MSF Podcast: BSO’s Robert Littal on “New Developments” in Steve McNair Murder Investigation

Yesterday, I caught the following blurb on Pro Football Talk, in reference to “new developments” that CBS is promising in the ongoing investigation into Steve McNair’s murder:

CBS promises that Keteyian’s findings will expose “critical flaws in the police investigation and raises troubling questions about the events leading up to the two deaths.”

My reaction after reading?

“I wonder what Robert Littal has to say about this.”

And if you want to know why Robert’s name was the first I thought of, take a quick minute to review Littal’s coverage of the Steve McNair murder investigation at Black Sports Online (this post in particular).

So I asked Robert what he thought these “new developments” might be (obvious teaser: the former boyfriend?!?), and he graciously agreed to answer via the burgeoning MSF Podcast, with the resulting insight just a click away.

… Continue Reading

Behind the Keyboard: Interview with Ben Koo, CEO of Bloguin and Writer for Bucknuts

It is time for another installment of Behind the Keyboard, our regular feature here at MSF where we help you get to know the people who make the sports blogosphere go.

Today’s guest is Ben Koo, who holds the official title of “World’s Greatest Chinese Jew” (more on this later). Ben is also a proud graduate of The Ohio State University who regularly contributes to the esteemed online Buckeyes sports tome Bucknuts.com. (KVB’s heart just started racing a little faster…).

Most importantly, and what we wanted Ben to shine some more light on this interview, he is the CEO of Bloguin, a quickly growing and innovative blog network that includes guest MSF contributer Brendan Bowers of The Stepien Rules.

As usual, we start out with some quick-hit questions and then delve into the series stuff. We appreciate Ben taking the time to participate in this interview, and definitely check out his blog Koo’s Corner to learn more about him.

Enjoy.

• Hometown: Mountain View, California
• College: Ohio State
• Favorite teams: Buckeyes, 49ers, A’s, Team RamRod,
• Favorite athletes: Steve Young, Santonio Holmes, LeBron
• Current blog: benkoo.com and Bucknuts.com
• Twitter: @bkoo @bloguin
• Contact info: ben [at] bloguin [dot] com

MSF: The tagline for Koo’s Corner is “The Unadulterated Gospel of the World’s Greatest Chinese Jew.” What exactly makes you the world’s greatest Chinese Jew?

Ben Koo: I was given that trophy in 2001 and was chosen out of the hundreds of millions of Chinese Jews. In the award presentation (on worldwide television), the Academy of Chinese Jews cited intelligence, sense of humor, ability to pick good movies, video game prowess, good looks, and “general awesomenss” as driving factors for my award win.
I am a humble guy, but it really was a special evening.

MSF: You are the founder of Bloguin. For those reading this who are unfamiliar with what Bloguin is, please briefly explain the history of its founding and some of the early success you have experienced.

Ben Koo: I actually didn’t start Bloguin. That accolade is all Derek Hanson the creator of Derok.net.. I was working at Yardbarker and had heard some rumblings about Bloguin before it launched. I checked it out when the network was just 4 sites and was really impressed by what Bloguin was doing.

I explored some ways for Yardbarker and Bloguin to work together and it set in motion me joining as CEO of Bloguin several months later.

Bloguin is very similar to SB Nation in that we are a blog network all built on one platform. We offer bloggers robust publishing tools, branding from professional creative designers, help with monetization, content promotion, and a community of writers to collaborate with.

We really try to cater to the needs of bloggers but have found a model that advertisers are also very comfortable with. Currently we have about 65 blogs that on a monthly basis reach half a million people.

We also recently launched Bloguin as a destination site for sports fans to find great content from around our network.

MSF: For bloggers just starting out, why is joining a network like Bloguin so important?

Ben Koo: If you can get into Bloguin or any similar network, I highly recommend it. I know a lot of people like the idea of being completely independent, but in most cases it’s just not worth it.

Bloggers for the most part need help in a) making their blog visually standout compared to all the others; b) finding advertisers for their website; c) promoting their content to new readers and a broader audience; d) technical abilities to improve and grow a site. Some bloggers can do all of these things independently, but many of these core needs are not areas of expertise for most bloggers, especially working with advertisers.

Some bloggers seem to think that major brands like Nike and Gatorade are just trolling the web reading blogs looking for a great blog to sponsor. The reality is that unless you have an audience in the hundreds of thousands or millions of unique visitors, your blog is going to have to partner with someone for advertising as well as promotion. Getting a cool redesign is also very valuable for many blogs on older CMS programs that are not as robust and look a little dated.

MSF:  What differentiates Bloguin from the other sports blog networks out there?

Ben Koo: That’s a great question, since there are some great ones out there.

There are a handful of sports networks that are really agnostic from the blog in terms of platform and design and are mainly or solely focused on just advertising programs.

