Some time ago on TrueHoop, before it was part of ESPN (you can still go and poke around, at least for a little while longer), I anticipated the day when TrueHoop would be unveiled on ESPN, and imagined that a lot of people would take a look and ask: what on earth is this thing?

I asked readers to chime in. Here are some of their comments (I made sure to include the surprising number of comments with references to food and drink, because I'm hungry):

• Jack Cobra: "It's like the best 'hole in the wall bar/restaurant' you'll ever find."
• Lee: "An honest broker - unencumbered with a need to spin. An NBA probe - honing in on the behind-the-scenes in the NBA. A true fan of the game - neither caught up in the nostalgia nor dismissive of the history. A clearing house - sorting through the effusive to find the gems."
• Jeff: "TrueHoop is my basketball information personal assistant ... It offers the credibility of a traditional news outlet, but the timeliness, flexibility and accessibility of a blog."
• Carrie: "You're just an average joe (who happens to have connections and great inside information, but still acts like an average joe) who gathers with strangers and buddies at a sports bar (we will pretend TrueHoop is an imaginary sports bar) at the end of the night, and talks about sports in all its glory and horror."
• Anonymous: "How do I say this with respect.... your more personal articles tend to have a moralistic approach that I find irritating."
• Nino: "A gentleman's blog. Something with a cup of Earl Grey."
• Nate: "You are the pre-eminent aggregator of NBA information. You do the work, we do the nitpicking."
• Sherman Alexie: "TrueHoop is the New Yorker magazine of basketball, filled
  with tough reporting, lucid essays, tender stories, athletic poetry, and hilarious jokes."
• Eddis: "I read it everyday to stay in touch with the 'soul' of basketball."
• Will: "I think TrueHoop is about three parts 60 Minutes and about one part Daily Show."
• Tom: "The title describes the blog perfectly."

This could all be wrong and is certainly absurdly generous, especially as no one has mentioned my regular typos. But maybe it'll be enough to get you to grab a very macho cup of Earl Grey, click around, and make up your own mind.