports-blog community doesn't forget about us. With the two of us, it helps having the other to stay motivated on those slow sports days like the ones we're having now.


Who are your inspirations in the blogosphere?

Like JP, the first blog I started reading on regular basis was The Big Lead after they did Whitlock interview. However, my writing is much different from TBL. TZ over at Sactownroyalty.com is the guy who made me think to myself that I might be able to hold my own in the blog world. He does a great job of staying on top of the Kings scene and always has great insight. Also, I have been a big fan of Bill Simmons since he started back at ESPN in 2001 or so. He probably isn't as great as he once was, but he's still one of the first writers i check on my Netvibes.


What are your favorite blogs out there?

Aside from TBL and Sactownroyalty.com, I get a kick out of Lozo over at Why Don't We Get Drunk and Blog? every time I read him. The Extrapolater is another favorite of mine as Extra P is a great writer.


Which post that you've written are you most proud of?

So far, the Kill Buss post is still my favorite to date. It just started with JP and I joking back and forth after the initial Kobe trade demand, and just kind of snowballed from there. PoL got a lot of recognition after that post, which was nice since we were still getting our feet under ourselves at that point.


Funniest/Best post that you've read on another blog...

That's a tough call. I like to look for things that are a little offbeat sometimes. Voodoo Sabermetrics, from The Extrapolater, is one of my favorite series. I loved Leitch's post from the Nathan's hot dog eating contest last week too. But I'd have to say my favorite post I've read was the interview with Whitlock by TBL. That's the post that made me realize there's another place to go online for your sports news than just the big network sites.


What's your "dream job"?

I'm still not sure about this one. Blogging is great, but I don't know if that's all I want to do. Ideally, I could have a job where I'm outdoors most of the time. A park ranger up in Yosemite or something like that would be pretty awesome. Maybe that's just the country boy in me coming out a bit.


You do interviews on the Pyle of List...who's your dream interview? If that even exists?

(since Jon does most of the interviews, i'll take a pass on this question)


Name an athlete that you'd want to spend an entire day with.

Does Pete Carroll count? Petey just seems like a truly fun person to be around and a great guy. I know he can get pretty intense when he needs to be, but he keeps things in perspective and never takes for granted the situation he has put himself in. Plus, he's a celebrity around Los Angeles. With the absence of an NFL team around here, USC Football is the next best thing. Obviously, some amazing players have come and gone, but he's the one consistent fixture for the team.

If Coach Carroll doesn't count, I'll take any NFL player who played college ball at West Virginia. They seem like they know how to have a good time, right?


What's your best sports memory? (all time favorite moment in sports)

This is a tough question because USC football has given me some pretty great memories. The 2005 Orange Bowl against Oklahoma was great vindication. The 2006 USC-Notre Dame game was completely surreal. This year's Rose Bowl victory over Michigan and the the most unimaginative coach in college football was great because I actually got to attend the game.

However, I'm going to have to choose the 49ers winning the Super Bowl after the 1994 season. The team was stacked that year. We brought in free agents like Deion Sanders and Ken Norton Jr. to play on defense. Merton Hanks with his chicken-neck dance was my favorite player from that season. We already had a scary good offense too. I can still name almost all the starters, even some of the O-line, from that team. That was the year I really became a sports fan I think.


Worst sports memory?

It's a toss up between the 2006 Rose Bowl where Vince Young willed the Longhorns to the National Championship over the Trojans and the Robert Horry 3 pointer at the end of regulation in game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals.

VY completely dominated that game. USC made too many mistakes and Texas made very few. Oh yeah, the Ting twins were bouncing off Young like BBs while he ran amok. That killed me. The thing is, USC has had a lot of success in the last few years which softens the blow a little. However, the Horry shot kept the Lakers in the series (the refs helped them through game 5). The Kings haven't been as close to a championship since that day, and it doesn't look promising right now either. I still look away when I see replays.


Your best athletic achievement..

An easy one...My junior year of high school I won the league title in both hurdle events and was a member of the first place 4x400 relay team at the league championship track meet. Ever since then, I've played various intramurals and in some city leagues too, but it's pretty much been downhill.


Who would you suggest for a future interview?

That's a tough call, but I'd like to see what Lozo from WDWGDaB? has to say. I like his dry, self deprecating humor.


In the end, what do want to achieve with the PoL? What do you want to be known for?

With the List, I'd like to see it continue to grow a following. I always wonder when I read sports blogs, how many people are reading these that don't write their own blog? It would be nice to make a little profit from what we do in the future. But honestly, as long as JP and I are enjoying ourselves and entertaining some folks along the way I will be satisfied.