ValleyoftheSuns.com is a Phoenix Suns basketball blog dedicated to reporting Suns news and providing fresh Suns analysis. It was founded in October 2008 and has since become the Phoenix Suns representative in ESPN’s TrueHoop Network.
We feel like ValleyoftheSuns represents the future of journalism. This proud industry is changing, and there’s room in it for more coverage than what the local paper provides with the Internet stretching far beyond the pages of a newspaper. ValleyoftheSuns aims to be part of that change by maintaining an old school journalistic approach in a new school blog environment. That means we cover every home game but we also provide postgame video interviews, advanced statistical investigations, interactive Vokle shows, podcasts, and video breakdowns, all the while incorporating social media such as Twitter and Facebook and developing this site into a community.
Here at ValleyoftheSuns our mission is to be part of the change as old school journalism morphs into an online format that can survive for years to come.
Author Bios:
Michael Schwartz
Michael Schwartz
Michael Schwartz (@ValleyoftheSuns) founded ValleyoftheSuns in October 2008 and is the chief blogger of the site. He previously covered the 2008 Dodgers and 2007 D-backs as an associate reporter for MLB.com, serving as a backup beat writer who produced daily notes, previews and recaps while reporting on all home games, including the playoffs.
Schwartz, a 25-year-old Phoenix native, graduated from the University of Arizona in 2008 cum laude with honors with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Schwartz worked at The Arizona Daily Wildcat for four years, spending two years covering men’s basketball and one semester as sports editor. During this time he was named one of UWIRE’s top 100 student journalists in the country, was a three-time recipient of the UA journalism department’s excellence in sports reporting award and earned a SPJ Region 11 first-place award for both sports writing (2005) and sports column writing (2007).
When he’s not blogging about the Suns, Schwartz works as an Internet marketing specialist for the Phoenix Internet marketing company Vertical Measures and tries to pretend to be a basketball player at a local rec league.
Top Stories
The secret behind the Phoenix Suns’ elite training staff
Your @PhoenixSuns: Breaking down barriers and embracing the digital world through social media
The Phoenix Suns’ secret weapon
‘I think we’re going to surprise everybody’
The Phoenix Suns’ bench mob drives Game 4 victory
Marcin Gortat ecstatic to face Dwight Howard after stepping out of his prodigious shadow
The collapse of a contender in 2,500 words or less
Mike Schmitz
Mike Schmitz
Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) is a 21-year-old senior marketing student at the University of Arizona who has been writing for ValleyoftheSuns since May 2009. He’s interning with Video Army, an Internet video marketing company, in Venice, Calif., for 10 weeks this summer.
During the school year Schmitz works at The Arizona Daily Wildcat where he covered the Arizona football in 2010 and served as an assistant sports editor for the third consecutive semester. Schmitz plans to cover both Wildcats football and basketball next year.
The Phoenix native also worked with Schwartz as an intern at Vertical Measures during the summer and winter of 2010. Schmitz played high school basketball for four years at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Ariz., and considers himself a 6-foot-2 combo guard. He enjoys breaking down teams and players using Synergy Sports Technology and plans to continue to pursue a career in sports writing and analysis after graduating with a marketing degree.
Top Stories
Robin Lopez to make or break 2010-11 Phoenix Suns
Steve Nash injury video breakdown
Josh Childress ‘happy to be back’ in the NBA
Grant Hill defensive breakdown
Kevin Zimmerman
Kevin Zimmerman (@OffensivelyFoul) is a recent graduate from the University of Arizona, where he received a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in anthropology. Also a contributing writer and Summer 2011 intern at Dime Magazine, Zimmerman worked his way into the sports writing world as a beat writer for the Arizona Wildcats’ men’s basketball team for the Arizona Daily Wildcat. There, he was also the sports editor for two semesters and the editor-in-chief for the summer of 2010.
At the student newspaper, he won the Region 11 award for sports column writing in 2011 as voted upon by the Society of Professional Journalists. He was the recipient of the Abe Chanin Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism, given by the UA School of Journalism.
The Mesa, native is also the blog manager for the Arizona Wildcats’ blog, Arizona Desert Swarm, and an admitted Twitter-addict. As a child he hoped his basketball game emulated Stephon Marbury’s, but it is probably closer to that of Sasha Vujacic.
Andrew Lynch
Andrew Lynch (@AndrewLynch) is a 26-year old who’s lived the majority of his life in Arizona. He graduated with a degree in political science from the University of Arizona. After stumbling into the awesomeness that is ESPN’s DDL, he started a general NBA blog in January 2011 and started writing about the Suns in February, just in time to cover the “Vince Carter era.”
Lynch joined the TrueHoop Network in August 2011 with Hardwood Paroxysm, a site that developed his irreverent style and emphasis on advanced statistics, which he argues are fundamental and basic to basketball analysis. Lynch is also well-known for his near-pyromaniacal tendency to light things on fire when others cite per-game statistics.
When not obsessing over the numbers that describe whether or not a ball goes into a round, metal cylinder, he specializes in customer service and wishing that he didn’t live so far away from the Suns in lovely Bullhead City, Ariz.
Ryan Weisert
Ryan Weisert
Ryan Weisert (@Spectavius) is an Arizona native living in exile in St. Louis. He joined ValleyoftheSuns during the height of the 2011 NBA lockout. He is the founder of the humorous blog Spectavius.com.
The 26-year old Tucson native played high school basketball for four years at St. Gregory College Prep. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2008. During his time there, he was a student manager working for the men’s basketball team. He worked 1-on-1 with players, led drills in practice, and most importantly, dispensed water and towels with incredible speed and accuracy during games. He currently works as a medical researcher for Saint Louis University.
When he’s not writing about the Suns, Weisert spends his time counting the days until he and his wife can move back to the West Coast.
James Constable
James Constable
James Constable (@James_Constable) is a 26-year-old England native who serves as ValleyoftheSuns’ webmaster and Director of Analytics and Design. James was the main impetus behind coding the new website design that was integrated during the much-ballyhooed Summer of 2010.
His efforts are focused on keeping ValleyoftheSuns’ website design up to date and working correctly and analyzing our website analytics so our readers can get the most out of the site. He also works in SEO and Internet marketing at iCrossing.
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