Bloggolalia: Is Sports Blogging All Grown Up?

I've been doing some thinking lately about the future of this blog. Now that it's been a little while, the truth can be told as to why I started writing here in 2006. It was mostly out of irritation that many good stories were being ignored by the top blogs. I felt like many of the top bloggers were just hanging out with each other and copying the themes in each others' work. As I've complained before, it seemed like every writer fit the same generic template: NY/DC dweller, male, aged 24-34, white, well-educated, middle-class, liberal, and non-religious. Thus, the biases and lack of diversity in writing drove me to start my own blog.

However, it seems to me that sports blogging has turned some sort of corner in 2008. Yes, many bloggers still lazily fail to get to the root of a story. Many bloggers still believe that biased snap judgments on minority (and majority) groups is their god-given right.

But I also think that the storytelling has gotten a little more balanced. Voices like MODI, D-Wil, Dave Zirin, and Michael Tillery no longer seem to be shouting into a cyber-space vacuum. Modi and D-Wil have pointed out some significant improvements in the blogosphere themselves. I would say the bottom for sports blogging was coverage of the Vick story. But the blogosphere, as a whole, did well in covering stories like Sean Taylor, the Fanhouse's attempt to supplant normal sports bloggers with fantasy sports girls, and Lebron James Vogue story. To be honest, one of the reasons I stopped writing for SOMM was that I didn't have as much fire in me anymore to write. I felt that things had improved so much that there was a lot less for me to complain about, ha, and thus my writing was dry and becoming forced.

So what do you think? Have I overstated the immaturity of the early days of sports blogging, or was there really a problem? Has sports blogging changed for the better, and what still needs to change? Or have I gotten soft and sold out to "The Man", seduced by promised links and kind words? (Understand, I hope this post doesn't read as "Oh, sports bloggers are writing more like me/my biased agenda, and that's a good thing." No way! My writing is long-winded and a bit pretentious.)

SportsBlabbery: Are Athletes Smarter than Average?

I decided the good old Bloggolalia tag didn't fit such situations, so thus, SportsBlabbery. I'm going to leave up this post for a while if I can help it, so peek underneath it for new posts.

I got into a conversation with someone about this last week (who was very gracious, by the way, thank you), and it made me think about it. Rather than reprint my e-mail, I wanted to hear from you. Do you think athletes are smarter than average? of average intelligence? or less intelligent than average?

Now, immediately we have semantic issues, which I will ever so graciously attempt to resolve. Let's say professional and Olympian athletes only; some high schools are so small that everyone plays sports, while attending college itself may interfere with our results.

What do you think? I'll repost this with my opinion once you post your opinions; I know you have them.