Posterized: Midwest Tough

I was hoping to feature all sorts of exciting action from the first round of the baseball play-offs...and three of the series are already sweeps. Oh well, more time for Indians/Yankees. (Click poster for larger view)

For my mini-rant, I'd like to thank the New York City media for doing their usual freak out job when confronted with anything different. Little did I know that the hordes of summer mites (aka Canadian Soldiers) in Game 2 were such a threat to life and limb. It's hard for us Midwesterners to compete in suffering with the Florida hurricanes, California fires, and Texas heat; maybe that's why we're sometimes stereotyped as nice and quiet. East Coast might talk smack to your face, South talks smack behind your back, West Coast, um, does smack, but the Midwest! Ah, we let our actions do the smack-talking. We heroically trudge through swarms of flies, mixed with snow. That's us earnest Midwestern types. Is this a good time to mention that I have jogged through swarms of summer mites without swatting once? Yes, that's me, Midwest tough. Please, ladies, don't swarm to me all at once--although of course, if I can handle those vicious, 1 millimeter, non-biting mites, I can handle any swarm.

Bloggolalia: What might have been?

When I reflect on sports blog history, like SML did, I think most about what might have been. It's an intriguing aspect of great ideas that often, the pieces for the idea have been around for years. It's just that no one ever thought to put them together. I'm specifically intrigued by the competition to become the King of Sports Links, and how a gap in the market led to Deadspin becoming the current King. I must immediately apologize for any inaccuracies; there are few Wikipedia entries on the dates for most of these sites.

Contender #1: Bill Simmons. I don't know of any web-site that can truly challenge Bill Simmons as the founder of the Sports Links type blog. While I never saw his site when he was Boston Sports Guy, I did read his first words for ESPN.com. You may remember that he had his first intern, Jamie, putting out a fairly regular link column with some commentary. But Bill himself stayed away from the link game when he got to ESPN. Why? In a column, he stated that ESPN was nervous that they would link to something, and then the site author would switch it with, say, a link to a sexually explicit site. Then, in May 2005, Kevin Cott won the intern contest, and went on to publish...not much of anything. I forget exactly why, but little was done with links. When does Deadspin come along? May 2005 (I know Wikipedia says September, but there are earlier articles). The coincidence is intriguing to me. I have severe doubts whether Deadspin could have become King of Sports Links against a Page 2 Linking page of average or better strength.

Contender #2: The Sports Frog and Can't Stop the Bleeding. I have to be honest here: I don't know those sites well enough to talk about them. See SML's article.

Contender #3: slamonline.com and insidehoops.com . I don't know why, but I do believe that basketball has been a little more link-friendly than both baseball and football over the years. Both of these sites did a lot of linking to really interesting basketball stories, covering most of the major newspapers and team web-sites. To my knowledge, they were doing this at least since 2003, perhaps even before. And yet, I don't think people really know about either site. Both sites initially decided to feature forums rather than a comment section, which may have been a mistake. Also, I remember that slamonline.com used to publish a lot of reader letters and comments, but stopped doing that as much as time went on. It's my belief that if Slam would have hired those interns to help Lang Whitaker run the site in 2002 instead of years later, or if the posting would have been done throughout the day instead of one massive column, Slam could have become a links + letters column that would have been quite popular. One also wonders if you can be TOO good at linking. There were so many links to navigate through and read, it got to be too much after a while for me.

Contender #4: Anyone with a Blogspot or Xanga or Live Journal in 2004. I'm a little irate at how many people believe the blog game is recent. Look at SML's examples of previous sports bloggers. (I would add hoopstv.com, defunct since 2001? or so. Similar column styles to free darko and the starting five mixed together). You're telling me that no one could have copied Matt Drudge circa 1998 in sports? And actually, I got more comments running a blog in 2004 than I do today. So don't tell me the readers weren't there. They were.

So why did Deadspin become so popular? I think the key was that it was not a link site by itself, or a column writer by itself, or a monitored forumboard by itself. It essentially combined all three aspects into one package, in real time. And that helped it grow. A lot of the competitors above fell easily into two of the three categories, but struggled with the third. Deadspin so far has been able to handle all three categories. I also think that the rise of the search engine is a major factor in Deadspin's success. As search became better (and users became better at search), there was greater appreciation for links sites.

Anyway, I wrote Part 2 where I analyze what it would take to dethrone Deadspin, but I'm tired and so are you at this point. I'll post it next week.

Quick MLB picks

NL:
Rockies in 4 I think the Rockies have one more win streak left.
Cubs in 3 I just don't think much of the Diamondbacks; Randy Johnson's not coming out of the bullpen, folks. Wait, did I just steal a joke Bill Simmons made famous? I will now light myself on...ugh, wait, that's his too.
Cubs over Rockies in 5 And the Rockies fall apart here after taking the first game.

