The Force Behind Haight Street Hardwood

Internet sites don't simply appear out of thin air. Whether it be to sell a product, earn money off the advertising surrounding the content, provide information to the public, rant about this or that, share your 'gift' with the world, or simply a labor of love whatever the subject, each has a driving force behind its genesis.

Tim Coyne created Haight Street Hardwood because nobody else was covering the mid-to-late summer play in the San Francisco Pro-Am. Growing up in The City while displaying his craft on various courts, both hoops and the history of play at Kezar Pavilion provided sustenance to him.

As for the title of his site, "I grew up the Richmond District and then in the Haight and Haight Street runs into Stanyan where Kezar is," Coyne explained.

(Coyne as Menlo's assists leader)

He played at St. Ignatius and then later Menlo College where he was coached by a very young Kevin Nosek, now a longtime assistant coach at UC Davis. "I think he was 26 or 27 at the time," Coyne recalled.

Coyne continued on in various men's basketball leagues after college but he never took the court in the San Francisco Pro-Am.

"My Dad would take me there as a kid and I have the fondest memories," Coyne said. "It never got the notoriety it deserved."

Working as an insurance broker, he found "I had some extra time on my hands and was thinking maybe I should give it [writing] a chance."

(Coyne today)

Thus Haight Street Hardwood was born.

Another impetus for its creation -- "What got the ball rolling was the interview I heard with Flinder Boyd on Gangrey the podcast. A former point guard for Dartmouth and the Great Britain National Team, Boyd parlayed a blog he started while playing professionally overseas into a successful longform career with SB Nation, Newsweek and many other publications and sites. An article he wrote for SB Nation was recently honored in The Best Sports Writing, a yearly anthology of magazine articles on the subject of sports, published by Houghton Mifflin as part of The Best American Series. I figured Boyd had a similar background to myself as a former college point guard regardless of the much higher level at which he played and it made me think that I could possibly try something similar on a lower scale."

Family, his father in particular, was a further key element.

"My Dad is an avid reader, very supportive of my site and most importantly the person I idolize and admire most. I'm not sure many fathers would be so supportive towards a son who, at thirty years of age, was deciding to work less hours to pursue a writing career that very well could have no financial return. He couldn't have been happier.

He and I always connected through the game of basketball. Starting at a very young age, he would let me tag along and go through drills and shoot during practice when he was the head girls coach at South San Francisco High. Then he was my coach through middle school and we have always watched or attended games together whether it be walking to USF games or the yearly Warriors tickets he's always got me for my birthday. As important as basketball was to our relationship and as much as he always supported my basketball career, my writing has brought us together in a completely different way. The printed word has always been important to my dad -- he reads constantly, mostly serious literature (he loves Faulkner and many southern writers) or the New Yorker, but he always makes time for the Chronicle Sporting Green and, most importantly, Bruce Jenkins' column, his favorite.

Following a Steph Curry appearance at the Pro-Am, I emailed Jenkins asking if he might consider writing about the majestical performance Curry put on at the Pro-Am and what it meant to the fans. Eventually Jenkins did much better than that.

Weeks later, very early on a Sunday, I woke to the loud buzz of my phone ringing. It was my dad. Jenkins had quoted my article about Curry in his Sunday column. My old man was already out in front of my apartment, paper in hand, explaining to me that, in bold print, there were four names in the opening paragraph: Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Stephen Curry and Tim Coyne. As I read the story over and over, while eating breakfast with my parents, I kept thinking I was going to wake up again and it would all be a dream. Even though it was just a paragraph of my words in print and just months into a writing career I certainly hope to sustain for years to come, it very well may be the fondest memory writing will bring me.

With all sincerity, I would be more than content if that were the case, as sitting there in the kitchen of my excited parents was one of the better mornings of my life. Often as adults, by the time we realize the importance of making our fathers proud, the majority of the opportunities to do so have already passed us by. As a result, to witness my dad's face after words I wrote were quoted in his favorite sportswriter's column is an accomplishment I don't believe I will ever top.

Regardless of where this blog takes me from here, that Sunday morning will always allow me to view this endeavor as a great personal success."

After six months, the feedback from his subject matter has been positive.

"The players appreciate it. A lot of them have sent me Facebook messages thanking me."

Here's the opening paragraph of Coyne's latest article:

"There is a certain unknown that has always contributed to the excitement in attending a San Francisco Pro-Am game. As they enter the old pavilion every fan, young and old, shares the same lingering hope when examining the two shuffling groups of physical specimens going through layup lines; they will be greeted by the sight of another star dropping by the storied league to pay it homage. Such a gift has become one of the league’s greatest traditions and a large reason so many flock to the historic gym on Stanyan Street each summer. While such an experience takes place only a few nights each summer, those few nights will always be some of the league’s most celebrated. Of equal significance to the adoration the league has sustained for 35 years are the talented players that, instead of making a solitary cameo, commit to being on hand each and every week. Kezar diehards have come to rely on these consistent players as they maintain the exceptionally high level at which the league has been played for the last three and a half decades. No team had more players embody that cherished dependability than the 2014 San Francisco Pro-Am champs..."

As for future plans, Coyne offered, "continuing to develop my site."

Since it is the off-season for basketball, Coyne is currently engaged in longform features on various Bay Area talents. Some very pleasing surprises for fans will be emerging, making Haight Sreet Hardwood a year-around go-to destination for basketball information.