We’ve been doing this blogging thing for 6-years now…

3:11 PM EDT on May 14, 2013

You know that wonderful cliche "time flies when you're having fun?" Well, apparently we're having too much fun because I totally forgot to mention that yesterday was TLO's sixth birthday. Yes, we've been muckraking, causing problems and glorifying Gary England for six years now. If you would have told me in 2007 that this site would eventually turn into a job and career, I would have asked if you were James the Marvel.

To celebrate this occasion, I thought it would be neat to give you a little glimpse into the creation of TLO by publishing the original emails that started it all. Tony unearthed them a few weeks ago while digging through his in-box. They are interesting, embarrassing, awkward and perfectly sum up how strange ideas can catch fire in the Internet age.

First, let me set the stage.

Back in 2007, I was married, worked in marketing and was extremely bored. I owned a message board / blog called HornetsCentral.com, but with Berry's Buzzers returning home and the NBA's future in OKC being unclear, I needed to do something different. Eventually, I came up with the idea to create an offbeat local blog about Oklahoma people, places and things. I thought it could work, but I needed help to get it started. Then, just a few days after having my light bulb moment, I discovered through a backlink on Hornets Central a blogger who was attempting to do that very same thing. His name was Tony. I sent him the following weird and awkward email:

Hi Tony-
This is Patrick Nelson, owner of HornetsCentral.com & SonicsBeat.com.
I wanted to let you know that you have a great blog! I found out about your site a couple of weeks ago when I noticed you had an incoming link to HornetsCentral.com. I really like your content, writing style and sense of humor.
For a while now, I have been thinking about creating a blog dedicated to OKC & Oklahoma. I envision it as something that would focus on the sports, politics, media and backward ways of our local culture and be written in the style of Deadspin, Gawker, WWTDD.com, etc.
Basically, I see something very similar to what you have going on right now.
Would you have any interest in partnering up in this ambitious plan? I am trying to get a solid group of catchy bloggers to share ownership and write for this currently-unnamed-site.com. Hopefully, by pooling the resources of 3-5 gifted people and using a little PR/Marketing magic (my day trade), we could get something pretty cool going.
Any thoughts? Am I totally nuts?
Let me know...
Patrick

Yep. That's the email that got things started. I would make fun of it, but I'm so flustered by it's awfulness that I can barely type. Seriously, did I really drop "PR/Marketing" magic? I worked in marketing...for a medical lab. The only "magic" I knew was how to take long lunches and start a blog on company time. Just kiddding. Kind of.

For some reason, Tony took my silly email seriously:

Hey Patrick -
Thanks for the kind words about my blog. Always a rarity to have someone outside my immediate family notice my true, unparalleled genius!
I must say that I enjoy both HornetsCentral and SonicsBeat, and particularly loved your profile of potential Sonics GM's.
Your idea is a very interesting one. I'm not sure as to what you have in mind logistically, and I obviously would need a few more details of your vision for such a project, but I think this is a great idea. I would be very interested and willing to help out however you need.
Also, I'm curious as to what other bloggers you might have in mind. Always looking for good local blogs to read...
Thanks again,
Tony

Wow, even Internet dating isn't that awkward. I'm glad Tony "loved" my profile of potential Sonics GMs. The post doesn't exist anymore, but I think my number one choice was Bokie Nachbar.

Here was my reply:

Hey Tony-
Sorry about the delay in getting back with you.
Posting:
1. We'd think of site name2. Create a design using Wordpress3. Think of some regular, standard content ideas. Like you Oklahoman's feature and what not...4. Decide who writes what and when5. Start posting away
Other Bloggers:
Honestly, I can' think of too many good local bloggers to join in. It seems that all Oklahoma City blogs are written by 55-year-old white guys. That's why I think that creating the site would be a good idea.
I know that Clark Matthews, who blogs for HC.com, would be down. He's a bit more serious than me, which is a good thing. Starting off, it may be good for the three of us to get it going, develop some readership, and then look to adding more people...

And that was the day Clark Matthews joined The Lost Ogle. At the time, I knew Clark Matthews about as well as I did Tony or Amy McRee. He would write these long, detailed posts about the Hornets in the message board forums. When we added a blog element to HornetsCentral.com, he became our first blogger. The rest, as the say, is history. Or in Clark Matthews' case, a very long, detailed, analytical history with a bunch of paragraphs.

