Thursday, September 02, 2004
Yay Bloggers!
Many of us are quoted in today's Jim Alexander column in the PE
You have to jump through the invasive registration hoops, but we all have enough fake e-mail addresses floating around to take care of that.
I come off a little bit like a freak. But these things happen. And let us face facts, I am a little bit of a freak.
The other thing that happened was this:
I'm posting the full text of my e-mail interview with Jim Alexander for kicks and your edification.
What possessed me is a question I ask myself quite frequently. I wanted to have a way to track my impressions of the team and news about the team and about Jeff throughout the season. I have other blogs, so this was a natural choice. Also, despite the fact that having a blog is a solitary pursuit, it is a good way to meet and interact with other people who are passionate about the same things you are, and that's kind of nice.
> 2. How much response do you get? Do you have a sense
> of how many people are regular readers? Is there, in
> fact, sort of a blog community of fans/fellow
> bloggers/fellow readers?
When I first started I got a lot of response (at least, way more than I was expecting), lots of hits and lots of e-mail-- but that is because I chose to focus on a specific player (one who most don't consider all that noteworthy) and also because I am a woman and people enjoy the novelty of that. I've also seen a flurry of activity in the last 12 hours because Jeff hit for the cycle.
Most people don't check my blog every day (except possibly my husband). But there are probably about 20 who check it once a week. And that number keeps growing (I've only been at this a few months). Mostly, people check my site when some other blogger mentions me.
I'm a special case though, because my blog isn't a true Angels-specific blog. I focus on one player who doesn't even play every day. I'm not producing a tremendous amount of relevant material for most people. I'm a neophyte who's understanding of the sport is rather apalling considering that I'm putting forth opinions that other people read. I'm learning, and the blog (and other bloggers) is what is helping me to learn.
There is most definitely a community of bloggers and readers, and it is mostly team-specific. There are only a handful of Angels bloggers, and you tend to read everyone else's posts to see what other people thought and to get all the angles on what is going on. I haven't met any of the others in "real life" yet, but at some point I probably will, and for the moment I am enjoying the e-mail and message board and inter-blog conversations with both bloggers and readers.
> 3. Do you get a sense that team personnel notice
> what
> you write? Have you received any feedback from them?
If they were paying attention to what I wrote, I'd be highly concerned. I doubt they do. If they were noticing it, I really think they should stop. I doubt that Jeff DaVanon even knows. I don't know when they'd even find the time to notice. Maybe in the off-season.
> 4. Do you sense that members of what you call “the
> mainstream media” – i.e.,beat writers, columnists,
> broadcasters – see it and respond to it?
For me in particular, again, I'd be highly concerned if anyone from the more traditional media paid me any mind at all. However, I'd like to think that they do pay attention to some of my fellow bloggers, who are capable of much more sophisticated analysis than I am, and, in my opnion, provide great insight into the team both from a statistics-wrangling perspective and from a reporting perspective. The bloggers make observations that I think are very relevant and astute, and some of them can massage things out of stats that are truly amazing, and possibly completely misleading, but still amazing.
> 5. How much time do you devote to it? Does it vary?
I don't devote enormous amounts of time to it. I post when I feel like it or when I feel compelled to. I do feel an obligation to post when there is Jeff-related news. And Mondesi-related news. And when there is ill-advised facial hair rearing it's head.
> Do
> you find yourself occasionally fighting the tendency
> to say, “ah, I don’t feel like writing today?”
If I don't feel like it, or don't have time, I usually don't post. But today, for example, I really had to post because Jeff had a historic game last night and my blog is called "Watching Jeff DaVanon" ergo, obligation.
> Conversely, does your family sometimes complain that
> you spend too much time blogging?
No. For one, my husband couldn't be more thrilled that a woman who made him explain the concept of fielder's choice no fewer than 4 times last year is now an active (if tiny) participant in the vast baseball machine. Also, hello- I post from work!
>
> (And one more: How much trouble are you having
> keeping
> up with the team right now, when you're there and
> they're here? )[note: I was in Europe at the time]
It sucks because most English-language news on TV in Europe is from out of the UK, and the Brits are not known for their deep affection for baseball. Also, the Olympics are on, so that forms the nexus of what sports reporting is being produced. I rely on the internet to keep up with the team, and am deeply beholden to my husband who e-mails me the critical bits of info about how the team did and how Jeff did (which is not exactly information that is generally reported by other sources).
You have to jump through the invasive registration hoops, but we all have enough fake e-mail addresses floating around to take care of that.
I come off a little bit like a freak. But these things happen. And let us face facts, I am a little bit of a freak.
The other thing that happened was this:
Others are blissfully oblivious, such as the Angels' DaVanon. Asked before a game last week if he had checked out or was aware of the blog devoted to him, he said: "I never search (the Internet) under my name. I've never looked."Would he now?
