The first thing I'd like to do before I unlink my tether from the journalistic mother ship and float off into the blogosphere is to separate fact from fiction with a quick game of True or False.
True or false: Peter Schmuck has relocated into cyberspace and will no longer be the bright, insightful and wildly popular columnist we've come to love in the print edition of The Baltimore Sun.
False. I will continue to write two or more columns per week on a variety of subjects for both the print edition and the Web site.
True or false: Peter Schmuck's extensive experience covering the Orioles, Dodgers, Angels and the NFL makes him uniquely qualified to take you inside the Orioles clubhouse and the Ravens locker room.
True. It's either that or his slightly twisted view of the sports world.
True or false: Peter Schmuck will spend less time at sporting events and more time sequestered in his basement knocking out humorous and informative blog commentary.
False. I will actually spend more time at sporting events and team headquarters providing up-to-the-minute coverage of local and national sports.
True or false: Peter Schmuck once had his request for a vanity license plate bearing his surname rejected by the California Department of Motor Vehicles for being "obscene and offensive to public decency."
True. Yes, that really happened.
True or false: Peter Schmuck was a nationally ranked table tennis player as a teen.
True. My only sports claim to fame was being ranked 969th in the nation by the United States Table Tennis Association when I was 19. I believe there were about 975 ranked players at the time.
True or false: Peter Schmuck is an egomaniac who took up writing because he was never very good at anything.
False. I am an egomaniac who took up writing because they don't pay people to do anything else I'm any good at.
True or false: Peter Schmuck hates cats.
False. I actually like cats, in reasonable numbers. There is no good reason to have 117 cats unless you operate a licensed animal shelter.
True or false: Peter Schmuck is the only Peter Schmuck who will come up if you Google search "Peter Schmuck."
False. There is another Peter Schmuck who is an internationally recognized psychologist.
True or false: This Peter Schmuck could use an internationally recognized psychologist.
True. Enough said.
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