Years and years ago, in the days of legendary characters like scudmissle, garyman, cenquist, jakotay, and (ahem) monkee, someone or other would occasionally start a thread encouraging WISNBA players to share a bit of information about their actual selves. The lively exchange always enhanced my enjoyment of these shenanigans and made an absurd online game feel more like a community of kindred spirits, a motley crew of imaginative hoopsters, a colorful grab bag of interesting souls. It's been a long time since anything like that happened, but the recent surge of confounding draft leagues has got me thinking that this is a good juncture for asking questions like...

A) Where did your WIS moniker come from?
B) What is your real (first) name?
C) What part of the country/world do you live in?
D) How did you find your way to WhatIfSports?
E) Do you have a favorite basketball player (or two or three) of all time?
F) How good a basketball player are you (or have you been) in real life?
G) What is your profession? (Or area of study, if you're a student, or main thing to which to devote time if you're retired, independently wealthy, etc.)
H) What do you for fun?
I) What is something other owners might be surprised to learn about you?

Feel free to suggest additions to, subtractions from, or edits to this list.

I'll get it rolling and see who rolls with me...

A) Where did your WIS moniker come from? - I'm 6'5" and about 260 lbs. Most of the nicknames that have stuck to me have to do with being long or tall. That said, LTB is by far my longest-lasting nickname.

B) What is your real (first) name? - Brad

C) What part of the country/world do you live in? - Grew up in Colorado and have lived in Minnesota, Papua New Guinea, and Massachusetts, but I've lived in the DC area for nearly twenty years.

D) How did you find your way to WhatIfSports? - Via the site basketballforums.net. (No idea whether it's still operational.) A very enjoyable character named badbaronrudigor described the WIS game a few times, and eventually I decided to check it out.

E) Do you have a favorite basketball player (or two or three) of all time? - Hakeem Olajuwon, with Moses Malone a close second. As a teenager I saw (in person) my hometown Nuggets lose to the Rockets in the '85 Western Conference semifinals. The Dream was unbelievable in person. Ralph Sampson didn't suck, either.

F) How good a basketball player are you (or have you been) in real life? - Loved the game, and played pickup games whenever I could but my knees have aged out of jumping on asphalt. I was a rebounder and shotblocker, and eventually developed a post-up game in my teens. I'm hyper-competitive about some things, but for some reason I never had the killer instinct when it came to real-life, in-person team sports so I can't say I ever really amounted to much when the game clock was running.

G) What is your profession? (Or area of study, if you're a student, or main thing to which to devote time if you're retired, independently wealthy, etc.) - I'm a mediator.

H) What do you for fun? - Martial arts is my greatest extra-curricular passion. I have a black belt in taekwondo, and I've trained in karate, krav maga, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, praying mantis kung fu, and aikido.

I) What is something other owners might be surprised to learn about you? - I'm a semi-professional actor in the DC area. (Or used to be, and might be again someday if theaters ever open up.)

A) Where did your WIS moniker come from? My initials + birth year
B) What is your real (first) name? Brian
C) What part of the country/world do you live in? New Jersey, USA. Been here my whole life & plan to stay.
D) How did you find your way to WhatIfSports? I don't remember. I think I was messing around with Fox Sports in the late 00's when I saw this on one of the Fantasy pages.
E) Do you have a favorite basketball player (or two or three) of all time? Steve Nash. I love offense too much. In particular, I love ridiculous offensive players who are bad at defense, like Nash, Barkley and Amar'e, so the 00's Suns were perfect for me as a fan. The worse a player is at defense, the more I like them. I'm not sure why.
F) How good a basketball player are you (or have you been) in real life? Oh, I'm terrible. I have no athletic talent whatsoever.
G) What is your profession? (Or area of study, if you're a student, or main thing to which to devote time if you're retired, independently wealthy, etc.) Musician
H) What do you for fun? Music, this, hang in NYC with friends, watch TV and movies, learn things on my own time.
I) What is something other owners might be surprised to learn about you? I'm a trombone player. Cue the jokes, all of them. I've heard them all before, so don't worry about it!