While we share those core competencies, we also give our sites a really powerful new design and at times added site functionality. There are a handful of other networks that do that, but we think we really bend over backwards putting extra TLC into these new sites to ensure they will be successful. We also view Bloguin as a more flexible company then other networks where their model is more rigid in terms of how they work with network sites. We have several membership options.

MSF: Blogs With Balls 2.0 is taking place in October after a successful debut in New York earlier this year. What did you take away from the first BWB conference and why are these types of events so important?

Ben Koo: I loved BWB and you were actually quite the topic of conversation.

I learned quite a bit at the conference and expanded my understanding of why bloggers blog, what their needs are, and how to make a blog successful through a myriad of best practices.

It was great personally for me to meet so many people that I interacted with either through Yardbarker or Bloguin. I look up to a lot of these bloggers and I was in a Fan Boy state of mind to meet some and was floored when some of them came and found me to say hello.

That event fostered a lot of camaraderie and enthusiasm for sports blogs and got a great dialogue going on how to continue on all the momentum of the past couple of years.

MSF: What do you see as the future of sports blogs in the mid-term (6-12 months) and long-term?

Ben Koo: I have a very optimistic outlook on sports blogs. You see them being referenced as sources on ESPN, you have more and more athletes blogging, and the mainstream is beginning to realize there are other places to find great sports content.

The barrier to entry to start a sports blog is really nothing these days and there is a growing ecosystem of great blogs spanning multiple sports that are becoming as influential as traditional media websites.

More and more people are starting, reading, and advertising on sports blogs and that’s the bottom line.

MSF: What blogs (not necessarily sports) do you read on a daily basis?

Ben Koo: I try to make my way around the Bloguin network, in particular, to find content for bloguin.com. I think from a content perspective we have a lot of top-notch sites.

For technology I read Tech Crunch, Alley Insider, and Venture Beat.

Outside of Bloguin I’ll frequent Awful Announcing, Eleven Warriors, The Wiz of Odds, Every Day Should Be Saturday, Athletics Nation, and many of the Yahoo Sports blogs.

MSF: What is an up and coming blog that many people may not have heard of, but that you would encourage everyone to check out?

Ben Koo: I really like In The Bleachers, which is a fantastic college football blog with multiple talented writers.

If you are an NFL fan, Bloguin is launching a very comical blog called No Bathroom Breaks, which will poke fun at Andrew Siciliano (the guy who hosts the Red Zone Channel). That guy amazes me how sharp he is for 6 hours and the fact there are no commercials and it’s live. This blog will essentially be a fake diary for him.

MSF: Let’s backtrack for a moment. Discuss your own personal blogging history and activity. When did you start blogging, where have you blogged, and how often do you blog now?

Ben Koo: In 2006 I started writing for Bucknuts.com, a really large Ohio State website which is now affiliated with ESPN. Through this gig I actually interviewed a lot of athletes like Santonio Homles, Troy Smith, Greg Oden, and Mike Conley, and once had a field pass for a game. I really enjoyed doing it, but wanted an outlet for other areas that I thought I could write well about.

The domain name “Benkoo.com” was always taken but not a live site, which really made me mad. It became available in 2007 and I’ve been blogging about 3-4x a week ever since, mainly about sports and technology. The last 60 days, I’ve not been as active but I hope to keep my pace up in the fall.

MSF: SBNation recently raised around $8 million in funding, as you explained at Koo’s Corner. In the month since you wrote that post, have you learned anything more about what they plan to do with the money? What does it means for a platform/network organizer like yourself when you see that kind of money being invested in sports blogs?

Ben Koo: That $8 million dollars is really a remarkable amount of money and you have to tip your cap to something like that. It’s not only that they raised that much money, but also that investors valued their company at $30 million. That’s very remarkable for a sports blog network and really says a lot about what investors think about the future of sports media.

As for what they are going to do with that money, I really haven’t heard much. Right now they don’t directly sell their advertising, but that could change by hiring their own sales force, which is a popular guess among people I have talked to. Its funny because Bloguin and SB Nation actually share the same sales team and are at times packaged together. A lot of people think we’re really competitive, but we’re very happy they are doing well and think it bodes well for us that they’re doing so well.

MSF: In your opinion, are there/should there be different standards for bloggers and journalists? What are your general thoughts on the ever-blurring lines between the two?

Ben Koo: This is the murkiest topic that was brought up at Blogs With Balls. I definitely think bloggers can rightfully have more leeway than journalists on a lot of fronts. At the end of the day, if you want to be taken seriously and you want a broader audience and traditional media to respect you, you need to have substance.

If you just fly off and post ridiculous but sometimes entertaining stances on sports, it might attract an audience but you’ll never cross over to the core base of sports fans.

MSF: Blogs like Deadspin have always taken flak for running pictures of athletes from their private lives that show them in a “negative” light (i.e. Matt Lienart bong photos, and recently the Josh Hamilton). Where do you stand on this issue? If one of the bloggers from Bloguin received unflattering pics of an athlete and asked your advice on whether or not to run them, what would you say?

Ben Koo: I’d probably check our hosting provider to see if we could handle a traffic spike like that!

In all seriousness, we let the bloggers make those decisions. If I was asked for my advice, it would probably depend on the situation. Is there really a story here or just some cheap traffic because someone was at a bar having a good time?

I saw some pictures at David Garrard at a wedding posted somewhere. I think he was really sweaty in the pictures, but how that was news or interesting really befuddled me.

MSF: And finally, if you could round up any five people in the sports world (athletes, coaches, media members, bloggers, etc) for a tailgate, who would you choose, why?

Ben Koo:

1. Spencer Hall from EDSBS - Can he be that funny all the time?
2. Greg Oden – Funny, smart, blogger, and a Buckeye
3. Kenny Mayne – I would hope he is not awkward in person, but he really really cracks me up
4. Brent Musberger – You have no idea how much I love Musberger. His voice does things to me and he just always is in a good mood, knowledgeable, and excited about sports.
5. Lebron James – Added star power to my new entourage.

**********

Once again, my sincere thanks to Ben for participating in the interview. Definitely check out Bloguin.com, whether you are an aspiring blogger or just an interested sports fan. A lot of really good bloggers that I converse with regularly have moved to their platform, and the network shows no signs of slowing down.

Behind the Keyboard: Hannah Patrick of Sports Media Challenge Takes us Behind the Buzz

As many of you know, I started the Behind the Keyboard series as an opportunity for you and I to get to know some of the influential voices and personalities in the sports blogosphere. We kicked it off a few months back by profiling Barry McBride of the Orange and Brown Report and then last week we interviewed Sarah Spain of Mouthpiece Sports.

Today, Behind the Keyboard is highlighting an individual who is actually not a blogger at all (at least not that I know of, but you never know who is lurking in the dark shadows of their parents’ basement…) but who still has the ability to influence the sports blogosphere on a daily basis. That individual is Hannah Patrick, a Media Analyst with Sports Media Challenge.

If you are an avid viewer of the 10:00 am SportsCenter, you may have noticed a new feature that popped up a few months back called Blog Buzz. The goal of this feature is to highlight the five most important and talked about sports stories, as seen by the sports blogging community. As you will find out from the interview below, Hannah is the point person for submitting the editorial content for the daily Blog Buzz feature. This is actually how she and I were first “introduced” — when she emailed to alert me to MSF’s first appearance on Blog Buzz, back when we wrote about Mike Brown being named NBA Coach of the Year.

Because I am at the office when Blog Buzz runs on ESPN, I have never actually viewed the segment myself. (I did, however, receive many calls from friends who were watching when MSF was on there.) And while I think all sports bloggers like the general idea of Blog Buzz, it was met with some criticism upon its initial launch (for examples, here and here).

One of the main reasons I contacted Hannah about participating in this interview was to give her and Sports Media Challenge an opportunity to discuss their objectives with Blog Buzz as well as to get her unique perspective, as someone in the middle, on where the blogger-mainstream media relationship is headed.

I am sure that many other sports bloggers know Hannah from being contacted about Blog Buzz and her effective use of Twitter to network, as well as the recent Blogs With Balls conference that she attended (and that I wish I had too!). Hopefully this interview will allow you to get to know her even better, as well as understand the objectives behind Blog Buzz and some of the ways that Sports Media Challenge continues to be a pioneer in the merging of sports and online media.

My sincere appreciation goes out to Hannah for her diligence in completing this interview, which we conducted over email. As usual, a few quick background notes first and then we jump right into the interview.

Hannah Patrick Background Info:

• Education/College: East Carolina (Arrrghh!) with degree in Communications
• Current Company and Position: Media Analyst with Sports Media Challenge
• Favorite sport: I grew up loving baseball. But in recent years football has become my favorite.
• Favorite teams: Panthers, Bobcats, Hurricanes, and all ECU Sports
• Favorite athletes: Jake “Day light come and I wanna” Delhomme, keeping it local. We are both originally from Cajun country and ended up in the Carolinas. Plus, he has persevered and accomplished a lot regardless of all the scrutiny around him.
• Twitter: @mhannahp

Hannah Patrick Behind the Keyboard Interview:

Jerod: If you would, provide our readers with a quick background on Sports Media Challenge, how you got involved with them, and what you do as PR coordinator.

Hannah Patrick: Sports Media Challenge is a brand monitoring, marketing, and PR consulting company specializing in sports and entertainment clients. I got involved with SMC through networking while dominating in a kickball league. We were named “Balls of Fury” (pictured left, click for larger view) and were champions in Spring ’08.

As media analyst my responsibilities include monitoring our client’s reputations online. Currently, my responsibilities have shifted to leading SMC’s efforts with SportsCenter’s Blog Buzz, which means I am in charge of the editorial content that is submitted on a daily basis.

Jerod: How did the idea for Blog Buzz come about? Was it initiated by SMC or ESPN? How has the response been from fans, bloggers, and the Worldwide Leader?

Hannah Patrick: SMC used to do a section for the “Sports Business Daily” called Blog Hound. It was based on the same premise, where we submitted to them the top five most popular blog topics on a daily basis. ESPN came to SMC looking for a similar concept, thus Blog Buzz was born.

The response, other than the initial launch, has been mostly positive. We have seen both sides though: bloggers that are totally stoked to see their hard work on SportsCenter and others that just don’t see the value. In the end, our goal is to connect one of the world’s largest sports entities to some of the most intelligent, informed and passionate sports fans and writers.

Jerod: What other Blog Buzz-like initiatives is SMC planning for the future?

Hannah Patrick: In the immediate future we would like to see the segment in other SportsCenter show times, like the 6:00 pm hour for instance. We would also like to start doing an in-depth analysis one day of the week, where we give several different blogger perspectives.

Jerod: Time for a random question. If you had to bet your last $10 on a fight-to-the-death cagematch between me, John Gonzalez, and Ken Rosenthal, who are you picking?

Hannah Patrick: Definitely you. But you are going to need some sort of super power first. Like… the ability to walk through cages.

I polled the office on this question as well. Results were pretty entertaining and are as follows:

• “Ken Rosenthal would win because he is backed by the traditional media and he would squash Jerod with his huge budget.” @ryanstephens
• “Ken Rosenthal because he came on screen like the Hebrew Hammer or the Jewish Juggernaut. But no matter what… Buzz Bissinger would beat all of them.” @jakerosen
• “Kimbo Slice.” @jackieadkins
• “Jerod being a blogger wears underwear like cage fighters. So I am going to go with Jerod.” @matthewgarner
• “I would go with the guy asking you the question.” @brittanylane

[Editor's Note: While I appreciate Matthew Garner's trust in my willingness to wear underwear, Brittany Lane clearly had the right train of thought here considering I'm the one posting the interview...]

Jerod: Shifting gears to Blogs With Balls, what were you overall impressions of the event?

Hannah Patrick: Everyone has said this, but it was awesome to put a face with all of the talented names that I have been working with. For me, it was a great opportunity to talk to people about what they do and don’t like about the segment.

For example, Blog Buzz’s biggest fan, Chris Motram, and I finally got the chance to meet. That might have been my favorite part. Getting to pick his brain about the segment was great. I took some much appreciated notes that we plan on going over with the big guys in Bristol.

To me, that was the spirit of Blogs with Balls. Everyone was just out to learn something new, share information, and shake someone’s hand. I think it was a great success, and I look forward to seeing it evolve into something even greater in the future. The guys at HHR really did an outstanding job.

Jerod: Excuse me for a moment while I kick myself again for not going. What were the three most important things you took away from the event?

Hannah Patrick:

1. Bloggers can be professional without losing the spirit of what they do
2. Sports bloggers are just as eccentric, talented, and entertaining in person.
3. When they say wear comfortable shoes, they mean wear comfortable shoes.

Jerod: I would define your role as somewhere in between bloggers and the mainstream media. Would you agree? If not, to which side do you see yourself falling; and if so, how do you navigate through the sometimes choppy waters of bridging the gap between blogs and the MSM?

Hannah Patrick: I would agree with the statement that my role lies somewhere in between bloggers and the mainstream media. The line between traditional media and social media is being blurred more and more every day and SMC’s and ESPN’s efforts with Blog Buzz are another step in that direction. We have worked to establish a place as the communication arm between the two platforms. Blog Buzz has simply created another intersection between the MSM and bloggers.

Jerod: What is your most memorable personal sports moment?

Hannah Patrick: In 2006, when the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup. I had just moved to a new city and didn’t know anyone but my roommate. When the Canes won, everyone stood up on the tables and on the bar and sang “God Bless America!” At that moment I felt like I knew everyone in the place. It’s funny how sports can unite a group of people.

Jerod: Coming from a PR perspective, I would love to get your honest thoughts (good or bad) on how the Raul Ibanez controversy was handled and played out publicly. Specifically, if you had been prepping me for the OTL interview, what would your advice have been?

Hannah Patrick: The Ibanez controversy really was an interesting case study about the dichotomy of bloggers vs. traditional media. This brought about a conversation that was inevitably going to surface. Blogs With Balls was a perfect place for the two sides to share their thoughts… and there were many different thoughts.

From a PR standpoint, there are times to take a lower profile until the heat dies down; this was not one of them. We would give you four stars on the way you handled the Ibanez controversy, specifically for three reasons:

1. You were gutsy for jumping on the issue.
2. You should always go into a media appearance with an agenda that is as strong, if not stronger, than the person asking the questions. You should be able to articulate your message easily and repeatedly. You successfully did all of these.
3. You should also craft your message so that people will first listen, then understand, then believe, and finally remember. Which you did!

Jerod: SMC appears to be one of the leaders in assisting athletes in managing and promoting their reputations. How much of your focus is shifting to the online world and what are the specific challenges/opportunities that athletes face when it comes online PR?

Hannah Patrick: The vast majority of our focus is online. We have been working to push our clients towards the social media landscape and we stress to them that social media has to be a single component of an overall media strategy. Many athletes are hesitant about getting involved in various forms of social media because they are afraid that they won’t be able to control their message. But the reality is that whether they are in the space or not, they are being talked about. Buzz Manager enables us to provide our clients to with critical information about “the buzz” on the web.

Jerod: We know that there is lots of hype around Twitter and that it is the new time-waster-du-jour for many people in many different industries. How do you use Twitter from a professional standpoint and what kind of sustained impact do you see it having 6 months, a year, 5 years down the road?

Hannah Patrick: We always tell our clients that whatever you put into Twitter is what you will get out of the experience. It has been compared to a river of conversation. You can step back and watch if flow on by, but at any time you can jump in and take part.

Professionally, Twitter has enabled me to keep my finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the sports blogosphere second by second. I think that will be the heart of Twitter when this initial explosion dies down. The ability to track current topics of conversation will have more of a sustained impact than the other uses of Twitter. I love that Twitter is championing citizen journalism and I don’t foresee that dying down. I think it will play a large role in future elections for sure.

As far as using Twitter as a tool to interact with and follow celebrities, I am more wary about the long term impact due to the high level of involvement that it requires. Other forms of social media, like Facebook, seem more likely to stand the pass of time because it doesn’t require such intense devotion.

Jerod: Time for another random question. You can play a round of golf with any three people relevant in the sports world (including the media, bloggers, etc.) today. Who are they? Why?

Hannah Patrick:

1. Skip Holtz, because I am a Pirate fan.
2. Shaq, because he would crack me up.
3. Jerod Morris, assuming his mom would let him out of the basement.

Jerod: Unfortunately, my mom only lets me out of the basement for dinner, yardwork, and White Sox games; so I’ll have to pass. Finally though, getting back to Blog Buzz and the slow but steady blurring of the lines between blogging and the mainstream media, where do you see it going? Where should it go? And what do you think are things that bloggers and the MSM should keep in mind to make this inevitable transition as successful as possible?

Hannah Patrick: Yes the process has been slow and steady, but I think that Deadspin implementing their new commenting policy will be a huge catalyst in this process. Also, the FTC has become more aware of the blogosphere and is making writers become more accountable.

As long as bloggers recognize that professional organizations are taking notice and giving bloggers a voice, there has to be some sort of give and take. The blogosphere is changing, and that means that those who are looking to make money from it will need to get used to the changes.

**********

Our thanks again to Hannah Patrick for taking part in the Behind the Keyboard series and for supplying me with pictures to use throughout. You can follow her on Twitter at @mhannahp and you can jump over to the Sports Media Challenge website to learn more about Blog Buzz and to keep your finger on the pulse of how sports and online media interact.

If you are interested in being the subject of Behind the Keyboard, follow me on Twitter (@JerodMSF) and shoot me a message. Let’s make it happen.

Behind the Keyboard: Sarah Spain Talks Sox-Cubs as Chitown Prepares for Another Crosstown Showdown

You may remember the story from the Colts-Bears Super Bowl in 2007 about the Bears fan who auctioned herself off as a “date” to the Super Bowl. Here at Midwest Sports Fans we respect any and all exhibits of true fan passion (and yes Philadelphia fans, that includes yours too), and when such passion is combined with creativity…well it just makes it all the more compelling.

In the end, not only did the aforementioned Bears fan get to go to the Super Bowl, but she actually received four tickets from Axe: three for her and her girlfriends, and one that she was able to choose as a contest winner to be their date for the game. Pretty damn cool I have to say, even if the fan in question describes the event herself as a “PR stunt.”

I’m sure that Alan Shantaji, the medical student who won the contest, couldn’t care less.

The intrepid Bears fan from that story was none other Sarah Spain, and the multi-faceted sports writer and reporter is our latest guest in the MSF Behind the Keyboard series.

In addition to covering the Chicago Cubs and other important Windy City sports news for MouthpieceSports.com, Sarah also has had many other pretty interesting gigs and experiences that most of us bloggers would give our right arm to have. Just click over to Sarah’s resume and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

As Chicago prepares for the first of six intense games between the White Sox and Cubs, with the first pitch of Game 1 scheduled for tonight at 7:05 PM CT at Wrigley Field, Sarah was kind enough to parse some time from her busy schedule to talk White Sox-Cubs with us.

