Jason Preston wanted so badly to become a sportswriter that he contacted the Detroit Pistons fan site – Piston Powered – prior to his senior year of high school. Preston grew up in Florida, but was in love with the Chauncey Billups-led 2004 NBA title team.
Duncan Smith, who ran the site for the FanSided network, informed Preston that he couldn’t yet write for Piston Powered because he was too young. On the afternoon on his 17th birthday that August, Preston checked back in to see if he could begin blogging for free.
His five months blogging for FanSided coincided with a senior season of high school basketball shrouded in equal parts anonymity and frustration.