AL:
Yankees in 5. Really want to pick my Indians, but Yankees have bullpen + offense over us.
Red Sox in 4. Quick! Name 3 players on the Angels who are not currently injured!
Red Sox over Yankees in 6 Worse pen, but better pitching and offense.

WS:
Red Sox over Cubs in 7. I just can't find an advantage for this Cubs team over the Red Sox; but I think they can fight long enough to make this a memorable series.

AV Wednesday: U-20 Soccer Players Visit Orphanage

I promised less videos, but this one is worth a post to itself. This video is about the US Under-20 women's soccer team at a Russian tournament. While there, they decided to visit an orphanage. A boys orphanage. In another country. And the women's team played soccer with them, even though they were risking injury. And they brought them gifts. Rarely have I felt prouder of the way an American team represented us. Thank you, whoever thought of this, for doing it, and to the players for agreeing to visit.



Note: I had another blog up a few hours ago. Then I decided I should sit on it for a few days. That's why it's gone now. I love not having many readers, ha; I can do such things easily.

Top 10 Comment Sections in Sports Blog Land, 6-10

Most of us comment because we enjoy letting our opinions be heard, getting strong (hopefully favorable) reactions back, and becoming a respected regular within a site community. I first started commenting on blogs and forums a decade ago. Chances are you've seen my comments on one sports blog or another under "mcbias" or "midwestcoastbias." But I’ve also commented on blogs and boards run by pastors, singers, models, entrepreneurs, cutters, anas…you name it before getting involved in the sports blog world. Wherever I commented, I’ve discovered that one of the best ways to get readers is to make an insightful comment on an interesting site.

So which sites are best for getting readers/friends and having a good conversation, without having to wade through a morass of idiot commenters? I took a shot at it, and the result is...biased. Apologies to team web-sites for not ranking you; it’s really hard to comment on most of those sites unless you are a fan of the team. But I thought, with so many trotting out their lists of blog rankings based on popularity or quality or "please link to me", we needed a blog ranking list based on commenting.

Here are some of the issues I considered in ranking blogs: Does the blog owner respond in the comment sections? Is the blog owner willing to credit commenters, or does he/she always fight commenters who disagree with them? Are there enough comments, but not too many? Regular commenters? Few stupid commenters? Possibility for both funny comments, informative material links, and smart discussions? Diversity of commenters, style, and belief? (i.e. women and men, nerds and jocks, East Coast and West Coast, etc.).

Just missed it: True Hoop, Cobra Brigade, and Slamonline .

10. With Leather
Matt clearly values commenting, makes great jokes in his posts, and I believe was the first major blogger to run a “Comment of the week” feature. For that alone, it’s instantly a top-10 comment section. Plus, if you like talking trash with/against fellow commenters, there are some great guys to do that with in the comment section. In addition, he…

NOW JUST HOLD ON, MC BIAS! YOU THINK YOU CAN HAVE A TOP 10 COMMENT SECTION LIST AND KISS UP TO THESE BIG BLOGS, EH? HOW ABOUT SOME ACTUAL COMMENTS IN THE COMMENT LIST, WITH ACTUAL CRITICISM?

Oh come on, MR CAPS. I thought you went into retirement after the Alyssa Milano debacle. My psychiatrist promised me I don’t need fictional alter-egos anymore ever since that schizophrenic episode at the funeral, and…

NYET! MR CAPS HAS COME TO RESTORE SOME NEEDED BALANCE IN BLOGGERS LISTS OF OTHER BLOGGERS. KISSING UP SHOULD BE RESERVED FOR THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE IN YOUR LIFE, NOT FOR OTHER BLOGS. START AT THE COLLARBONE, AND

Oh no, please, there’s no way MR CAPS will ever talk about kissing on this blog. I surrender! Say whatever you want!

THAT’S BETTER. YOU FORGOT TO MENTION THAT POTENTIAL COMMENTS ON WITHLEATHER ARE LIMITED TO “THAT GIRL IS PURTY”, “THAT ATHLETE IS DUM”, AND “THAT VIDEO IS FUNNY”. THOSE GEMS CAN ONLY BE POSTED AFTER REGISTERING, AND MR CAPS IS UNABLE TO LINK TO HIS OWN SITE. THEY SHOULD BE LUCKY TO HAVE MR CAPS IN THEIR COMMENT SECTION! MR CAPS SHALL BE HEARD FROM AND OVERCOME ALL!

Sigh, ok, there’s one blog that will never link to me again. Only nine more to go...

9. Ladies…
Most female commenters anywhere, as you might guess from the title. It's not all sports diehards either, lots of variety in commenters. Some guys also hang out here, perhaps making it the most diverse comment section in sports blog land.

