Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Blogging Journal Day 1

For my fourth essay on blogging, I will observe a blogging site called Profootballtalk.com . I wanted to observe a sight would increasingly pickup momentum in the volume of blogs throughout the week. I surely figure that viewing blogs from Thursday through Saturday would depict growing conflicts in arguments between rival fans, right up till Sunday. Monday, depending on game outcomes, would show changes of opinion and attitudes by some. Being well informed and interested in football news would also give me opportunities to write better blogs.

I chose profootballtalk.com for a few reasons. One, it has been around for 5 years now, and is notably rising in popularity, accredited my many prominent sports columnists from Sports Illustrated.com and ESPN.com. The second reason to use this particular sight is that it is not affiliated with the National Football League itself. The sites creator, main editor and contributor is Mike Florio, a lawyer and former employee of ESPN.com, who claims to hate all NFL teams equally. The sight acts as a watchdog for the NFL, keeping an eye out and reporting on players or incorrect, biased stories written by journalists and media outlets. There’s even a section on the site called ‘turd watch’, which tracks any and all arrests or misconduct from any employees of the NFL whether it be players, coaches, or front office employees. Florio often plugs the site on Radio and Sports television shows, conducts live blogs for games on Sunday, and often gets contributions to the site from former NFL affiliates.

The sight is updated with news stories often, everyday, at least during the season. And all reported stories quickly are commented on by multiple users. The one problem I have with the sight is the comments of the users themselves. Often short reaction blogs from relatively uneducated writers giving their simple non-argumentative opinion on whatever Mike Florio posts. So it appears I will have to be the Pariah of the site, and start some of the controversy myself. I will post a blog on an upcoming story and will write it such that it is sure to stick in at least one user’s craw, and they will hopefully lash back. Go Jets/Giants!

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