SI: Blogs are The Devil

This whole blog thing has been great for me. Writing is fun and having folks read and (hopefully) enjoy my stuff is a pretty amazing feeling. Chris Ballard over at SI doesn’t like blogs and wrote last week about it. You have to be a subscriber to read the article, but there is a free interview with Bill Simmons that contains some of the same critiques. I’ve also ferreted out a response a response from TrueHoop.com to Ballard’s article that does a nice job of showing Ballard to be a rump swab who’s trying to ruin my fun.

I love the response of the main stream media (I don’t use the shorthand, kiddies) to this whole blogging thing. My favorite aspect of it is the charge that there is a lack of accountability with blogs. To be honest, it’s not like there is much accountability with more traditional media outlets.

For instance, take Ron Borges. Borges is a football “analyst” back in Boston and does a lot of work for CBSsportsline.com. Borges really hates Bill Belichick. He writes about it and calls into WEEI to talk about it. Belichick has really gotten into this cat’s head. When asked what reasons drive the engine of his disdain, his only response is that he “knows something” about The Best Coach in Football that would shock us. That’s it. No explanation. Just an ominous warning that we’d be shocked. That’s “accountability.”

It’s because of Borges that I love the direct link that sports fans can have now to their favorite teams and athletes. It’s a direct link that’s running sports pages into the ground. As an information-hungry, sports fan, I love the amount of info out there for me. I spend a good two hours a day scouring my favorite sites (they’re all on the sidebar, btw) for fresh takes. I’m tired of Peter King telling me how special a person Bret Favre is and I’m tired of every athlete who’s not cordial with the beat guys being described as a malcontent. Give me the Baseball Crank and the Celtics Blog.