The first post in this blog's history was Dec. 8, 2006. It was a test post about a kitten, which makes no sense and all the sense in the world. It ended with the words, "that kitten is practically begging for Randball." Yes, that was 10 years ago — which is about 100 years in internet time.

Sometimes I write things that look terribly dumb in retrospect. Other times I write things I actually like as time goes on.

Some days I wake up knowing exactly what I'm going to write about. Other days I have no idea. Still other times, I go into a day or week with a plan, and it gets totally torn up by something that happens in this crazy sports market.

But for 10 years, I have had an amazing freedom to write so much of what I wanted to write — things I thought we could all engage with in a meaningful way.

I am still grateful for that opportunity and for anyone who has ever read a word I wrote.

Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.