A few days ago Pookie sent me a link to USA Hockey Magazine's list of the best blogs on the internet. Yesterday Mirtle posted a link to the list and the accompanying article and since I'm bored and there's nothing else going on, I'm going to give you my take. Here's a link to just the blog list if you're not interested in the article. (Click on the image to enlarge it enough to read it.) I have a few immediate reactions:
1. Hockeybuzz? Really? I can't think of another blog out there that would make me take a list less seriously than Hockeybuzz. Hockeybuzz has, in my opinion, probably done more damage to hockey bloggers than just about any other site. Are there some talented people writing over there? I don't know, maybe. All I can tell you for sure is that Garth, the Sabres blogger, can't punctuate, can't write a complete sentence, and clearly doesn't know how to use spell-check and Eklund is a douchebag who lets real journalists do all the work and then pretends he got the information from an inside source. At least when I steal an idea or tidbit from someone, I give them credit and a link. I know tons of people read Hockeybuzz but popular does not equal quality.
2. I'm really disappointed at how many of the blogs on the list are written by professionals. I have nothing against professionals writing blogs - I read a few pretty regularly including, of course, Sabres Edge (Bucky seems to be in charge right now though so if you follow the link, don't say I didn't warn you) - but I don't know, when I think of sports blogs I think of passionate and yes, subjective fans. After reading the accompanying article I'm even more perplexed by the lack of fan written blogs because the article really focuses on how blogs have become the voice of the fan and are often written by amateurs. Although it does talk about how the popularity of blogs has forced traditional media to change its way of working so maybe I'm in the minority on still thinking of blogs as the home of the obsessed fan.
3. Ted's Take is not a great blog. I think it's wonderful that Ted Leonsis is so enthusiastic about the Capitals and I think it's wonderful that he goes out of his way to interact with fans but his blog is basically links to articles with comments like, "I really like this one!" or "I'm not sure I agree with this one!" I certainly wouldn't call it "a rare and honest view from inside the front office." It's nice. It's fine. It's not great. If it were written by anyone else, no one would read it.
4. I suppose you could come up with a more underwhelming list of blogs to recommend to blog newbies but I don't know. But don't mind me. I'm mostly just annoyed that I don't actually read most of the blogs on this list and don't enjoy some of the ones I have read. I'm sure it's all a matter of opinion. I'm a blogger, that's what we do.
A better list? Terry Frei's ranking of NHL coaches that puts Lindy Ruff in the elite category as one of the four best coaches in the league. That's what I'm talking about.
No comments:
Post a Comment