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The 20 Most Influential: Sports Bloggers
Prepare yourself for some serious navel-gazing, because Dan Shanoff and I have created a bloggerific version of Sports Business Journal's 20 most influential online sports media folks. To be honest, I just thought of this the other day while Dan has had it cooking for months. So rather than post two separate lists, Shanoff was kind enough to collaborate with me and come up with a joint ranking that, well, I'll let him explain ...
"The depth of quality in sports blogging is phenomenal. The leap that has been made even in the last 18 months – or even the last year – has effectively allowed sports blogs, as a whole, to become as much of a pillar of fan consumption as ESPN or local newspaper coverage. (And of all sports-media outlets, blogs have, by far, the best growth prospects. Consider how many names on this list didn't even exist six-to-18 months ago.)Have there been omissions here? Are we blinded by our biases? Most definitely. One thing you'll note is that most of the names below cover sports "nationally," rather than at the team-specific level. There are some wildly talented team-specific bloggers out there, but, like any overreaching "list" ranking, it's a stake in the ground and a start to the discussion, more than anything else.
The only definitive analysis is that there is so much talent pushing up from the backside that a year from now, we both expect that there will be dramatic shifts on this list. What really separates sports blogs from traditional sports media is that it's far closer to a meritocracy: The best stuff – the fastest take, the freshest angle, the most prolific posts – tends to create its own influence."
What he said. Except for that thing about "pushing up from the backside." I don't know what that means. Anyway, here's our list, along with pithy commentary. Dan's the one with the Harvard MBA, so you can probably tell which words are his and which are mine. And I apologize in advance if your blog or favorite blog(s) aren't included here. These are just two guys' picks as the 20 most influential sports bloggers ...
The top-five: Steinz, Blez, Leitch, MJD and Abbott. (Photoshop work by Chris Mottram.)
1. Will Leitch, Deadspin: Simply put, he has more influence on mainstream sports coverage than anyone in mainstream sports media.2. Tyler Bleszinski, SB Nation and Athletics Nation: President of the top sports blogging network, which should be bought for millions any day now.
3. Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: Acquired and hired by ESPN, giving inspiration to bloggers everywhere.
4. Dan Steinberg, D.C. Sports Bog: Redefining how traditional media can cover sports through blogging.
5. MJD*, The Mighty MJD and Deadspin: Pound-for-pound the most talented writer among sports bloggers. The next Bill Simmons?
6. Matt Ufford, With Leather and Kissing Suzy Kolber: From Deadspin commenter to KSK founding father to With Leather editor in just six months, being foul-mouthed and funny sure goes a long way.
7. Brother L*, The Big Lead: Carves out an influential niche with sports-media gossip and must-read journo interviews that make (or break) careers.
8. Mark Cuban, Blog Maverick: Direct-to-fans communication model changed sports-media dynamics, and you never know what the hell he's going to say.
9. Orson Swindle, Every Day Should Be Saturday: National influence transcends college football's hyper-local focus.
10. Eric McErlain, Off Wing Opinion and NBC Sports: Long-time NHL blogger's efforts are getting his people in the press box.
11. Brooks, Sports by Brooks: T&A strategy and tireless snark yields massive traffic from the West Coast.
12. J.E. Skeets*, The Basketball Jones: Anchors the finest sports podcast going and uncovers endless amounts of top-grade YouTube video.
13. David Pinto, Baseball Musings: Leveraged Baseball Tonight Online gig into current status as a full-time, A-list MLB blogger.
14. Jason Gurney, Low Post, Strike Two and Fair Catch: Has created the Technorati of basketball, baseball and football.
15. Gilbert Arenas, NBA.com Blog: Setting a new standard for athlete accessibility.
16. Bethlehem Shoals* et al, Free Darko: Purveyors of either the NPR or the Pitchfork of the NBA, depending on who you're talking to.
17. Darvin Ham and friends, Wizznutzz: Raising the bar on otherworldly creativity and humor while also dabbling in fabulous fashion.
18. Brian Cook*, M Go Blog: The college football BlogPoll brings dozens of top bloggers together and should be part of the BCS formula.
19. Ken Tremendous, Junior and Dak, Fire Joe Morgan: Pioneered essential format for scathing sports media criticism.
20. Bob Kellett, World Cup Blog and The Offside: Amazing traffic every four years (11 million page views in June '06) and now a popular daily presence.
So there you have it, 20 studs and countless others who shall remain unmentioned (for this year, at least). Let us know where we missed, and check out other responses to SBJ's original list ...
Sports blog makes industry mag's influential list [Sports by Brooks]
We were No. 21 [We Are the Postmen]
The 20 most influential people in online sports [Kissing Suzy Kolber]
Update: As expected, readers are responding with a lot of, "How could you not list X?!" So we're going to maintain a running list of what could be perceived as Glaring Omissions. We're not admitting that we screwed up, but we acknowledge that this isn't an exact science and that the blogosphere is a big effing place. Watch this space for updates ...
Aaron Gleeman, Aaron Gleeman
Big Daddy Drew, Kissing Suzy Kolber
GC, Can't Stop the Bleeding
The Wiz, The Wizard of Odds
* Full disclosure: These folks also write for FanHouse, which I manage for AOL Sports.
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