16. dingdingdingdingding.

We have a winner.

I mentioned at the start of the month that we were getting very close to registering the 3,000th comment here at Uncle Crappy, and because I’ve long believed that the comments are the best part of what we — you all and me — do here, I put up a $50 iTunes gift card for the lucky reader who put us over the top.

And that lucky reader was me.

Yep, a pingback to a previous post fell into the magical spot — so we go to plan B. As I said in the fine print, if me and my big mouth were the ones to make the 3,000th comment, the prize would go to whomever left No. 3,001.

And that lucky reader was the Most Reverend Father Spoon.

As you can see from the cap of my dashboard, Doogle’s comment on my free agency post hit the site first thing Friday morning. And when I see him Monday evening, I’ll have that gift card — suitable for downloading all the Pearl Jam he can handle or for handy re-gifting this holiday season — ready to go.

Doogle gets the prize; the rest of you get my sincere thanks. I recall from the first year or so Uncle Crappy (the blog) was alive, blogging while no one is reading isn’t nearly as much fun as making this a place for conversations with friends. I can write the posts, but you guys make this site what it is. And for that, I cannot thank you enough.