Not by me, though. Consider this a "Dear Abby" for blog publishers and, you, proud, angry, often cruel commentariat should provide your helpful tips on success.

Now, thick skin is a requirement for every blogger. But do try to be helpful as well.

Don't just torture all these people and trounce on their dreams in the comments - email them your tips, your real suggestions, your advice, etc. Touch lives and all that

Today's puppy picked for the kicking today is "Hockey World Blog" which covers "all things hockey" besides "field" and "tonsil" which have strangely been neglected. Since it is officially hockey season (right?) puck heads would be wise to check out what these lads are trying to do.

I'm a avid reader of Deadspin. I read it pretty much everyday. In July, my 3 best friends and I started a blog, www.hockeyworldblog.com. It's in the early stages and we're new at the bloggosphere but each one of us has something different we bring to the site.
Me (Eddie) and Chris have a sports journalism background as Chris is a journalism major in college and I wrote for my college newspaper (Ferris State Torch) for four years. Matt is a Computer Information Systems major so he is the computer expert and Eric (EB on the site) kicks our asses in Fantasy Hockey every year. We're from the same hometown and graduated from high school together. In September, we did a season preview series where we previewed a different team every day.
I know that being a blogger is about the equivalent of arm-chair quarterbacks living in mom's basement but our objective is to keep it fun and professional.
Any advice or criticism for us would be greatly appreciated.
Eddie Bellamy
Hockey World Blog

Go on. Educate them. Banff that shit.

Not by me, though. Consider this a "Dear Abby" for blog publishers and, you, proud, angry, often cruel commentariat should provide your helpful tips on success.

Now, thick skin is a requirement for every blogger. But do try to be helpful as well.

Don't just torture all these people and trounce on their dreams in the comments - email them your tips, your real suggestions, your advice, etc. Touch lives and all that.

Today's entry: The Other Fifteen

Yo Daulerio,

You never respond to my emails, and though I've tried to be cool about it, I have to admit that I'm hurting inside. I tried to meet you at the Blogs with Balls conference, but just like the one hot chick at a bar full of horny dudes, you were surrounded by other bloggers until you made your early exit and I never had a chance to say "hi." Actually, Sarah Spain, Amy K. Nelson, and Hannah Patrick were MORE like the hot chicks at a bar full of horny dudes since those three girls are really attractive, and that conference took place at a bar that was full of nerds who write on the internet about their sports obsession. But either way, I'm taking this opportunity to reach out to you and say that we can still make this work. I know many of the blogs featured on The Learning Curve are from struggling newbies who need lots of advice, and I might not fit that bill. My site's been up since May, and we've been pretty successful given the short time we've been at it. I'm not sure what advice you'll offer, but I know you can toss me a little exposure and let your readers give me some feedback and critiques. So come on. Put me in coach.

Embrace his heterosexuality. His neediness. Make his dreams come true.

Robert Weintraub, who you'll recognize for his mastery of turn-of-the-century sports writing, knows a little something about the 21st century too. In the latest issue of the Columbia Journalism Review(yes, I'm one of those), Weintraub makes the case that the establishment in sports media has done a better job than anyone of self-preservation, and they've done it by beating the blogs at their own game.

To wit: the bloggers themselves coming under the corporate umbrellas. The True Hoop crew at ESPN, Pro Football Talk at NBC, and everybody under the sun at AOL Fanhouse.

This programming strategy isn't just an attempt to monetize audience participation - it's a canny co-opting of the enemy.

...

Recognizing an unwinnable war when they see one...the mainstream sports media have decided to keep these guerrillas close. Sportscasters seldom deride bloggers as people writing from their mothers' basments anymore—theirs is a more symbiotic relationship now.

Then what of the anti-blog crusaders like Bissinger and Cowherd, whose impression of an "anti-establishment" blogger is someone who would jump at the chance to take a job at say, New York Magazine(his example, not mine)?

They're not as at-odds with each other as they appear. Each side, in their own way, makes the point that when it comes to sports media, the outside that's looking in isn't so far from the mainstream. The blogosphere never wanted to set itself apart from the MSM, except for perhaps covering more tabloid-y subjects than the big boys will touch. It's just a explosion of new outlets, a natural flowering made possible by new technology.

And like any good conglomerate, the big names snapped up the best content. Abbott, Florio, Leitch and others aren't doing anything different content-wise than they were before, but all of a sudden they're mainstream? Blogging is just a word. It encompasses everything from reporting to humor, from analysis to aggregation, from live commentary to finding attractive female athletes. None of these are anything the establishment hasn't done before with, like blogging, varying degrees of success.

If the line between blogs and the MSM appears to be getting blurrier, it's because there never really was a line in the first place.

