Trifecta

Hello World

I love sports. I think they’re delicious. Delicious? Why not delightful? Why did he write that? Well, that’s because sports are so enjoyable you could taste it. Yes. It’s not just me who sees it this way. The world of sports is all around us.  There is so much attention placed on anything sports related. There are plenty of television channels, movies, and websites that are completely devoted to sports. Athletes have risen to celebrity status like that of an actor or musician. It is not just the athletes, but even some owners, executives, and coaches have become household names. There has long been a fascination with star athletes, but now these figures appear in tabloids like Star and OK or even Perez Hilton.

It seems that there’s always something controversial popping up in the sports world. Mark McGwire uses steroids here; Tiger Woods cheats on his wife there. No matter what the issue is, people have an opinion and want to discuss it. Athletes are, often times, the subjects of these debates. However, they receive a different treatment. They don't live like most Americans do. Their every move is scrutinized. This is even truer in the society we live in today. The internet and television have grown to include websites like Twitter that tell people what athletes are currently doing and reality shows that follow athletes in their everyday routines. I definitely saw Juan Manuel Marquez drink his own urine on HBO. It was wild.

Sports are fantastic. Like the great ESPN anchor, Scott Van Pelt, always says, “Sports are the greatest thing in the world.” I agree with him. Why? Well, because sports have everything.  They combine so many feelings and emotions. There is drama, humor, amazement, love, and something as enjoyable as good sportsmanship. Another great thing about sports is that it is ongoing. When a season ends, it is not long before it starts up again. The topical issues that arise in sports are very much like the cycle of a sports season. When one sports figure is under the microscope, he simply waits for another to screw up. The attention shifts. For example, the Mark McGwire issue took a little load off of Tiger’s back.

Sports discussions take place every second. It seems like everyone has an opinion on which team is better or why "that athlete shouldn’t have done that.” Often times, these opinions are biased. Some people have a certain agenda. We become a fan of a team or an athlete and feel a sense of inclusion and attachment. These associations or attachments poison the sports fan’s rationale.

I decided that I should input my opinions on sports related issues and so I started this blog. I pride myself on trying to being fair. I still have my favorite sports teams and athletes that I root for, but I strive to be fair in my sports related analyses. I guess you'll agree or disagree based on my upcoming posts.

I live in Los Angeles, the second largest media market in the United States and essentially the second largest sports market. See! I submitted to New York there. I'm not going to sit here and say "No! LA is the best!" New York is at the top; still painful to admit though. I am actually more of a general sports fan than being a fan of certain teams and athletes. Don't get me wrong, I love my teams. It’s just that I enjoy each sport as a whole. For example, I'm a Dodgers fan, but baseball is just better when teams like the Yankees, Cardinals, and Red Sox are good. The same goes for basketball. Basketball is better when the Lakers, Celtics, and Knicks are relevant. I can admit these things while not even being fans of those teams. Really, I’m not a Lakers fan. Hopefully, you're seeing the evenness here, really trying to bring that home. Apart from the “living in Los Angeles my whole life” thing, I am currently a college student. Therefore, in addition to the constant reminder of my fairness, I believe that I also bring an academic aspect to my blogs. Basically, I’m trying to say, "these blogs will make sense" (hopefully). So let’s go over the credentials again: live in the second largest sports market; college student; and willing to admit things that might be painful. Alright, looks good.

For the most part, my blogs will consist of controversial issues as they relate to sports. This includes issues of integrity and ethics as well as more menial issues like what Matt Kemp has been grabbing lately. I think the celebrity aspect of athletes deserves mentioning. Upcoming posts might include topics like the ethics in horse racing, a sport I have loved since birth basically; sportsmanship in mixed martial arts; and fighting in hockey.

Sound interesting? I know, right? (To be sung) Someone wants to keep reading.
 

 Blog Profile of the Bleacher Report

There are plenty of sports blogs out there. Many of them are independent , but not all of them are. One that sticks out and is actually the top rated sports blog according to Technorati is Bleacher Report. Their claim to fame is that they are the web’s first Open Source Sports Network. I’d be lying if I told you that I didn’t exactly know what that meant at first. I got it cleared up though. I feel a little dumb for not figuring it out based on what it sounds like, but we're going to be honest with each other in this relationship, okay? Good. What an Open Source Sports Network basically means is that it is powered entirely by fan-generated content. Oh. Open source. By doing this, the blog is more creative and original than other sports blogs. It doesn’t have just one voice, but multiple voices. It also gives any visitor to the site a larger sense of variety.

Four guys came up with the idea to let "talented writers", basically able individuals, have a voice in the world of sports analysis. As a result, thousands of writers have contributed to the blog and content is constantly being generated daily. The blog has grown to be quite professional. The four pioneers quit their jobs to focus full-time on the site. In addition, they hired many staff members to assist in the efficiency of the site. It is a full on professional blog network. It sounded like I could’ve been describing something else there. Anyways, moving on.