A) Where did your WIS moniker come from?
I was an idiot and used my real name...

B) What is your real (first) name?
Ben

C) What part of the country/world do you live in?
St. Paul, Minnesota

D) How did you find your way to WhatIfSports?
Read something from Bill Simmons back when I thought he was a good analyst.

E) Do you have a favorite basketball player (or two or three) of all time?
Kevin Garnett and it's not close. Grant Hill is probably second. At my 1st grade book fair there was one basketball book and it was a Grant Hill biography. Also love Ben Wallace and Steve Nash. Nowadays I like Steph, Giannis, Karl, Jokic, and Harden.

F) How good a basketball player are you (or have you been) in real life?
I played college basketball for four years at a D3 school in Minnesota. Captain my senior year. Very good role player with limited athleticism. All-time 3 point percentage record holder for my high school (51.5%), college (54.6%), and college conference (61.5%). Think prime Fred Hoiberg with some old man Manu guile and a little extra passing and D (provided the guy I was guarding wasn't too quick).

G) What is your profession? (Or area of study, if you're a student, or main thing to which to devote time if you're retired, independently wealthy, etc.)
I am a special education teacher specializing with emotional behavior students. Went to school for math and stats and was part way through a statistics grad program before deciding I couldn't stand being behind a desk all day. One of the best decisions I ever made.

H) What do you for fun?
I play basketball as much as I can. I coach a high school basketball team. I read a lot (mostly fantasy and science fiction plus as many basketball books as I can get my hands on). I love pretty much any and every board game ever invented. My wife and I love to travel to other countries, although that is on hold for a bit now that we just had our daughter.

I) What is something other owners might be surprised to learn about you?
I don't really have anything crazy here. I bet a couple of my above answers surprised some people.

A) Where did your WIS moniker come from?

- I make music under the moniker dB (like the symbol for decibel) and live in Kansas City

B) What is your real (first) name?

- Spencer

C) What part of the country/world do you live in?

- Kansas City, and if you say I live in Kansas I will get irrationally mad. Everything that matters in Kansas City is in Missouri.

D) How did you find your way to WhatIfSports?

- An old Bill Simmons article from like 15 years ago. I would just play some exhibitions and a few open leagues and didn’t come back to the site for like a decade until pretty recently.

E) Do you have a favorite basketball player (or two or three) of all time?

- Not really. My city doesn’t have a team. I guess Ben Wallace because he won a lot of games by having no ego and just working hard.

F) How good a basketball player are you (or have you been) in real life?

- I’m pretty okay for a 5’5” white guy, whatever that means. I have a half court in my backyard and I have good handles, good acceleration but just okay top speed, a good runner, good passing, decent perimeter D, horrible rebounding, no left hand finishing ability, and somehow I’m better at contested runners than wide-open shots idk. I dread wide open jumpers because I usually clank them. I only play pickup games and can usually hang even if I’m the shortest and oldest guy.

G) What is your profession? (Or area of study, if you're a student, or main thing to which to devote time if you're retired, independently wealthy, etc.)

- I’m a manager at an office building. It’s boring.

H) What do you for fun?

- I’ve been a rap battler for over 10 years and am pretty good at it. I produce beats as a hip hop producer and some people like my music. My wife and I have been getting pretty big in to movies during “the new normal”, and I like to cook.

I) What is something other owners might be surprised to learn about you?

- I was an idiot and entered a big standup comedy tournament last year even though I had never done standup before. I sent the club owner a compilation of funny lines I’ve used in rap battles and he gave me a chance. There were 19 other contestants and they had all been road comics and headliners with 3-20 years experience each. I got a lot of funny looks since they all knew each other and thought the owner was crazy for giving a guy who had never even done an open mic a shot in a tournament. It was a three week elimination bracket. I somehow won the whole thing. Got a check and a job as their host for a few big shows. I hated doing the hosting part, and in order to win the tournament, I was writing and practicing 10 hours a day for a month. I don’t even want to watch standup anymore.

