Happy 10th birthday, Red Reporter

Today's Red Reporter's 10th birthday. It's been a wild ride. We've talked to players, coaches, hall of famers. We've broke news, started feuds, and done our damnedest to make this place a place where Reds fans (and fans of other teams) can come to discuss anything and everything under the sun.

The community here is what makes this place special, and I absolutely believe that to be the most crucial thing for us to keep intact going forward. We've had a great time this past week going over the best work and the people who made this place what it is, but when it comes down to it, the community has been the most important thing. I have a set of wide-ranging responsibilities as the captain driving this ship, but the most important is to make this place the best place to discuss Reds baseball, period. That's the thing that JD did even early on that still holds up today, and the thing that will continue to hold this place up long after I've passed the torch.

So for RR's 10th birthday, we're going to do something we've done countless times in the past. A "Serious Issue, Seriously". Which, if you haven't been around since the beginning, means that we have a non-baseball-related open thread where people can just hang out. I mentioned this on the podcast, but as great as we are about talking about baseball (and trust me, if I hadn't have spouted off and got constantly corrected by Slyde all those years ago, I'd have no idea what I was talking about today), this place is at its best as a place that transcends baseball. The community here is a group of people from all walks of life, who just happen to have being baseball fans in common to tie everything together. The best conversations on this site to me are ones where I get a different viewpoint than my own, and I know plenty here agree with that sentiment. I can't even expressed how much I've grown as a baseball fan, let alone as a person since I stumbled across this site in the summer of 2006. For me personally, connections within Red Reporter have got me a job, allowed me to do some pretty cool things, and I've met countless people through this community that I consider good friends. It's more than just a "baseball blog".

Going forward, my goal is to keep the same conversations and have this place serve as the same community forum as it has since JD founded it 10 years ago. I want to bring more viewpoints to the table, bring more opportunities for people to learn how to be better baseball fans, and more importantly, better people. I'm grateful to have some of the best writers on the internet working on this staff, but more importantly, every single person on this staff is someone I'd be happy to go have a beer with. Hell, I already have with most of them. That's Red Reporter. The neighborhood bar you go to hang out and enjoy a lively conversation over a baseball game you probably care too much about anyway. Not only do I think that we fill a niche in Internet-based Reds coverage, we fill a niche in people's lives. If I bugged my real-life friends and family with baseball discussion as much as I do on Red Reporter, they wouldn't want anything to do with me.

So thanks, Red Reporters. Thanks for making this place what it's been, and thanks for sticking around all these years. I promise we'll do our best to keep this thing rolling.

Without further ado, let's get to know each other a little better. We haven't done one of these in a bit, so I better see some new usernames in here along with all of the usuals who can't wait to talk about themselves. If you've ever been apprehensive about joining the conversation, this is absolutely the thread to do it in. My first ever post on RR was in a "getting to know you" thread just like this one, and I'm still here 31,000+ nonsensical comments later. If you're a lurker who hasn't posted, I can't wait to learn something from you, baseball-related or not.

1) What's your real first name? (If you're comfortable giving it)

2) Where do you live?

3) Where'd you grow up?

4) What do you do for a living?

5) How'd you become a Reds fan?

6) How'd you find Red Reporter?

7) Who's your current and former favorite Reds?

8) One interesting fact about you?