WHAT YOU MEAN IS, DESPERATE MALE COMMENTERS ARE DRAWN TO ESTROGENVILLE FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO YOUNGER WOMEN WITHOUT PAYING BY THE MINUTE.

MR CAPS! Come on, if that was truly the motivation, those male commenters would be on Myspace.

THEY ARE, BUT NO ONE WILL TALK TO THOSE MEN THERE, AND THE LADIES… DON’T HAVE A BLOCK USER BUTTON YET.

Anyway, on occasion Ladies... can have the best comment section around. For example, read their Hot Blogger contest or their blog on how men react to women who love sports.

ON OCCASION THE COMMENT SECTION CAN ALSO BE FUNNY. HOWEVER, THAT "OCCASION" APPEARS TO BE ONCE EACH LEAP DAY. ONLY 5 MONTHS AWAY!

MR CAPS, the goal of the Ladies blog isn't to be funny, and the posts are very creative. You shouldn't be so judgmental; you should expand your horizons.

IT'S A PITY THE OFFICER WAS SO "JUDGMENTAL" LAST WEEK WHEN YOU TRIED TO "EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS." CAN YOU STILL BLOG FROM PRISON?

Whatever.

8. Kissing Suzy Kolber
I feel conflicted about this pick; it’s a little low for a site run by some of the best, most frequent commenters in sports blog land. They instituted the commenter draft for the slow summer months (which was an act of genius), ran different contests, AND had a charity drive so that commenters could help soldiers. For sheer ingenuity, they deserve to be top 3 on this list, and their commenters are numerous and very loyal.

THE KSK COMMENT SECTION ALSO DOUBLES AS A REFUGEE CAMP FOR WOULD-BE DEADSPIN COMMENTERS, AND THE UNNECESSARY DISPLAYS OF TESTOSTERONE ARE UNDERWHELMING. MR CAPS BETS THE CLOSEST ANY OF THE COMMENTERS GOT TO A REAL FOOTBALL FIELD WAS CATCHING UNCLE RICO'S PASSES IN PRACTICE 25 YEARS AGO. IF MR CAPS WANTED TO PLAY “WHO HAS THE BIGGEST STICK” ON THE INTERNET , MR CAPS WOULD GO TO…

PG, MR CAPS, remember, PG! And it's a blog for guys about football; you expect discussions on quantum physics and etiquette?

…WIKIPEDIA TO FIND THE ANSWER. DO ANY BLOG AUTHOR(S) MOCK THEIR READERS MORE THAN KSK WRITERS? IF MR CAPS WANTED PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE INCONSISTENT SCORN, MR CAPS WOULD CALL HOME MORE OFTEN, OR EX-GIRLFRIENDS. THE “WE’RE COOLER THAN YOU, BUT YOU GET COOL POINTS FOR HANGING OUT WITH US” ROUTINE IS BEST LEFT TO TEEN GIRL MOVIES STARRING GIRLS WITH WHITER COMPLEXIONS THAN…

This really is a comment section, isn’t it? That’s not at all an original or funny joke.

MR CAPS WAS GOING TO MAKE FUN OF BDD’S PAUNCH INSTEAD. MR CAPS WAS CONCERNED THAT AFTER HIS IMPENDING FATAL HEART ATTACK, A GRIEVING MRS. BDD MIGHT FIND THIS POST. WEEPING AT THE CRUELTY, SHE MIGHT...

So you feel compassion for his grieving widow? Don't tell me MR CAPS is actually being compassionate for once.

MR CAPS DID NOT FINISH. ...REACH FOR A TOWEL TO WIPE HER FACE OF TEARS...A UNWASHED TOWEL USED BY THE RECENTLY DEPARTED BDD.

(gags) OK, I guess that’s compassion…or something like that.

7. Nation of Islam Sportsblog
You either love or hate their comment section, and I enjoy it. NOIS strings along the newbies who aren’t sure whether the site is sarcastic or not, and it is fun to watch. The site can be a little mean, but many of the people who get the mean treatment are often stupid or bigots. So I say flame on, to a certain extent.

MR CAPS TAKES NOTE OF YOUR DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO GET DTW TO COMMENT ON THIS SITE. MAY MR CAPS HAVE THE HONOR OF DELETING THAT COMMENT?

Shh!

IF MR CAPS WANTED TO HANG OUT WITH RACE-BAITERS OR BIGOTS, HE COULD DO THAT ANYWHERE, NOT JUST ONLINE. AND NOIS HAS GOTTEN TOO GOOD FOR THE COMMENT SECTIONS LATELY.

It's more likely that NOIS has a life and got tired of arguing with idiots.

6. Awful Announcing
I don’t know this commenting section as well as I should, but the live blogs look tremendous. Incorporating reader comments into the live blog is a really nice touch. I’m glad to finally say about a blog that I expect to rank it higher the next time I rank commenting sections, rather than lower.

THE SITE ALSO HAS AN INORDINATE AMOUNT OF AFFECTION FOR ERIN ANDREWS.

And?

AND, IT HAS DISTRACTED FELLOW READERS FROM THE TRUE BEAUTIES IN THE SPORTS WORLD, LEAVING THEM AT THE MERCY OF MR CAPS' RIGHT-CLICK MOUSE BUTTON. I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT AA.

No one is impressed by your expertise with “Save-As”; what are you, 13? Haven’t I seen you on the AOL Fan House?

UM…MR CAPS HAS TO, UM...

Yes? Work on Algebra homework? Ride his bicycle? Clean his room?

BRB

I knew it!

Comment Sections 1-5 some other time. And please, don't take this seriously; I'm just having fun while praising my betters. It's a totally biased list, and I make no excuses for that; there's no way that I was as objective in ranking this list as I think I was. Feel free to re-rank or post your own rankings.

Why the Brazil Game was so Special to Hope Solo

In my post below, I already analyzed Coach Ryan's decision to bench Hope Solo. I decided to watch more on YouTube to find out about the women's soccer team. There is a user named Martynny who has excellent Youtube video of the women's national team. If you are looking for Hope Solo video, she is the place to go.

Martynny has a video that she said explains why not playing against Brazil may have hurt Hope's feelings so badly. This is documentary-type footage, shot before the World Cup, I believe. I haven't seen this story mentioned in coverage of the team, so I wanted to bring it to your attention, while giving Martynny full credit for pointing this out.

UPDATE: I give up on trying to break stories online, ha. Beaten again! The well-informed Michael David Smith saw this video too, and USA Today has a story on it today. So I'm not the exclusive source for this: sorry.

Warning; this video is sad, so if you cry easily, be prepared.



For those of you who can't watch the video; Hope explains that her dad was finally going to come watch one of her games. It was going to be the US game against Brazil in New York City in 2005. However, he suffered a heart attack the week before and died, so he never got to see her play. So it's safe to assume that the Brazil game had a lot of extra meaning to Hope, and that she would have wanted to win for her dad. Sigh, I guess we're reminded again to be careful about judging people's motives.

Anyway, here are some nicer, funny videos of Hope to lighten the mood and give you a more complete perspective on her.

30 second brief interview with Hope.


Hope talks about the "Goalkeeper's Union" (4.5 minutes or so)


Hope plays video game soccer against Drew Carey (scroll to about 3:13 minute mark). It's funny. For the record, Hope enjoys video games.

Posterized: Losers Edition

UPDATE: I don't know why, but I was truly saddened to hear of the President of Bosnia's Serb Republic passing. Milan Jelic was a doctorate in economics, a soccer player, and president of Bosnia's soccer federation; what a cool life. He was 51.
UPDATE 2: I'm fascinated that the play-off between San Diego and Colorado counts as a regular-season game. If Jake Peavy wins this, he will have 20 wins on the season. On the other hand, if Josh Fogg loses this, he will drop to 10-10. And Matt Holliday (fixed: I had Roy Halliday before, thanks to Jack Cobra for the correction) can either clinch or lose the batting title based on his performance in this game. Those are interesting subplots.

Another week of punning and whacked analogies is upon us in the poster post! For some reason, the stories this week in the sports world were more about who lost than who won. The posters follow suit. (Scroll past my blather to see posters, click for larger size).

For my mini-rant, I have to both defend and offend Coach Ryan of the US Women's World Cup team. Ryan has fought hard to eliminate the ghosts of 1999 that creepily hang over this team, to the point of not even letting Brandi Chastain try out for this team. And this was needed; you can't stay stuck in the glorious past. It's similar to how the US men's basketball team must step out of the 1992 Dream Team's shadow. However, he offered up one last sacrifice to the ghosts of 1999 by putting Scurry in goal. There's no doubt to me that it was the correct strategic decision. Hope was shaky in the North Korea game, allowing at least one cheap goal. I'm not sure she could have handled the relentless and creative Brazilian attack.

However, psychologically, inserting Briana Scurry smacked of desperation; it admitted that the US was no longer good enough to just show up and play Brazil. Sometimes, when you play a team that can beat you (as Brazil was, and did), a coach must lie to her team and pretend she is not worried about their opponent. It is possible to take a team TOO seriously; and that apparently is what Ryan did to his squad. By the way, Briana Scurry's work as an excellent goalkeeper deserves more credit; see here for a nice article on this.

As for the importance attached to Solo's words--please. I think the story got too much attention because she is a pretty face. You all do know that nothing is worth reporting in this world unless it involves attractive people and video, right? In addition, the relentless crush of male sports bloggers on Miss Solo is reminiscent of women fans who only know the QB of their favorite NFL team and thus develop a crush on him. Of course, I say that while sitting in my glass house sans stone-proofing...