Sports sections have always been the Rodney Dangerfield of the journalism world.

We don't get no respect.

But that's OK, actually. If we're going to be honest about it, we kind of like it that way. There is a name for our corner of the newsroom. The stuffy, serious journalists -- the ones who turn their noses downward to sniff the air in the sports department -- have always snickered a bit when they talked about us, some of them even going to far as to pejoratively refer to our section as the Toy Department.

We're not alone. Sportswriters at newspapers all across the country have been slapped with that same label over time. But the more we thought about it, the more we kind of liked the moniker. Toys, after all, are serious business. They help shape your world at a time when your brain is still shaping the person you're going to become. But their primary purpose is to serve as a vehicle for fun.

That's what we want this space to be, seven days a week, and that's why we've dubbed it Toy Department. Think of it, in some ways, as The Baltimore Sun's sports section reinvented for the digital age. We'll still tackle the serious stuff, whether it's in the form of critical analysis or personal essays, but our main goal is going to be having fun. If Sidney Ponson gets a new inmate number, you'll find it here. Old photo of Jim Palmer selling us underwear? That might be be here. Michael Phelps and Paris Hilton get caught together on a beach? First, ewwww. Second, yeah, that'd be here, too. Dissecting all 112 wins the Orioles will surely post this season? Well, we'll leave that to The Onion.

For most of us, sports is about conversations and connections. It's about shared passions and contrasting hatreds. We talk about these things in our living rooms with our friends and family, on a barstools surrounded by peanut shells and half-eaten chicken wings, over the top of our cubicle walls at work.

That's what you should expect in this space every day, although we're going to try to deliver the unexpected as often as possible, whether it's playful posts, thoughtful essays, interactive features and polls, or spirited debates. We're a diverse group, with divergent interests and passions, but also a wealth of knowledge. And each day, we'll try to offer something different, and we'll ask you to weigh in as well.

Some features you'll find every single day. In fact, we're calling the first post each morning our Daily Special, and our aim is to make it topical and a bit meatier than what you've come to expect from other blogs. We'll keep it at the top of the page, so it's easy to find. If you look around Toy Department's main page, you'll see a few bells and whistles, which we'll also update daily, including our Orange and Purple links, where will bring you must-read Orioles and Ravens news and features from around the Web. We'll also have "Need to Read", five daily links about a variety of subjects that we think are worth your time, plus a poll question -- the "Burning Question"-- that we'll try to update every day.

Mainly, though, what we'll try to bring you is features every day -- or every hour -- that will make you think and make you laugh, including our weekly "Endorsement" of something we love, our "Dead To Me" declaration, our "Where Are They Now" column, where we'll track down Baltimore sports figures from the distant and recent past, our video "Face Offs," and our regular Q&As with celebrities, artists, Sun beat writers and columnists.

We want you to be a part of it too. If you have something you feel passionate about, or you think you can articulate your take on the news of the day better than we can, we'll give you a shot to weigh in. Toys, after all, are best enjoyed when shared.

So let it begin.

Rodney Dangerfield photo courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel.