Thursday, February 24, 2005
Un-Fetters-ed
Mike Fetters is a sports-agent-in-training. Thanks to Jeff from Lookout Landing for the link; his take on the matter amused me.
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In other blog entries of note, Will Carroll has an interesting discussion on the tendency of bloggers not to use the phone to call contacts. I find the discussion interesting in light of the continued mergers and acquisitions of the past few weeks in the baseball blogosphere. People are trying to make blogging profitable, if not exactly full-time work for most. At some point, the brightest lights in that blogosphere are going to need to figure out whether they want to be on the "inside" or the "outside." The rest of us lower-level lights (candles, Bic lighter, two sticks rubbing together) will be happy blabbering away like monkeys in the typing pool, blissful in our lack of access. ("Contacts? Contacts? We don't need no steeeeenking contacts!")
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I have neglected to mention the recent resurrection of two relatively dormant D-Back blogs -- West Coast Bias and Out in the Desert. It's good to have them back. Hopefully they'll continue to stick around...
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In other blog entries of note, Will Carroll has an interesting discussion on the tendency of bloggers not to use the phone to call contacts. I find the discussion interesting in light of the continued mergers and acquisitions of the past few weeks in the baseball blogosphere. People are trying to make blogging profitable, if not exactly full-time work for most. At some point, the brightest lights in that blogosphere are going to need to figure out whether they want to be on the "inside" or the "outside." The rest of us lower-level lights (candles, Bic lighter, two sticks rubbing together) will be happy blabbering away like monkeys in the typing pool, blissful in our lack of access. ("Contacts? Contacts? We don't need no steeeeenking contacts!")
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I have neglected to mention the recent resurrection of two relatively dormant D-Back blogs -- West Coast Bias and Out in the Desert. It's good to have them back. Hopefully they'll continue to stick around...
Comments:
I like to think that a lot of the more popular blogs, at least when it comes to baseball (myself included), are testaments to what you can accomplish *without* any relevant contacts.
Blogging is all about alternative commentary. If you want to hear what people close to the team have to say about something, then read the newspaper.
Blogging is all about alternative commentary. If you want to hear what people close to the team have to say about something, then read the newspaper.
I probably should have waited until I had the time to make a larger post on the subject.
I do agree that there is value in the "outsider" blog (i.e., the blog that doesn't seek the team's perspective). Once you develop that relationship, however tenuous, with the team, the risk of compromising your identity is high.
But I also think that there would be value in getting some perspective from the "inside." While I certainly don't agree with everything the D-Backs management has done this offseason or in the past, I think the conversation on, say, the Russ Ortiz contract needs to move beyond:
BLOGGER: Fly-ball pitcher in hitter's park. Colossal waste of money, way too long of a contract.
PAPER: 15 wins and 200+ innings/year for past 6 years. Guy with character.
I really do want somebody from the D-Backs to answer questions that a blogger would ask, because my sense is that the newspapers (here) aren't asking them. I don't think my blog will ever be the one to ask them (it'd be nice, but I'm under no pretenses that it's likely to happen).
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I do agree that there is value in the "outsider" blog (i.e., the blog that doesn't seek the team's perspective). Once you develop that relationship, however tenuous, with the team, the risk of compromising your identity is high.
But I also think that there would be value in getting some perspective from the "inside." While I certainly don't agree with everything the D-Backs management has done this offseason or in the past, I think the conversation on, say, the Russ Ortiz contract needs to move beyond:
BLOGGER: Fly-ball pitcher in hitter's park. Colossal waste of money, way too long of a contract.
PAPER: 15 wins and 200+ innings/year for past 6 years. Guy with character.
I really do want somebody from the D-Backs to answer questions that a blogger would ask, because my sense is that the newspapers (here) aren't asking them. I don't think my blog will ever be the one to ask them (it'd be nice, but I'm under no pretenses that it's likely to happen).
