When Jim Storey hired me to be this site’s main writer two years ago I had no idea who he was. (I’ll get into the background story in a minute.)

The once-anonymous Storey received a very prestigious honor this week when he was named as one of the city’s Top 10 Up-and-Comers by Inside Tucson Business magazine.

(Read the Article).

Actually he was one of the top nine, which we can only assume is some sort of homage to the career of Roy Hobbs of “The Natural” fame.

Some of you reading this might say, so he’s a good businessman, why should I care? You’re right, this city has a lot of accomplished businessmen. But Jim Storey is still only 26 years old and his brand of entrepreneurialism has been smoldering hot for years now.

I won’t rewrite the story ITB did on him (the link is above and at the bottom of this article) but I will relate the importance of Storey’s sharp business mind to this website, which he created.

A few years ago, Storey sat at a bar with some of his close friends and talked about designing a fan-based website devoted to Arizona sports. Hardly a novel idea in this day and age of networks like Rivals.com, Storey planned to take it further in the artistic and user-friendliness departments.

He came up with an aesthetically-superior site in terms of look and message board format and then launched it in August of 2002. To his surprise, no one came to “www.GOCATS.com, The Totally Unofficial UofA Fan Site.”

Yes, that’s right, it was originally supposed to be GOCATS.com but Storey couldn’t get the domain name.

Take this link for a look at the GOAZCATS transformation from back then, including an original screen shot, logo options and what the site looked like pre-Rivals affiliation.

Storey initially envisioned the site more as a place to buy merchandise and read stories taken from media outlets such as The Arizona Daily Star, ESPN.com or the official UA website. It certainly has come a long way since its inception nearly two years ago – the official birthday of GOAZCATS.com is Nov. 4, 2002, when Storey finally hired a writer to produce content.

I first learned of this site and of Storey himself when I was working at another Arizona-based website and discovered that he had stolen my Arizona Basketball History Section and put it on his own site.

I emailed him something nasty which probably went along the lines of “You no good bastards, why don’t you do your own work instead of stealing it from me. Take my stuff down immediately!”

Maybe 48 hours later, this is how Storey, always the professional, responded to me via email:

You had me at hello, Jimmy. (Yeah, right).

My first day at GOAZCATS.com was Nov. 4, 2002 and I don’t regret a single second of it. The site has grown tremendously and has surpassed every original short-term goal we set and even a couple long-term ones. All of it is because of the ingenuity and business know-how of Jim Storey.

Read the article on him from ITB from this week and you’ll see how accomplished this Renaissance man has been during his brief professional career. His list of civic involvement credentials is as impressive as it is extensive. You name it and Storey’s involved in it.

My biggest contribution to society is that I have successfully avoided hitting pedestrians with my truck over my 27 years on Earth. Jim kinda one-upped me in that department.

It is because of his presence and his affiliation with this site that GOAZCATS.com will continue to be the leading source for all Arizona-related information on the Internet.

After all, Jim Storey literally is one of the brightest and most promising businessmen in all of Tucson. He lends an incredible amount of legitimacy to each of his ventures, including this one.

Congratulations to you, Jim, you certainly deserve this recognition for all that you have done not only for this site but also for our community.

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