But first, a little background about Sarah Spain (and a picture), with her answers denoted by being in italics:

1. Name: Sarah Spain
2. Current job/website: Reporter/writer for MouthpieceSports.com
3. Hometown: Lake Forest, IL
4. College/Education: English Major at Cornell University
5. Favorite Teams: Bears, Cubs, Blackhawks, Bulls, Phillies, Sharks, Celtics
6. Favorite Chicago sports memory: Anything and everything involving MJ. Literally.
7. Where were you when Bobby Jenks closed out the 2005 World Series? Can’t remember exactly where–but it was in the general Los Angeles area, where I was living at the time. While I didn’t watch the Sox win it all, I admit at the time I preferred to see a Chicago team win over any other city. I have since changed my mind, mainly because all of my Sux fan friends are mind-numbingly obnoxious about the win.*
8. Where were you when the Cubs won the…wait, never mind this question. I’ll be front-row center, baby. : )

[* - Editor's note: for the record, Sarah clearly expressed to me that she did not consider me among the "mind-numbingly obnoxious 'Sux' fans" that she mentioned. Okay fine, no she didn't, and she probably lumped me in with that group after reading two lines of my first email, but all I have to say is that sticks and stone may break my bones, but the WHITE SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES!]

Okay, so now that you know a little bit more about Sarah, let’s delve into some White Sox-Cubs talk.

MSF: Both the White Sox and Cubs are playing below expectations so far in 2009. To what do you attribute their subpar performance and which team has a better chance of turning things around and making the playoffs?

Sarah Spain: The Cubs’ struggles mostly come down to injuries, lack of infield depth (sigh…Derosa) and a crap bullpen. The hitting struggles aren’t helping but there have been plenty of games where two runs would have won it for the North Siders had the bullpen not fallen apart. While I don’t have the overflowing excitement I’ve had in year’s past about the Cubs, I do think they’ll turn things around and at least win their division.

I have to be honest and say last year took a lot out of me. My only hope (here comes that typical Cubs silver lining attitude) is that the problems now will make the team stronger later. They seemed invincible last year and that obviously didn’t work out, so maybe the year they win it all will be more fitting for the Cubs organization–long, tough and a total surprise.

As for the Sox, I have to admit I don’t follow them as closely as I should. Never been a fan and never been one to follow them just so I can talk smack to my Sox fan friends. From what I’ve heard and seen since the beginning of the season, though, I just don’t think they’ve got the personnel this year to make a run. It’s pretty bad when your manager says the season will be over if you have to bring up Gordon Beckham and then a few weeks later…you bring up Gordon Beckham.

MSF: For those of us who are White Sox/Cubs fans but do not live in Chicago, what is the city like during the two Windy City Series’ each year?

Sarah Spain: You know what, I just moved back to the Chi in October after six years in LA. I made it home for one Crosstown Rivalry game a few years back and it was as expected: more expensive tickets and a lot more drunken trash talk. The game I went to ended in ridiculous score like 14-11 and the Cubs won, so my memories of the series are good. I’m headed to Vegas tomorrow to cover the NHL Awards so I’ll be out of town for this series, but back for the next one. Looking forward to it!

MSF: My observation has always been that White Sox fans (like myself) have a chip on their shoulder and hate the Cubs much more strongly than Cubs fans hate the White Sox. Do you agree with this? If so, to what do you attribute it?

Sarah Spain: Absolutely. Here’s a perfect example: I’m the Cubs point person for MouthpieceSports.com. Someone else covers the Sox all season. I post my Cubs stories and interviews on my Facebook and Sox fans take the time out to watch them, rip on them, and claim I’m missing out for not covering the “better team.” No matter how many times I tell them that’s not my “beat” I still get Sox fans coming onto my FB wall to “argue” with the Cubs fans who post comments. I also get emails and texts from my Sox fan friends all the time pointing out a Cubs loss or a poor performance by a particular guy.

Meanwhile, my Cubs fan friends and I genuinely, honestly, don’t really care about the Sox unless we’re playing them. We’ll catch the scores and have a general idea of how they’re doing because we’re baseball fans, but we don’t seek out information about the Sox solely for the purpose of ribbing our crosstown friends. I think there are a number of reasons why this is, not the least of which is the national obsession with the Cubs and Wrigley Field. Ozzie even brings it up, saying that even when his team wins it all people still don’t care as much about them as the Cubs.

Sadly for Sox fans, that’s the truth.

The national TV coverage of the Cubs on WGN and the tradition and history of Wrigley Field have turned the Cubs into a cultural phenomenon; the Sox are just a baseball team. I’m sure if I grew up on the Southside I might have been raised a Sox fan, but I wasn’t and I’m not. My only perspective is that of a Cubs fan, and I think Sox fans waste far too much time following a team they claim not to like.

MSF: Which obvious error in judgment was worse: Milton Bradley’s infamous brain cramp in which he forgot how many outs there were or White Sox fan favorite Steve Perry’s decision to wear sleeveless shirts without ever picking up a dumbbell?