"I might take a peek," he said.
So I'm going to file that under things I need like a hole in the head. Jeff, the whole "not searching" thing was a very good policy. Stick to it. Just in case, and to clarify for everyone, despite appearances to the contrary, I am not a candidate for a restraining order. I am happily married. I am not of the ilk that brings "marry me Jeff" signs lovingly crafted in glitter to games. I do not own glitter. I am unclear as to how one would even make a sign with glitter. I met Jeff's neighbor during Spring Training, but I do not know where he lives and it never crossed my mind to ask.
I'm posting the full text of my e-mail interview with Jim Alexander for kicks and your edification.
> 1. What possessed you to do this?
What possessed me is a question I ask myself quite frequently. I wanted to have a way to track my impressions of the team and news about the team and about Jeff throughout the season. I have other blogs, so this was a natural choice. Also, despite the fact that having a blog is a solitary pursuit, it is a good way to meet and interact with other people who are passionate about the same things you are, and that's kind of nice.
> 2. How much response do you get? Do you have a sense
> of how many people are regular readers? Is there, in
> fact, sort of a blog community of fans/fellow
> bloggers/fellow readers?
When I first started I got a lot of response (at least, way more than I was expecting), lots of hits and lots of e-mail-- but that is because I chose to focus on a specific player (one who most don't consider all that noteworthy) and also because I am a woman and people enjoy the novelty of that. I've also seen a flurry of activity in the last 12 hours because Jeff hit for the cycle.
Most people don't check my blog every day (except possibly my husband). But there are probably about 20 who check it once a week. And that number keeps growing (I've only been at this a few months). Mostly, people check my site when some other blogger mentions me.
I'm a special case though, because my blog isn't a true Angels-specific blog. I focus on one player who doesn't even play every day. I'm not producing a tremendous amount of relevant material for most people. I'm a neophyte who's understanding of the sport is rather apalling considering that I'm putting forth opinions that other people read. I'm learning, and the blog (and other bloggers) is what is helping me to learn.
There is most definitely a community of bloggers and readers, and it is mostly team-specific. There are only a handful of Angels bloggers, and you tend to read everyone else's posts to see what other people thought and to get all the angles on what is going on. I haven't met any of the others in "real life" yet, but at some point I probably will, and for the moment I am enjoying the e-mail and message board and inter-blog conversations with both bloggers and readers.
> 3. Do you get a sense that team personnel notice
> what
> you write? Have you received any feedback from them?
If they were paying attention to what I wrote, I'd be highly concerned. I doubt they do. If they were noticing it, I really think they should stop. I doubt that Jeff DaVanon even knows. I don't know when they'd even find the time to notice. Maybe in the off-season.
> 4. Do you sense that members of what you call “the
> mainstream media” – i.e.,beat writers, columnists,
> broadcasters – see it and respond to it?
For me in particular, again, I'd be highly concerned if anyone from the more traditional media paid me any mind at all. However, I'd like to think that they do pay attention to some of my fellow bloggers, who are capable of much more sophisticated analysis than I am, and, in my opnion, provide great insight into the team both from a statistics-wrangling perspective and from a reporting perspective. The bloggers make observations that I think are very relevant and astute, and some of them can massage things out of stats that are truly amazing, and possibly completely misleading, but still amazing.
> 5. How much time do you devote to it? Does it vary?
I don't devote enormous amounts of time to it. I post when I feel like it or when I feel compelled to. I do feel an obligation to post when there is Jeff-related news. And Mondesi-related news. And when there is ill-advised facial hair rearing it's head.
> Do
> you find yourself occasionally fighting the tendency
> to say, “ah, I don’t feel like writing today?”
If I don't feel like it, or don't have time, I usually don't post. But today, for example, I really had to post because Jeff had a historic game last night and my blog is called "Watching Jeff DaVanon" ergo, obligation.
> Conversely, does your family sometimes complain that
> you spend too much time blogging?
No. For one, my husband couldn't be more thrilled that a woman who made him explain the concept of fielder's choice no fewer than 4 times last year is now an active (if tiny) participant in the vast baseball machine. Also, hello- I post from work!
>
> (And one more: How much trouble are you having
> keeping
> up with the team right now, when you're there and
> they're here? )[note: I was in Europe at the time]
It sucks because most English-language news on TV in Europe is from out of the UK, and the Brits are not known for their deep affection for baseball. Also, the Olympics are on, so that forms the nexus of what sports reporting is being produced. I rely on the internet to keep up with the team, and am deeply beholden to my husband who e-mails me the critical bits of info about how the team did and how Jeff did (which is not exactly information that is generally reported by other sources).
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