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December 08, 2004
What's Next For The Sports Blog?
Dodger Thoughts, which published the excellent, "The Disposable Baseball Blogger," a few weeks back, is at it again, this time interviewing LA Times Dodgers beat writer Bill Shaikin on the role of sports blogs: No one writer can think of everything, and if someone else spots a trend before I do, more power to them. The seed planted by a blog can lead a writer to use his access and ask questions of the appropriate parties. I agree with the Dodger Thoughts perspective that the blogs that stand out offer original reporting - not just a “take” and not necessarily comments from players, agents or general managers - but insight and commentary not found elsewhere. Shaikin also addresses some of the limitations of arm chair GMs: While many blogs tend to use sabermetric tools in analysis and commentary - and often make compelling points in doing so - the best bloggers understand that decisions are not made in a statistical vacuum. After the Dodgers-Marlins trade July 30, I read blogs in which DePodesta was crowned as the winner of the trade on the basis of VORP alone. But there are many other factors that even DePodesta would tell you he would consider - salaries in current and future seasons, eligibility for salary arbitration, minor league depth at various positions, the upcoming class of free agents, etc. that statistics alone do not tell the story. That might be a lesson some baseball bloggers in D.C. might want to take heed of, as just about everyone here in Washington has been on an anti-Jim Bowden jihad for most of the past month. Read the rest right now. Hat tips to Tom Biro and Steve Rubel. UPDATE: Welcome to readers of Capital Punishment. Click here to see my response to Chris Needham's post.
Eric
02:46 PM
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsOriginal reporting, huh? Sounds like some folks consider their blogs more of a profession than a hobby. I think the distinction should be made, in fairness, to the poor suckers out there that do offer a mere "take" on matters of relevency. It seems like the expectations of bloggers are skyrocketing to the point where the "big hitters" are being forced to put in excessive hours in order to maintain their readership. Once that bar of excellence is set, there's no turning back. I felt that expectation, and it made this "hobby" feel too much like a second profession. I've talked to a few fellow bloggers who have indicated to me that the incentive to maintain a super-popular blog isn't so much an incentive as it is an obligation. For me, that took the fun out of it. But I think the big boys really relish the role of pumping out quality piece after quality piece - no matter how much spare time they have to sacrifice in the process. Those are the guys that make me green. Posted by: at December 9, 2004 12:39 PM Post a commentThanks for signing in, . (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) |