And Now, a Way Uninteresting Rant About Blogging
By Justin Klugh
UPDATE: I’ll be bouncing around the country until Sunday, so be prepared for a spectacular onslaught of bloggage then.
So there’s been kind of a thing in the Phillies blogosphere. Not on the Phillies, but on the blogosphere itself. According to Dan Levy in some thing he wrote, there’s too many Phillies blogs out there. People got pissed at him because he mentioned a few worth keeping, and those not uttered seemed to think he was saying they don’t really have a right to be around. I’m not offended, I’m just a little confused.
If only there was SOMETHING to compare this to…
How many Major and Minor League Baseball players are out there? My count: a billion. And they all want a shot. A lot don’t get it. But get this: They keep playing anyway because they like it.
Here’s the thing. There’s only so many mainstream Phillies blogs that have a chance at reaching that hallowed ground of being mentioned on TV or the radio or something:
- The Fightins
- Beerleaguer
- Philies Nation
- Crashburn Alley
- The Good Phight
- I would put Crossing Broad and The 700 Level on here, but since they do Philly sports in general, I feel like its different. Because it just is.
Of those, I really only check out Phillies Nation and (less frequently) Crossing Broad on a regular basis. PN has some intelligent people over there. I’m no insider or statistician, so maybe I’m easily impressed, but it works for me.
ZWR is off on a different limb. You know he’s going to post something agreeable and funny, but there’s no need for him to do in depth, official looking post game analysis (though I’m sure he could). He’s found a niche, and he works it. I’m envious.
Maybe I missed some sort of giant inside joke, but I don’t think The 701 Level is funny or necessary. Sorry. I know some people love it and that’s cool. But I haven’t “gotten” it.
Now, other than those, none pop into mind on the mainstream radar. But I try not to link to or comment on those popular sites anyway, because I figure they get enough traffic as it is. I do try to link to some Phils blogs that are good, but lesser known. Prime example: Big Sharkey Show. Awesome, profane, pissed off. Love it. Also, I don’t want to read other blogs to get source material, because that is pretty much the definition of “redundant.”
And I also understand why I am not linked to often. I rarely make a solid point and have a tendency to go off on completely unrelated topics. Also I hate the Eagles.
These big wigs, they’re great, honestly. There are some keen writers on those sites. But it is difficult to not feel like an outcast amongst their rivalries. Have any other middle of the pack Phils blogs tried to Tweet at them? I’ve never gotten a response. ZWR used to. But from someone who is apparently outside looking in, they seem to be content swapping theories and cracking wise amongst each other, and letting rest of us watch.
So. THIS blog.
This blog started I don’t know when. I answered a craigslist ad maybe a month or two out of college. FanSided had possibly three of their baseball sites actually staffed at that point (now all of them have at least been occupied at some point, but in general, most currently are). The kid I took over for was apparently a 15-year-old who had told the admin he was 20-something. My appeal to the position was in the 10-page blogging pamphlet they sent me; it said as long as I wasn’t racist, sexist, or threaten a life (whoops), I could say whatever I wanted.
This site was getting 70 hits a month when I started. Now its gets 5000-6000. Progress.
My point is, Levy says some of us should collaborate. The truth is, FanSided wants each of these sites to have 5+ writers. I understand why; all those big Phils blogs I mentioned have staffs; they have contests, giveaways, .gifs, and shops to buy t-shirts with inside jokes on them. If I want this site to succeed, to not have Dan Levy kick my door in and be all “This ain’t right!!” I need those things as well.
But why? I’m pretty impressed that I’ve updated this thing as much as I have for as long as I have, and not always with stupid crap. I have a job and a life. I think, through time, I’ve found somewhat of an audience and a unique filter through which to pump the same Phillies news we’re all trying to cover at the same time.
And to have the comment section become a chorus of ?!?!’s and trolls and shit, or to be compared endlessly to the other “upper tier” blogs; I don’t know, man. At first I thought the goal was to make this site like their’s, but I don’t have merchandise or sources or season tickets. I’ve even stopped using images for the most part out of fear of some kind of copyright infringement. I think I’ve been to Beerleaguer, like, once, because I saw the comment section and there was a guy telling people to STFU because he used to play minor league ball and he knew more about what they were talking about than anyone, ever. Obnoxious.
So before Dan Levy or the epilogue of The Phield decides blogs like this one shouldn’t exist because they’re clogging the internet or whatever, maybe consider we’re not fucking hurting anything by having a URL.
Not looking to have a pity party, or just insult people for no reason. I know what its like just to keep this fairly simple blog running, so the more complex dudes must have a hell of a time; I can respect that. I’m just officially verbalizing my distaste in being marked as superfluous.
Anyways. I don’t expect anyone to care about this. Even I don’t really care anymore, and I’ve just written 1000+ words on it.
But now I’m curious. What other “lower tier” Phils blogs are worth the read? Do people know what I mean when I say “FanSided?” Is 701 Level funny? And who is Dan Levy?