*****

Thanks for your continued support of Deadspin. Tomorrow: business as usual. Also, this happened.

It's a changing world out there, even in the bastion of redneckness known warmly as the NASCAR circuit. Newspapers can't afford original, on-site race coverage, and meanwhile, Jeremy Mayfield admits to doing meth while circling a racetrack faster than he turned on his mother. The obvious solution: Dole out press passes to bloggers! NASCAR, to its credit, is anything but square.

Which is how we end up with the NASCAR Citizen Journalists Brigade To Save The Future Of Journalism, or whatever it's called today. But don't worry, newspaper reporters, because these bloggers are professionals. Some of them were your former co-workers. They're the ones who aren't wearing Tony Stewart's face.

After a lengthy review process, which included evaluating independent Web sites on professionalism, reporting and commentary, and use of social networking tools, 28 sites were invited to be part of the new media corps.

Members of the corps will have the opportunity to apply for media credentials but like all media, will be expected to abide by the standards of professional conduct (i.e. no autographs, photos with drivers, etc.) They will also have access to other media-driven events and teleconferences and NASCAR's media-only Web site. NASCAR will provide access to the information; it's up to the journalists to tell the story.

And no, we are not one of those 28 storytelling outlets in the NASCAR Amateur B-Loggers To Tout NASCAR's Awesomeness with access to free food on Sunday, provided you pay your way to the racetrack. Helicoptering in only when a methed-out driver calls his mother a gold-digging whore, it turns out, is neither professional nor social networky enough to merit a credential.

Oh, well. It's not like anyone ever needed a press pass to watch a good ol' wreck.

NASCAR Announces Citizen Journalist Media Corps [NASCAR.com]
NASCAR Citizen Journalism Media Corps [SportsJournalists.com]
EARLIER: Jeremy Mayfield Goes To War Against NASCAR

Holtzman was an old Chicago newspaper institution who smoked cigars and wrote a charming book but also a lot of pedestrian and disposable columns, especially in his emeritus years. He died a year ago, and recently the White Sox unveiled a display case honoring him, giving Morrissey the opportunity to take on every sports hack's favorite straw man: blogs. You've read this column a million times, so I won't bother quoting at length or mounting any defense, only to point out that Holtzman was generally unhealthy in his habits and dorkily obsessed with baseball minutiae — he invented the save, after all — and if he came along today he'd probably be writing for FanGraphs or Baseball Prospectus or something and he'd be ridiculed to no end by the likes of Rick Morrissey, who really needs to move the fuck on.

Jerome Holtzman a true Hall of Famer [Chicago Tribune]

Apparently, Big Ben fans were slightly alarmed this week when he announced on his Facebook, MySpace and Twitter pages that he had been diagnosed with skin cancer. (Which makes total sense when you consider all the sun-drenched beaches in Pittsburgh.) But it turns out that not only does he not have cancer, he doesn't even have a Facebook page. Ben is "off the grid" as they say, which is why he has two Super Bowl rings and everyone who has ever left a comment on Digg does not.

It's now been established that fake celebrity and athlete accounts make up roughly 60% of social networking sites, rendering the services even more pointless than they already were. There's been at least four fake NFL players exposed just this week and all it accomplishes is making bloggers look bad. Now why would you want to do that? Pretending to be someone else on the internet is the comedic equivalent of the "your shoe is untied" joke. Someone even created a fake Twitter account for me, which might be the saddest thing I've ever heard. Even my fake internet mom wouldn't read that.

By the way, be sure to check out the Deadspin Twitter! It's just like reading Deadspin, but with fewer words!

No cause for alarm: Roethlisberger denies he has skin cancer [Post-Gazette]
Fake Ben Roethlisberger Facebook Page Says He Has Skin Cancer [Fanhouse]
Beware Phony Twitter Accounts [Pro Football Talk]
[Pic]

I wish I could meet Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

You want to know what I'd do? I would bust him in the jaw, throw him to the ground, force him to put his mouth on a curb, and smash the back of his head with my foot.

Yes, American History X style. And yes - I really, really would. Part of this disturbs me. Part of this depresses me because I'll probably never get the opportunity.

Eesh. Granted, this is hyperbole but, in Wojnarowski's opinion, Panchmatia went a little too far. Wojnarowski found the blogger's phone number and left a message at his house and offered to pay for a plane ticket to fly him out. In an email conversation, Worjnarowski admits he called the guy because he couldn't find his email address — but does not regret it at all:

You don't get to channel "your inner Ed Norton," —— celebrating a neo-Nazi movie and that curb stomp scene —- and think that I'm sitting that one out. I don't know what this guy's deal is, but because he wrote that he worried he'd never get a chance to live out his fantasy of going all skinhead on me, I sure did offer him up a plane ticket so he could come and give it a shot. Listen, I have no issue with a blogger writing whatever he wants about my work. He can say anything. That's part of the deal. I understand. Hey, there are times the criticism has merit. But when someone is fired up over a neo-Nazi movie and openly dreams of putting his workboot through the back of my skull, well, I'm not laughing that one off.

