Maria Burns Ortiz

Week 6 – Sports Blogapalooza.
Sports blogs – Part I. Armchair quarterbacks or essential to the debate? (Oct. 12)

Readings:
• “Bill Simmons, Establishment.” Will Leitch, Deadspin.
• “It’s all fun and games ‘til you (maybe) libel someone.” Sports Journalism Today.
• “Q&A: Will Leitch.” Richard Deitsch, SI.com.
• “Deadspin’s Barrage on ESPN Raises Legal Questions.” Clay Travis, FanHouse. [Read linked stories in this post.]
• “A Sports Column Written Far From Print, and the Game.” Noam Cohen, New York Times.
• “The battle over bloggers.” Bruce Dowbiggin, The Globe and Mail.
• “A Confrontation on ‘Costas Now’ Worthy of a Blog.” Richard Sandomir, New York Times.
• “Blogger vs. Mainstream Media.” Shane Hoopfer, Pro Sports Blogging.
• “Sports-Centric Web Sites Expand, and Bias Is Welcome.” Joseph Plambeck, New York Times.

Additional Sites:
• Sports Guy’s World, ESPN.com Page 2. (Bill Simmons)
• Deadspin.
• The Big Lead.
• Celtics Blog.
• Red’s Army.
• MetsBlog.com. (Make sure to read the “About” section.)
• Select one additional fan blog. (Be ready to discuss it in class.)

Video:
Will Leitch-Buzz Bissinger-Braylon Edwards conversation on “Costas Now.” (Via Dailymotion.)

Blog Assignment:
• Blog Assignment 1. Post three short (one per day, approx. 200-300 words) sports blogs analyzing games and/or topical sports news.
• Blog Assignment 2. What additional fan blog did you choose to survey? Include the link. Why did you pick this site? (This post can be very short.)
• Blog Assignment 3. Make your blog “presentable.” If you still have the generic first WordPress post and/or comment, delete them. Write something up for your “About” section. Give it a title and tagline. The byline should be your name. If you’re still using the generic photo that came with your template, change it. Update the time so that your posts are shown in EST.

Midterm evaluation