A) Where did your WIS moniker come from?
One of those ding bats that use name and date of birth as their username
B) What is your real (first) name?
Sam-wise Yorkshire (hopefully you can read my sarcasm)
C) What part of the country/world do you live in?
Kentucky born and raised. Raised south-central but now I reside in Frankfort and work in Lexington.
D) How did you find your way to WhatIfSports?
I remember specifically googleing the description of whatif because it was exactly what I was looking for. I simmed fake sports (nba and nfl) all the time on my PS4. The sim filled the need I was looking for.
E) Do you have a favorite basketball player (or two or three) of all time?
Dirk Nowitzki hands down. I remember being enamored by his unique skill set. I was a casual fan until the 2011 playoffs and the mavs run that year made me fall in love with the NBA. Montrezl Harrell is my favorite current player. Went to school and had a class with him in college. Was fascinating to interact with, dudes arms are ridiculously long!
F) How good a basketball player are you (or have you been) in real life?
I am decent, never played on a team, just pick up with friends. I have the skills of a big man. I have a killer post shot and hook shot and am a great on ball and post defender.... only one problem... I am only 5'9. XD I make due though, I am like a mini Rodman or Unseld!
G) What is your profession? (Or area of study, if you're a student, or main thing to which to devote time if you're retired, independently wealthy, etc.)
I am a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant at a State Psychiatric hospital.
H) What do you do for fun?
I am your typical nerd. I love video games, books, D&D all of that who also just so happens to be a huge sports fan. I am actually much more into football but sim basketball is soooooo much more fun than sim league football.
I) What is something other owners might be surprised to learn about you?
bds9992 you've found a kindred spirit I ALSO play trombone. Not professionally but I played in college and gave private lessons for a few years. Now I just play for my local community band. I also have been in a couple of musicals and plays as an actor (local stuff of course.

Another trombone player who plays WIS. The day has finally come.

A) Where did your WIS moniker come from?
A play on my name/nickname back in the day
B) What is your real (first) name?
Michael
C) What part of the country/world do you live in?
North Carolina but most of my sports allegiances are from growing up in New Jersey and Maryland.
D) How did you find your way to WhatIfSports?
It always makes me cringe when I see my "member since" date (member since: September 9, 2001...) but I was originally all about sim baseball and dabbled in the debut of some of the dynasty sports. I have fond memories of the auto racing dynasty. I only recently made my way back to the site in the last year or so. There are some funny gaps in the seasons participated in my hoops dynasty profiles.
E) Do you have a favorite basketball player (or two or three) of all time?
Yes, I do. Oh you want more? CP3 is probably my favorite basketball player and nut-puncher. I met him my second day on campus at Wake as a freshman when he was a sophomore. I went to every home game that season where Wake went undefeated at home. I thought it was absurd who went ahead of him in the draft at the time, I was right.
F) How good a basketball player are you (or have you been) in real life?
I was terrible. The only thing i was decent at was passing and warming the bench.
G) What is your profession? (Or area of study, if you're a student, or main thing to which to devote time if you're retired, independently wealthy, etc.)
I'm in wood
H) What do you for fun?
This
I) What is something other owners might be surprised to learn about you?
I still play NBA Live 2003 for PS2 on a regular basis

