First of all, thank you to everyone for checking out my first issue of The Couch Critic! I thought I’d give a little intro into how this came about and what my plan is going forward. Please subscribe, tell your friends, and enjoy!
So I’m sitting around in between rounds of terrible golf on vacation in the Poconos, and I’m doing something that I know I haven’t done in a very long time.
I was writing with a pencil. I have this book that says “Journal” on it that I haven’t used since I took a short story class in college and thought I’d be good at that. So I’ve never used the book for anything worthwhile.
I still keep it around, though, and I brought it on this vacation - mostly because I didn’t think I’d have WiFi.
That journal was filled with randomness about NBA free agency, the Knicks, by the end of the vacation.
Devonte’ Graham’s fit with Immanuel Quickley. That’s all it says. I must’ve given up on that one.
I have a Kelly Oubre-Bobby Newport comp. If you’ve never seen Parks and Rec. then I don’t know what to tell you.
There’s a makeshift scouting report on Evan Fournier. His added value as an off-ball cutter, secondary playmaker, and all the stats I have to look up for a KnicksFanTV article I’m writing on the future Knicks legend.
But more than anything, there are multiple pages dedicated to names for a potential newsletter.
Among the scribbled:
Master of Panic - An ode to Shaq’s name for Stan Van Gundy
The Socially Awkward Newsletter
Life From The Couch
The Anti-Hooper
I didn’t pick any of them.
Child prodigy Kris Pursiainen gave me the name The Couch Critic.
If this thing takes off, Justin Timberlake will show up and tell us to drop the “The,” and me and Kris are going to have a huge falling out.
Why You Should Read This
I’ve toyed with the idea of a newsletter for months but never went all in. Now, I’m going for it.
I’ve always wanted to be a basketball writer - more specifically about my Knicks - but that’s just not enough. Recently, I started writing for myself on Medium when I wanted to branch out into TV.
I don’t want my newsletter to be just about basketball, definitely not just about the Knicks (that’s covered), or even just about TV. I always admired writers who include their own lives in their writing, so it’s going to be about me too.
That’s why I loved Kris’ idea, The Couch Critic. It’s simple. That’s literally what I am.
I know the description - TV, Hoops, and randomness - might seem vague, and yes, I did do that on purpose. At this point, randomness means just that - random. I could be talking about gambling, movies, books, anything. It’s probably not gonna be books.
One thing I do know is that every newsletter will have at least one recommendation from me on a new TV show for you to watch. I hate searching for what to watch and getting Breaking Bad and The Wire. Oh, thanks, are they good? Didn’t know.
I’m digging deep for shows for you guys. Netflix alone is packed with great shows that don’t get ANY buzz. Mainly because Netflix has so many great popular shows that do get buzz. Seriously, Netflix owns them all. Sorry, Bezos, you shoulda stayed in space.
As far as my basketball content goes, I’m gonna be me. That’s what this is all about. I love basketball, but until I started writing for myself on Medium, I never felt like I was actually writing as myself.
I know that’s some super corny shit to say, but it’s true. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities I’ve gotten (most of them), but I definitely half-assed some of it because my heart wasn’t in it.
I’m all in on this. I’m all in on being myself—a semi-optimistic Knicks fan who believes in Thibs, RJ, and patience.
I love writing for KnicksFanTV and doing Knicks State of Mind Podcast, not stopping either one of those. But this is gonna be different.
I’ve agonized for months over the perfect name or the perfect time to release this. I don’t think there is one. Here goes.
One more thing…
There’s no way I’d be doing this if it wasn’t for Knicks Twitter. I genuinely can’t believe that anyone enjoys anything I write, and I know that 100% of the support I get on my work is from all of you.
Thank you!