Good for him.

Look, there are pointed criticisms from the blogosphere about newspaper writers and mainstream media members all the time that border on good taste, sometimes resulting in a spirited email conversation that ultimately makes the MSM-er look like a hypersensitive old grouch (See: Conlin, Bill). This site has done its fair share of ridiculous, over-the-top needling of them and other less-deserving individuals for the sake of entertainment and shit-stirring. But this is different — and Wojnarowski felt it warranted an extra step. Maybe it was a little childish and over-reactionary of him to call the guy on the phone, even if he could not find his email address, but we all have our limits. (Plus, he's a reporter — that's usually how they operate.) There are no set rules of engagement in this little arena because most people know when they cross the imaginary, arbitrary line. Amir Panchmatia does not. There's no word as to whether Wojnarowski will be disciplined by Yahoo! for making that phone call — he shouldn't be, in my opinion — because this is a little unprecedented. I guess we'll see.

Yahoo!.com's Adrian Wojnarowski Wants to Fight Me! [MVN]

Prepare ... for a demographic breakdown!

By any standard, the sports bloggers who responded to our survey are very well educated, with 56% having at least one college degree and another 26% boasting graduate diplomas. Among all bloggers, the percentage with college degrees is 37%, and among all American adults, it drops to 27% (Pew Internet and American Life Project). And in contrast to some of the stereotypes floating around, most are either employed or full-time students.

75% are employed, 18% are full-time students, and 6% are unemployed. 85% own or rent, and only 10% live rent-free.

Also, 37 percent said their bosses don't know about their sites. So shhh: Let's keep this between us.

2007 Ballhype Sports Blogger Study [Ballhype]

A young, WHITE female USC cheerleader's buttocks were exposed in all their orbital glory. The onion shaped booty, free of the obstruction of the expected fabric overture, bouncing and rippling in a glorious display of athleticism and rhythmic undulation. Now, certainly as a Negro man, this tantalizing display of white gluteal magnificence was appreciated. And, in the future, encouraged. But, despite this obvious effort to distract the Negro viewer from the objectification of the Negro athletes, one can not help feel that if the cheerleader were a Nubian sister the story would have been buried and ignored.

Slightly offensive, strangely focused and full of lines like "A quick glance at one of the proud HBCU's in Alabama, Alabama State University, shows that the football coach there (a black man) is payed $12.17 an hour to coach his team; a group of young Negroes who DO NOT represent the landowners and plantation descendents that fill the stadium in Tuscaloosa each Saturday in the fall," it's clearly off to a fun start ... assuming, of course, it doesn't go too far and turn into CasteSports.

The Nation Of Islam Sports Blog
TonyHomo.com

Oddly enough, most of the Michigan blogs reacted to the mention by...not calling for Carr's head at all. I'm imagining Musberger and Bob Davie must feel like a couple of parents who prevented their houses from getting egged on Mischief Night by hiding in the bushes. Limp-wristed fist pound to the whole ABC crew.

Kirk Herbstreit Is Curious About Blogs [The Big Lead]

I can't wait until Sunday night at just before midnight when Scott Van Pelt tells us on SportsCenter that the union and the league have just struck a last-second deal. And then they'll go live to a Gene Upshaw press conference, and he'll say, "Well, things looked bleak for a while. We didn't think we'd get it done. But then MC Hammer sent us this proposal..."

You can enjoy Hammer's blog here. He's also got a post about A-Rod, and then the rest of it is about his son and some crazy dream he had where he was a cop in the south in 1968.

NFL Talks End [MC Hammer Blog]
You Can Go Ahead and Turn This Motha Out [Mister Irrelevant]

It's fascinating to hear Jay Crawford talk about bloggers as if they were way far down on the evolutionary food chain. That might, in fact, be true. But, you know... it's Cold Pizza. Anyway, they got around to mentioning a few blogs you might be familiar with, including the Bode Miller experiment on NoobSports.com, the imaginary NBA one-on-one tournament on YAY!Sports, and a mention of the upcoming dunk contest on a spellbinding little site called themightymjd.com.

And no, there was no mention of Deadspin. And, as far as I know. no one here is bitter, but when Will gets back from his tour of Caribbean brothels (I think that's where he is), he might just want to kick Mister Irrelevant's ass.

Another Delicious Slice of Cold Pizza [Mister Irrelevant]
The Hotness Continues: Noob Sports Appears on ESPN2's Cold Pizza! [NOOBSPORTS.COM]