Posted by samuelyork93 on 6/14/2020 6:23:00 PM (view original):
A) Where did your WIS moniker come from?
One of those ding bats that use name and date of birth as their username
B) What is your real (first) name?
Sam-wise Yorkshire (hopefully you can read my sarcasm)
C) What part of the country/world do you live in?
Kentucky born and raised. Raised south-central but now I reside in Frankfort and work in Lexington.
D) How did you find your way to WhatIfSports?
I remember specifically googleing the description of whatif because it was exactly what I was looking for. I simmed fake sports (nba and nfl) all the time on my PS4. The sim filled the need I was looking for.
E) Do you have a favorite basketball player (or two or three) of all time?
Dirk Nowitzki hands down. I remember being enamored by his unique skill set. I was a casual fan until the 2011 playoffs and the mavs run that year made me fall in love with the NBA. Montrezl Harrell is my favorite current player. Went to school and had a class with him in college. Was fascinating to interact with, dudes arms are ridiculously long!
F) How good a basketball player are you (or have you been) in real life?
I am decent, never played on a team, just pick up with friends. I have the skills of a big man. I have a killer post shot and hook shot and am a great on ball and post defender.... only one problem... I am only 5'9. XD I make due though, I am like a mini Rodman or Unseld!
G) What is your profession? (Or area of study, if you're a student, or main thing to which to devote time if you're retired, independently wealthy, etc.)
I am a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant at a State Psychiatric hospital.
H) What do you do for fun?
I am your typical nerd. I love video games, books, D&D all of that who also just so happens to be a huge sports fan. I am actually much more into football but sim basketball is soooooo much more fun than sim league football.
I) What is something other owners might be surprised to learn about you?
bds9992 you've found a kindred spirit I ALSO play trombone. Not professionally but I played in college and gave private lessons for a few years. Now I just play for my local community band. I also have been in a couple of musicals and plays as an actor (local stuff of course.

FWIW If we ever had a boy child I would absolutely fight my wife to be able to name him Samwise - most noble character in the history of literature

A) Where did your WIS moniker come from? I mean...? shrug? there have been so many - the first one? we're all hominids, right?
B) What is your real (first) name? Matt
C) What part of the country/world do you live in? I live in LA (born and raised, give or take some OC and San Diego time - it's all just a big megalopolis anyway) but until a couple months ago I travelled all over the country all the time for work - have lived in the far east and Europe for extended periods in addition to the US
D) How did you find your way to WhatIfSports? My buddy Dave from Boston (passing on the word from Bill what's his name)
E) Do you have a favorite basketball player (or two or three) of all time? MAGIC! and mostly other Lakers, Silk, Cap, Wilt (my mom has a black and white picture of 4 year old me and him at SeaWorld - I'm literally knee high, looking up at him and him leaning down and patting me on the head)
F) How good a basketball player are you (or have you been) in real life? decent handle, can't shoot to save my life, played into high school - but really as a basketball player (I wound up quitting both this and the track (sub 5 minute mile thank you very much) teams because) I'm more of a body surfer (I've done 10 foot faces at the Wedge, (well I mean 30 years ago)) and just wanted to be at the beach
G) What is your profession? (Or area of study, if you're a student, or main thing to which to devote time if you're retired, independently wealthy, etc.) bookseller - executive at this point or was as of a couple months ago - focus on travel retail which may not be much of a thing anymore or at least for a while - fingers crossed
H) What do you for fun? guitar (played in a not at all successful band in college), music, writing (did I mention that I'm a published poet and short story writer? lit journals, very small beans, got paid in copies of the magazines - I think my mom still has them), I play video games, used to gym until they all closed (I'm dying), water sports (no, not the Trump kind, more like skim boarding, paddle boarding, body boarding stuff)
I) What is something other owners might be surprised to learn about you? I am not always a total a-hole

A) Where did your WIS moniker come from? An online character I made back around 2001 was named Ash(something). People started calling me ash, so I made all of my characters ash(something). One of my favorite fantasy characters was Ishamael from the Wheel of Time, so I bastardized it into Ashamael.

B) What is your real (first) name? Nope.

C) What part of the country/world do you live in? Nope again.