Sarah Spain: Oh man, that’s a tough one. Most would say Milt because that was just such a boneheaded play, but I’ve got a particularly strong hatred for men in sleeveless shirts. The only time for a man to wear a sleeveless shirt is when working out or participating in a sport. (And if you know your team has sleeveless shirts, tan it and tone it and try to turn your jungle of pit hair into a manageable shrubbery).

MSF: Ozzie Guillen recently said that Wrigley Field makes him want to puke. What does U.S. Cellular Field make you want to do?

Sarah Spain: Go back to Wrigley. And then write a manifesto on the phenomenon that is men still getting frosted tips in 2009.

MSF: From Billy Goats to Bartman, we always hear about these abstract reasons why the Cubs have not yet won a World Series. Do you believe in curses or is there another explanation?

Sarah Spain: I don’t believe in curses, but I do think the idea of a curse and the sheer length of the drought has affected the team.

It’s impossible for anyone involved with the Cubs organization not to put the hopes of over a century’s worth of fans on their backs. Last year the team just straight up choked. Epic fail. I think the pressure of the one hundred year anniversary and the idea that they could finally win it took the guys right out of the game.

It’s kinda like a guy who hasn’t gotten laid in months…the excitement of just being in a position (no pun intended) to seal the deal after so long might be too much for him.

So I guess the explanation is that the Cubs are in the longest dry spell of all time and they couldn’t wake up their bats when it was time to step up the plate.

MSF: Who would you rather have pitching Game 7 for your team: Carlos Zambrano or Mark Buehrle?

Sarah Spain: Ooh…would it be no-hitter Z or Gatorade-hitter Z?

Either way, I gotta take Carlos. He gets crazy hyped up, sometimes to the point of uncontrollable rage, but I feel as though in that situation he would be just the guy to bring it on home.

MSF: Who would you rather have coming up to the plate in the bottom of the 9th down two with a couple of ducks on the pond and two outs: Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez or Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye?

Sarah Spain: Do you really think I’m gonna pick the Sox guys here? Come on now. Haha. A-Ram is one of the sickest late-inning hitters in baseball. As for D. Lee, I believe in the guy, even though he’s had his struggles in high-pressure situations. Plus, I’m not gonna lie, unless the choice is lopsided (Dye v. Freel?), I’m gonna go with the Cubs guy! I’m a straight-up homer.

MSF: And finally, what is your prediction for the season series?

Sarah Spain: cubbieeeessssssssss! (but you knew that)

MSF: I know, but how many games? 4-2? 5-1?

Sarah Spain: Oh…hmm…4-2.

**********

My thanks to Sarah for participating in the interview…even though I disagree with absolutely everything she has to say and stands for as a Chicago baseball fan.

One thing is for sure: either Cubs fans or Sox fans will have initial bragging rights after tonight when John Danks battles Carlos Zambrano. And if Sarah’s Cubs-centric propaganda is to be believed, Sox fans everywhere will be reveling in the victory like we just won ANOTHER World Series, while Cubs fans will simply chalk it up as just another game. I, for one, promise to talk no smack either way.

Now, where was that URL to the Facebook page again?…

Behind the Keyboard with Barry McBride of the Orange and Brown Report

Welcome to the first installment of a new series here at Midwest Sports Fans called Behind the Keyboard.

The goal of this series is pretty simple: to learn more about the people behind the blogs that we all read every day. We are not necessarily looking for the featured blogger’s take on their particular sports or teams of interest, but rather to find out more about what makes them, and their blogs, tick on a daily basis.

The first keyboard that we are going to go behind is that of Barry McBride, who runs the Rumor Central portion of my personal favorite Cleveland Browns blog: the Orange and Brown Report. I am almost embarrased to say that I just found their site about midway through the 2008 season, but I immediately paid the nominal monthly fee to join and have access to the greatest insider info on the Browns available anywhere.

Barry was nice enough to fill out the Behind the Keyboard questionairre I sent him, and the results are as follows:

Quick Hits:

• Name: Barry McBride
• Current Blog: Orange and Brown Report: Rumor Central
• Current Blog launch date: December 2008
• Blogging Since: Before they called it blogging. 1996.
• Other blogs contributed to: Greedwatch (1996-98), BrownsTNG (1999-2001), Bernie’s Insiders (2001-2005), OBR (2006-now). None of these sites ever fit neatly under the labels of of blog, fan site, community, news site, whatever. They’ve got elements of each. I like it that way.
• Current Location: Suburbia
• Hometown: I’ve lived in five different places in Ohio
• Day job: Fox Sports Interactive / Scout.com
• Favorite Team(s): Browns, Buckeyes
• Favorite Athlete(s): Bernie Kosar, Phil Niekro

MSF: Why did you start blogging and what keeps you going every day?

Barry McBride: I really got involved in this back in 1995-96 when the Browns were ripped out of Cleveland. I ran a site called “Greedwatch” that was, for all intents and purposes, a blog about Modell and other NFL owners ripping off fans. The technology was different, but it was very blog-like in tone and use of links. The site quickly began just focusing on mocking the Ravens, which was a lot of fun back then. It matured into the OBR, which does a number of things, but includes three different blogging areas for our writers and Browns fans.

