Sports Blogs Continue To Evolve As Popularity Grows

Sports Blogs Becoming Larger Part Of Mainstream Media

Some sports bloggers have “touted themselves as edgy and independent, outsiders free to write what mainstream media will not,” but as time passes, media experts said that the sports blogosphere is "bound to evolve," according to David Wharton of the L.A. Times. SensibleTalk.com's Robert Niles: "Bloggers are maturing and realizing that we're moving out of the childhood age of this industry, into an awkward adolescence." The job “began to change as sites such as Deadspin and ProFootballTalk attracted large audiences and readers began taking them to task for erroneous reports.” The Big Lead co-Creator Jason McIntyre said when author Buzz Bissinger made negative comments about blogs on "Costas Now" in April, "The initial reaction was 'Buzz is a lunatic.' After that, people calmed down, listened to what he said and thought, 'You know, maybe we should clean up our act a little bit." Profootballtalk.com’s Mike Florio: “It’s a question of how successful do we want to be and how much are we willing to adjust our approach? We’re gaining revenue, gaining credibility.” Niles: “It’s the difference between living in a dorm room you can trash and buying your own home. You say, ‘I want to live here a while, so I have to treat this with respect.’” Wharton wrote increased readership also has “brought advertisers, and bloggers who made a name for themselves on the web attracted freelance writing assignments from newspapers and magazines,” highlighted by Outgoing Deadspin.com Editor Will Leitch’s recent announcement that he is leaving to become a contributing editor at New York magazine. Florio “expects that more and more blogs will hire reporters, and [AOL Fanhouse Senior Producer John] Ness wonders if he and his competitors should start policing each other” (L.A. TIMES, 6/22).

CHANGING OF THE GUARD: The BOSTON PHOENIX’ Adam Reilly wrote, “Plenty of online sports commentators acutely resent their old-media peers.” ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons said of sportswriters, “Those guys had it easy up until the mid ‘90s. It was an old-boys network, there was no accountability, nobody was calling them out. ... Once the Internet took off, not only did those guys have to break a sweat creatively -- and a lot of them didn’t -- but they were being called out for stuff like, ‘Look, this Globe NBA-notes column and this LA Times NBA-notes column had 80[%] of the same material.’ ... The free ride was over. And I don’t think they really adjusted. ... From the standpoints of creativity and immediacy, the Internet has crushed newspapers (sports-coverage-wise), whether they want to admit this or not.” However, Reilly wrote there are “hints that a fragile peace is taking shape.” And five years from now, “every sportswriter lucky enough to have a paying job will be blogging, too" (BOSTON PHOENIX, 6/18 issue).

ATHLETES' TAKE: Wharton, in a separate piece, wrote "big-time athletes have various reactions to playing in an era when their every move can be dissected on the Internet.” Wharton: “Some like the blogs. Some blog themselves. Some couldn’t care less. Others take offense at what they consider to be the new medium’s reputation for analyzing from afar.” MLB officials “cautioned players before the season that anyone with a cellphone might take a picture. The NBA offers a "similar warning at rookie meetings.” Some athletes said that they “try to be careful in public.” Lakers G Ronny Turiaf: “With the technology today, you can’t go anywhere without someone taking a picture of you. And with Photoshop, you never know what’s going to end up on the Internet" (L.A. TIMES, 6/22).