D) How did you find your way to WhatIfSports? A website called Maddenmania (RIP), a forum dedicated to Madden and other video game sports. I was really into making NCAA dynasties in NCAA Football (now defunct - RIP), and that site had tons of likeminded players who would post their dynasties and make up cool little reports and ****. It was like an RPG but for sports nerds! Anyway, a user there mentioned using this site for some football stuff, so I came over and made some football teams. Yeah, I started in teh football sim, and while it was fun, it sure makes you appreciate the NBA sim lol

E) Do you have a favorite basketball player (or two or three) of all time? Charles Barkley is my all-time favorite. Steph Curry is my modern favorite.

F) How good a basketball player are you (or have you been) in real life? I was pretty good in little league, but mostly because I was bigger than everyone. I didn't like to run, though, and as I got older, I liked to run even less. I was decent in half court pickup games - usually picked around the middle - but would have never made my high school team if I had even tried out. And we were bad at basketball (I went to a football school and all of the athletes had to choose one or the other at the time) so yeah, I'd be lying if I said I was any good. I wanted to play football but had a lower back defect and the doctor wouldn't let me play, as he said there was a good chance I'd get paralyzed. So instead of playing either, I got fat.

G) What is your profession? (Or area of study, if you're a student, or main thing to which to devote time if you're retired, independently wealthy, etc.) I work in TV.

H) What do you for fun? Music. Guitarist / songwriter / budding producer. I used to really love to read (really into fantasy) but don't do it as much anymore. I started painting with oil a year ago. I love to write and am working on a novel. Basically I have several projects going on at once and put them off in favor of one another, so nothing ever gets finished.

I) What is something other owners might be surprised to learn about you? Prossibably.

oh man, some really interesting stuff here!

Oh sh*t I remember MaddenMania. I used to download each year's NCAA football rosters from there and import them with sharkport. The good ol days.

Posted by quaker128 on 6/14/2020 7:20:00 PM (view original):
Oh sh*t I remember MaddenMania. I used to download each year's NCAA football rosters from there and import them with sharkport. The good ol days.

Yup. They merged with Operation Sports, and while the extra resources were nice, the community was just very different. I still go back there every once in a while for stuff. Considering picking up 2k20; some interesting rosters available there.

A) Where did your WIS moniker come from?
Nickname my sister gave me when we were young ( my name is Gerald and I have red hair ).

B) What is your real (first) name
?see above

C) What part of the country/world do you live in?
Born and raised in West Virginia, lived in east Texas the past 30 years...

D) How did you find your way to WhatIfSports?
FoxSports sent me a free season credit ( I was active in some Fox fantasy football leagues ).

E) Do you have a favorite basketball player (or two or three) of all time?
Grew up in W.Va. idolizing Jerry West. As a young teenager I fell for Dave Cowens during his rookie season, and I closely followed him the rest of his outstanding , overachieving career. Today I love watching Steph :)

F) How good a basketball player are you (or have you been) in real life?
During high school and my twenties, my friends and I played regularly, renting a community center gym once a week each winter. I was about average for our group ~

G) What is your profession? (Or area of study, if you're a student, or main thing to which to devote time if you're retired, independently wealthy, etc.)
Semi-retired convenience store operator ( I sold all my stores except for my favorite one ).

H) What do you for fun?
My wife and I cruise two or three times a year, and I go to *VEGAS* at least twice a year $$

I) What is something other owners might be surprised to learn about you?
I have a world class collection of over 3,000 SEE,HEAR,SPEAK NO EVIL memorabilia. Yep. Figurines,coins,clothing,dolls,toys,artwork,carvings,photos,knives,swords,books,jewelry,candles,candy and on and on and ON LOL

https://www.palestineherald.com/community/a-no-evil-collection-to-die-for/article_1e0cbd3e-a092-11e6-8961-afc117261199.html?fbclid=IwAR220GtqsuJvQ5saVfksjl22aHns4XYFWFzqWK2XbYp2RFF8j9YwCxRD0C0