The great thing about this blog site is that anyone can contribute. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everything submitted will be published. I’m sure some of those staff members these big shots hired will decide what’s worthy reading; or “talented” reading. As long as it’s rational, it’ll probably be published. The majority, if not all, of the writers are college graduates. The benefit of this is that the reader can count on the posts being well written and simply, good. For example, the writer of Brock Lesnar: An Ugly American?, Dorothy Willis, has a B.A. in Secondary Education and has risen to senior writer status. She is a nurse and gives medical insight in her post about the health care and recovery of Brock Lesnar. Her knowledge and history of the medical world are beneficial to this post. This is just an example of what the quality fan-generated content can offer to a blog network like this one. Specific insight can be provided and produce better opinions and stories.

The site says that hundreds of stories are posted a day. The people that read these posts are sports fans. They read this blog because it offers a wide variety of opinions and analysis. People are always interested in variety and they can get a good amount of it by going to this site.

This blog is very much related to the work I’ll be doing. The writers come up with posts that are topical in the sports world. There are so many stories that just about everything gets covered. My blog differs however because mine has only one voice. A reader can look at stories on Bleacher Report but might be uninterested in some stories based on the voice and style of writing. Of course, a reader can also look at my posts and not be a fan of my voice either. But, there is still a one voice guarantee. C'mon you want to buy (wait, what?). Also, my blog differs because of the source. Most of the writers that contribute to The Bleacher Report are already in the professional world. My blog comes from someone who is still a college student. Post graduate versus undergraduate. Don't you want to hear from the young people? They’re hip. C'mon you want to buy (ok, I'll stop with that).

My blog is no Bleacher Report but it is the unified voice, very sensual, college…uh…report. Yes. It’s fresh.

 
Sports Guy’s Voice

Bill Simmons is a writer for ESPN.com and is known as the “Sports Guy.” His blogs are always interesting and his writing style is very engaging. His blogs possess conversational characteristics, which is beneficial for the reader because it makes the writer and his blog personable. The reader gets a good sense of his persona through his writing. He is comical but not just for the sake of trying to be funny. It is not as if his only goal is to make the reader laugh. His comedic timing is appropriate within his writing. He’s sarcastic at times. He’s also negative at times, but only to make the reader laugh. The reader does not become annoyed by any excessive complaining. Basically, he doesn’t sound like he’s whining and that’s a good thing for the reader. He uses many analogies and metaphors that link to pop culture and common ideas that most people can relate to.

The easy way of describing his voice is to say that he is real. I say “easy” because, well, “real” doesn’t explain too much. What I mean is that he’s honest. He admits when he’s wrong and admits when he has to change. He also admits to participating in the ridiculous idea of “sports-hate”, in simple terms, where a fan hates a team or athlete but only as it relates to sports. Someone who participates in sports-hate does not wish any physical or emotional harm on an athlete. Sports fans easily relate to this idea of sports-hate because many of them have it. This makes his persona more leveled to the reader. The reader can feel equivalent to him.

His post “Running on sports-hate empty” is a good display of his persona.  He talks about the athletes he used to sports-hate but no longer feels the same way towards them. Still questioning this new appreciation for certain athletes, he asks the reader to read the previous paragraphs he wrote because it feels like his flesh is on fire. Later in the article, he becomes even more frustrated to the point where he writes:

Forget about lighting myself on fire. Too easy. I'm leaning toward giving myself a colonic with a leaf blower.

This is an example of the humor that he sometimes employs. The imagery is quite amusing but the reader is able to understand what he is saying by the exaggeration of his descriptions. A colonic with a leaf blower seems painful and wrong. Wrong, mainly because I believe that's the opposite way things are supposed to be flowing in that procedure. The painful aspect is pretty much understood.
He uses a lot of pop culture references which add to the further characterization of his voice. An example of the pop culture referencing is in the following quote:

I was watching "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" at something like 4:30 in the morning recently because my body clock is screwed up and I keep waking up at weird hours like the girl in "Paranormal Activity.

This is just another example of his distinct style of humor. He makes theses pop culture analogies that seem pretty random at first but are actually quite appropriate. The humor comes from the fact that he and the girl both wake up at odd hours, but he is not possessed by a demon like she is. It is funny that he purposely chooses to disclose that fact. 

There is another article,”We are all witnesses”, that displays his voice well. In it, he discusses Lebron James and all of his awesomeness. He writes:

You never forget he's on the court. Not for a second. Even his teammates are enamored with him; they jockey for his attention like Octomom's kids.

The reader could understand what he’s trying to convey before the Octomom reference, but he goes that extra step. That extra step is taken for two reasons: to give an example (because people love examples), and to make the reader laugh. He can attempt to be funny without jeopardizing his arguments on the topic. He finds the right balance.