Tony chimed back:

That all sounds great to me. This is your vision, so I'm more than willing to defer to you on any matters and willing to contribute however you wish, though my technological skills are somewhat limited, so that part of the equation would probably have to be left up to you or someone else.
In any event, I think this is a really good idea. The idea of a site in the vein of a Gawker/Deadspin that sort of needles and observes the local personalities and culture is a good one, and I think fills a niche that hasn't been filled in the OKC/Oklahoma market (online or otherwise, really).
I agree with you about the lack of good local bloggers. Perhaps we can attract some, eventually. Let me know of any way I can help out. Do you have an idea for a name yet? I'll be thinking of content I can help provide.
Tony

This is when I knew Tony would be a good fit for the site. As a "PR/Marketing" guy, I'd always use the phrase "This is your vision" in meetings to get out of work. It was nice to see someone using it on me.

I'm not sure if we're missing an email, but I replied with some possible site names:

Here are some OKC-centric domain ideas. Throw back any you can think of...
BlogOKC.com (this is one I registered a few months ago)FreeGaryEngland.comTheLostOgle.comGolfballsizeHail.comDownedPowerlines.comLookingforLynnHickey.comWWLCD.com (What would Linda Cavanaugh Do?)

Facepalm.

Looking for Lynn Hickey? I guess watching my dad get ripped off while buying a Dodge Shadow in 1991 left a bad impression on me. At this point, I'm kind of shocked that Tony actually took me seriously. I would have figured this 'Patrick Nelson' guy was one of my friends playing a prank, but Tony thought the names were great:

Ha. Those are great. Asked for the feedback of friends in the room, I got one vote for DownedPowerlines.com, one for WWLCD.com, and one for FreeGaryEngland.com. So that doesn't really help much. Personally I think they're all great, though if forced I would say I lean mostly towards DownedPowerlines.com or TheLostOgle.com .
A few other ideas:
MayorMicksLostToupee.comSorryAboutTobyKeith.comSomething about Linda Soundtrack. Struggling to come up with the exact idea.OutWithTheGout.comSomething about the BC Clark jingle. Again, not sure of exact idea.JamesHalesBurgerKing.com -- this is somewhat vicious and pretty obscure. Not sure how many people even know about Hale's prison time. Probably not the best idea.
In any event, those are just some ideas off the top of my head. Whatever you think is best, I'm down with anything.
Tony

Just think. If it were up to one of Tony's friends, you could be reading FreeGaryEngland.com right now.

We went back and forth a little bit, complained about Jim Traber, and thanks to strong encouragement from one of my friends, finally settled upon TheLostOgle.com. I was supposed to come up with a plan for content and all that stuff and never did. Finally, on May 13th, 2007, I sent Tony the following email:

So remember the big 'plan" I was going to send?
Screw it! Let's just start writing. In a few weeks, once we get some actual content down, I'm going to work on promoting the site.
What may help boost traffic is getting some actual "Check this out" content. Have any ideas. Here are some examples/ideas:
• I'm trying to get my hands on the audio clip of Dean Blevings peeing while on the SportsAnimal.com. I vaguely know a few people through HornetsCentral.com. If we were able to host it on the site, it would boom traffic.
• About 10-years ago, a girl I know used to date the bass player from Hinder. The guy used to be a total stoner geek, now he's some "bad ass" with tattoos in a dude rock band. I thought it may be fun to post some photos of him before he was cool.
• Something similar to the Gary England Drinking Game. Any ideas?
Anyway, as I said, start posting away. I just threw something out there a few minutes ago. Also, you may want to write a cheesy bio of yourself. I have yet to write my mine.
C-ya...

And that's how it all began. Weird, huh? It's kind of like an oral history, only much more awkward, accurate and with a lot of double-spacing between periods. I'm also waiting on those pics of the guy from Hinder.

Anyway, I'd like to get a little serious for a second and thank everyone for their support over the years. TLO has been a team effort and everyone involved – whether you're a contributor, reader, commenter, Mole, hater, sponsor or level III groupie – should feel some pride in watching this site unexpectedly grow and change over the years. I have no clue what the next six years we'll bring, but I do know the previous six have been a blast. Hopefully we can keep it up. Thanks again.

Patrick @okcpatrick

Patrick is the founder, editor and publisher of The Lost Ogle.