TSF interviews Jon Reed aka twins15

Jon Reed, better known as twins15 in these parts has been and will continue to be a sports blogging insspiration to The Sports Flow. Blogs where his writing is found are: Sports Videos, Random Facts of Goodness, Thank You Brian Sabean, and most importantly: Complete Sports. We loved Complete Sports back when we were merely readers and it was our inspiration to start up The Sports Flow. Jon's a great blogger, friend, and softball teammate and I hope you enjoy the interview.

Q1.When and how did you first get involved in the sports blogging world?
1. If my memory serves me right, I first started blogging in January of 2006, and have been going since then. Really, if you would have told me then that I'd still be going now, I'm not sure I would have believed you. I just basically jumped into it without any real idea of what I was doing, and hoped for the best. So there was no real how... I didn't really read any sports blogs at that time, and hadn't even heard of Deadspin(!), just decided to start it one day. And I'm glad I did.

Q2. What is your favorite sport to watch and which is your favorite to blog on and why?
2. My favorite is definitely basketball, which has been my favorite sport for my whole life. I probably prefer college basketball to the NBA, but really I love them both. So that is my favorite to blog about as well... not only is it my favorite sport, but I personally feel like I know it better than the other sports and therefore write more interesting stuff involving basketball. So the writing comes easier when I'm writing about basketball, and I think it's higher quality.

Q3. What do the Yankees need to do to turn things around and try and make a run at catching the Red Sox?
3. I'm not sure there's too much else they can do right now. They are a lot better than their record would indicate, but they've had some awful luck in 1-run games, which tends to even out in the long-run. Other than that, there's not much else to do. Wait for Clemens to settle into a groove, hope for Phillip Hughes to make a quick recovery, hope to get a good Jason Giambi back, etc. Sure, they could try and go out and try to make a deal for a guy like Mark Teixeira, but I'm not sure he's going to make the difference between winning and losing the division.

Q4 What do you think is going to happen with the Kobe situation?
4. Well supposedly Kobe won't play there under any circumstances, though it looks like Jerry Buss is going to call his bluff on that. I think eventually the Lakers panic and make a deal for another big-time player to try and make Kobe happy, and eventually Kobe stays. I also partially think this just because Kobe reportedly wants to only go to 3 teams: Chicago, Phoenix, and Dallas. There's no chance the Lakers will trade him to Phoenix or Dallas, and Chicago doesn't seem to have a lot of interest right now. That kinda narrows things down.

Q5 Where do you think KG is going to end up and how will it happen?
5. I kind of think the Lakers will panic and offer something like Odom/Bynum/first rounder for him... it's become increasingly apparent that KG should be traded, and as I mentioned the Lakers need to do something. That would certainly be an interesting combo.

Q6 Do you regret betting me $5 that the Cubs would win the NL Central and not the Brewers yet?
6. I wouldn't say I regret it, though I had hoped the Cubs would be a little bit closer. I still think the Cubs are as good of a team as the Brewers, but I'm not sure they'll be able to climb out of this hole. The Cubs have been awful in 1-run games and extra inning games, which leaves their pythagorean record almost identical to Milwaukee's, which makes me optimistic. So I don't regret making the deal, but I don't exactly feel comfortable at the moment.

Q7 How do you see the NFC North shaking down this season (specifically in regards to your Vikings and my Packers)?
7. Well the Bears still look like the very heavy favorites, even with Rex Grossman still at QB. As for the rest of the division... I think I can look at almost everything in sports objectively except for one thing... the Vikings. What do I honestly think about it? Well, I think Tarvaris Jackson is going to be excellent, and the Vikings will challenge for the Wild Card spot while the Packers continue to set back their development by continuing to throw Brett Favre out there (not like they really have a choice). But I full admit that's biased. There's just no other way for me to look at the Vikings except through purple-colored glasses.