Sox Machine: Feb. 1, 2006 – Jan. 19, 2011

What started with the simple purchase of a surprisingly available domain while listening to James Brown comes to an end today. I’m closing up shop and exclusively running the show at South Side Sox from here on out. I hope you’ll join me.
It’s been a great five years (at least if you count the two month period of writing before officially launching the site). I didn’t know I’d be blogging this long, but your support and contributions made the time fly.

And who doesn't remember this classic look? (Probably many)

Thanks to everybody who has read Sox Machine and told their friends about it, and a special thanks to everybody who participated in the discussions. The thoughtful, thorough, intense-yet-respectful discussions became a trademark of the site, and it made my thought process sharper, too. I can’t believe I’ve never had to delete any of the tens of thousands of comments left on the site — even after Rob Neyer (thanks, Rob) invited me into the ESPN.com SweetSpot Network and boosted my traffic considerably. I’m grateful for it.
As the picture out front suggests, I’ll effectively be freezing Sox Machine in carbonite. I’m leaving it up to refer to stuff I’ve written, but I’ll close down the comments in a couple days. Likewise, some contact information has changed, although the old channels will still work:

I’ll still be writing on a reduced schedule over the next month as I finish up the book, but once White Sox Outsider 2011 is out, I’ll be back to writing every day. And there’s plenty of great content coming on my off days, too.
I hope you’ll join me over there. The South Side Sox community has been more than respectful and accommodating of my attempt to separate the White Sox-related conversation from the off-topic/personal stuff, as well as making it more safe for work. Due to the sheer size of the site (it gets more than double Sox Machine’s traffic), I can’t promise it will ever be as on-point as Sox Machine — then again, you can help steer the discussion with your input.
You can also contact me off-site with suggestions on how to improve it. The goal with South Side Sox is the same as I had for this site — build a site that can’t be beat for White Sox analysis and discussion. The infrastructure allows some inherent advantages, and the participation of the Machinists will help immensely, too.
It’s a bittersweet day, but it’s a move that has to be made. We must move forward, not backward, upward not forward … and I hope you’ll come along for the ride.
Thanks for being you.
-Jim

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mechanicalturk

I think I’ve read just about every word you’ve put into Sox Machine since I discovered the site years ago, and since then I’ve always told my friends that if you want to be a serious White Sox fan, you have to read Sox Machine.
While maybe it wasn’t the hip underground indy blog I thought (half of SSS’s traffic is way more than I imagined), I always thought that we as Sox fans would be better off as a group if we all read what you wrote, Jim.
While this is bittersweet, it’s mostly because I can’t help but think of it as a plucky independent outlet selling out to a much larger one- but I know that isn’t really the case at all. So while I may be losing my favorite Sox blog in name, more Sox fans than ever will have access to the best White Sox writing and analysis out there.
Here’s to hoping your thoughtful, thorough, and intense-yet-respectful ways rub off on everyone. We as a group will be better for it- I know I am. Since finding and absorbing your work, I have never been prouder to be a White Sox fan.
Thank you for everything that has been, and everything yet to come.

willardmarshall

Jim, thanks so much for your steadfast brilliance. South Side Sox has big shoes to fill.

bigfun

Sox Machine. Sex Machine. I… just got that.
Great job dude. Looking forward to your continuing adventures at SSS.

blah

“We must move forward, not backward, upward not forward”
Do you mean upward not downward?

saltydog

That’s a “Treehouse Of Horror” Simpsons reference, with Kodos impersonating Bill Clinton:
“My fellow Americans. As a young boy, I dreamed of being a baseball. But tonight I say, we must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!”
I couldn’t have said it better.

madopal

If we keep trotting him out there, I smell a new nickname.
if x then y
and if a then y
then x = a…

fustercluck

C’mon Jim, Teahen might be reading this, and he might know that quote.

soxfan1

Jim, you are a briliant writer and I wish you the best of luck!! Here’s looking forward to SSS. By the way my moniker will be Soxfan50. Somebody already had Soxfan1.

talkendo

Thanks Jim! Looking forward to the work to come at SSS!

LS_SoX_FN

Well Jim, your efforts have been much appreciated… Good luck taming the wild hordes of SSS

fustercluck

Is this a funeral or a party? Break out the polka music and the dancing gibbons!
Thanks Jim, for the AL Central Trail, the ringbearer eulogies, and for whatever unstated local flavor doesn’t make the transition to SSS.
Many years hence, when my grandchildren spy my mouldering library of White Sox Outsiders, their fingers will invariably seek out the oldest of the tomes. “What’s a Sox Machine?” they will inquire. “Yes Pa-pa, what was it like?” And as my eyes mist as I reminisce in my dotage I will tell them.
“It was pumpkininny.”

oralsoxpodcast

Remember, that the site’s death takes place in the shadow of new life. It’s not really dead if we find a way to remember it.
It was a helluva thing when Sox Machine died.
Luckily, we won’t have to go wanting as we’ll be following you over to SSS, where I’ve done the unthinkable and signed up for an account. As should we all. I look forward to the continued pop culture references, inspiration and camaraderie. Thanks Jim. Flame on.

arrow

Thanks, Jim. Sox Machine has been a must-read. I’m sure you will continue the same high quality material at SSS, where the kind of good sense you show has not always been in evidence.

Andrew Reilly

Five years is a lifetime in internet publishing, and you should be proud of yourself for keeping this place so consistently entertaining and informative for so long. There’s a reason both ESPN and SBNation came knocking.
And as an added bonus, the rest of us site owners now have the steel hulk of Sox Machine to class up the South Side sports blog junkyard. If that’s not a win-win, I don’t know what is.

nicholasgoers

I have to say I was a little sad removing the link from my bookmarks, even though I just replaced it with a SSS link instead. Though I wasn’t an active member of the community I was an avid reader and will definitely miss all the different versions of this site that have helped me keep closer analysis of my favorite team. You are a fantastic writer and always have amazing takes on Sox news. Keep up the good work at SSS, but I will miss the one man Sox Machine.

elgonzo4sox

I’ll miss Sox Machine, my favorite site for insightful Sox analysis. Keep up the good work at SSS – I will definitely be reading you regularly there. And I’m looking forward to Sox Outsider 2011 – it’s going to be a great season – a “do over”, as you say, but this time with some serious power from the left side. Go Sox and Twuck the Fins!

chisoxt

Jim:
I thank you so much for all of your efforts here. Your work is always thought-provoking and most important of all, objective. Looking forward to reading you at SSS!

alwayssox

Thank you for a very good site. Will miss it.

Doctor Memory

Shit.

soxexile

Rule #1: Everything changes.
Rule #2: If you resist Rule #1, it just happens faster.
So, thank you Jim for all the great writing and for providing a home away from home for all of us. And thanks to the rest of the sox machine community for making this the highest quality sports blog I know.
Exiled again…..

ceverettsdinosaurs

Gonna miss the site. I’ve read every post since I came across it about 3 years ago and each has been thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking. Thanks for your efforts and good luck with many more years of Sox writing at SSS. I know I’ll be following along.

fundman

Adios Jim – best of luck at SSS and the whole Fundman family will miss the site – including another Fundbaby due in May. I really hope you have great success over there and keep fans like myself informed and entertained.