Maria Burns Ortiz

Week 6 – Sports Blogapalooza.
Sports blogs – Part I. Armchair quarterbacks or essential to the debate? (Oct. 16)

Readings:
• “Bill Simmons, Establishment.” Will Leitch, Deadspin.
• “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.]
• “The battle over bloggers.” Bruce Dowbiggin, The Globe and Mail.
• “A Confrontation on ‘Costas Now’ Worthy of a Blog.” Richard Sandomir, New York Times.
• “Sports-Centric Web Sites Expand, and Bias Is Welcome.” Joseph Plambeck, New York Times.
• “Bleacher Report ups its game by taking contributors to school.” Justin Ellis, Nieman Lab.
• “NHL teams want bloggers banned from visitors’ locker rooms.” Greg Wyshynski, Puck Daddy/Yahoo!
• Sportswriting in the Digital Age, Part 2: Access and Coverage

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

Sites:
Pro Football Talk
Deadspin
Bleacher Report
SB Nation
Browse the Web and find some additional sports blogs written/started by non-traditional journalists (Be prepared to discuss in class)

Blog Assignment:
• Blog Assignment 1. Post two short (approx. 200-300 words) sports blogs analyzing games and/or topical sports news. [Posts should be put up on different days.] One must be fully curated. One must include original reporting.
• Blog Assignment 2. When it comes to the blogosphere, what defines a journalist?

Skill: Live Blogging

In-class: Live blogging exercise

Midterm evaluation.