What keeps me going everyday is that I just love doing this. I get to talk football with Browns fans all day. I can’t imagine anything else I would rather be doing.

MSF: What has been your biggest challenge thus far?

Barry McBride: It’s all about time management. Juggling a sports site – particularly one that asks fans to support it financially – and another job is tough. You give up a lot of other things to do it, as any hard-core blogger will tell you.

MSF: Are there any athletes/celebrities that you have found yourself, for lack of a better term, obsessed with blogging about? (meaning that you always seem to post about even their most insignificant contributions to the daily sports media cycle). To what do you attribute this “obsession”?

Barry McBride: Back in 1999, I found myself doing multiple updates per day about the Browns’ attempt to sign LB Jamir Miller. It was sad, really… if I could track where Miller stopped for lunch I would do it. These days, anytime I have a chance to make fun of Brian Billick, I do it. It’s my civic duty.

MSF: If you had the opportunity to get one post you have already written in front of the eyes of every sports blog reader in the world, which one would it be and why?

Barry McBride: One entry that I’m particularly proud of is calling out the Browns for sniffing around defensive lineman Christian Peter back in the earlier days of the expansion franchise. I want to win as much as anyone, but after Browns fans watched Art Modell rip their team away, the last thing we needed was for the team that Paul Brown created to be rebuilt using players like this, an accused rapist whose actions sparked a movement. At some point, there are places you don’t want to go in order to try to win. The response we got to the article was incredible, and it was one of our first articles to get the attention of the mainstream press .

MSF: If you were told that you could bookmark five sports blogs other than your own and never visit any others, which five would you choose?

I subscribe to a large number of different blogs. I don’t want to insult any bloggers out there by not listing them, but I’m very fond of a number of Cleveland blogs such as Waiting For Next Year. And MSF, of course. Mark Leonard and Ace Davis on our own Munilot.com blogs are both very good. The blogs I like the best are ones that have a clear point of view, highlight stories that otherwise wouldn’t get much press, and remain staunchly independent.

MSF: What is one prediction that you went on record about that you are the most proud of?

Barry McBride: About halfway through 2007, I told listeners on our radio program that “Derek Anderson’s value is as high as it will ever be”. I was one of the last DA skeptics left after the strong start in 2007, and pat myself on the back for trusting my own eyes about what I saw in camp that summer. I’m proud of that one. Usually I defer to the other writers on our site, but every once in a while, I get something right.

MSF: Are there any on-record predictions that give you great shame just thinking about?

Barry McBride: I predicted the Browns would finish 9-7 last year. Oops.

(Editor’s note: 9-7 was our official prediction for the Browns last season too. I guess we all missed that one pretty badly.)

MSF: Are there any posts you have published and thought later, “why the hell did I post that?” Did you keep it live?

Barry McBride: I got furious about the Indians dumping CC Sabathia last year and ripped on Dolan pretty hard-core. I still think Dolan’s kind of a worthless lump and have a real negative view of some of his business ventures, but went overboard. I realized that I should probably STFU about sports other than the Browns and the NFL, because I don’t know the details as well as I do on my own turf. I wound up pulling them down.

MSF: Bob Knight once said that coaching, for him, was an endless pursuit of the perfectly played game. From a blogging standpoint, how would you define the perfect blog post?

Barry McBride: It’s one that reaches beyond the web browser and changes things in a positive way for fans.

MSF: If you could publicly ask yourself any question, what would it be and how would you answer it?

Barry McBride: Question: What do you think people want to know about you?

Answer: Squat. Fans come to the OBR because of the Browns and their love of sports and the city, and the information and analysis we can give them. Keeping your own ego in check should be Rule 1 for every blogger, particularly a sports blogger.

———-

To read Barry McBride and his fellow OBR writers’ work, click the logo to the right and head over to the Orange and Brown Report.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you’re a serious Browns fan, you shouldn’t even think twice about paying for the premium OBR package. In addition to their tremendous in-season coverage, they do a great job of covering the Browns’ offseason maneuvering and draft preparation. (And no, the OBR in no way compensates me for these recommendations. But I love their site, and Barry was nice enough to be first Behind the Keyword guinea pig, so I’ll pimp their great site as much as possible to anyone reading this.)

The Rumor Central portion of the OBR, which Barry McBride manages, does not require any fees. Here are some links to the most recent Rumor Central posts:

• In this post, I make the Internet implode
• Voices of Pittsburgh
• Some positive press for Mangini
• RAC remains at rest
• Some people love being miserable

Thank you to Barry McBride for participating in the first Behind the Keyboard, and thank you for reading. If you have any suggestions for future bloggers that you would like to see highlighted in this series, leave a comment below or use the email address provided for tips at the top of the sidebar.