Hey Nebraska!
Allow me to slump out of character for a moment. . .
This afternoon, my cat with a bladder infection ran outside and promptly disappeared. She hadn't taken her antibiotics and I was way too concerned to get anything done, so I read some old FreeDarko. Specifically, I took a look back at this momentous post, and other shit we were doing around this time last year. And then, unexpectedly, I got really fucking sad.
The sports blogosphere has grown like a yeti's breath since then. There's money being made, reputations standing tall, and a real sense that we are somebody. I am eternally surprised that I'm able to support myself writing about basketball, seeing as I only picked it up again at age twenty-one. Blogging isn't perfect, but the difference between it and "real" journalism is like working in bed/cubicle life. We're in what they call a growth industry, which means that, barring public humiliation or sexual harassment suit, I might have even more opportunities in the future.
But when I looked back at those older posts, I suddenly realized how much the game done changed. A year ago, there was this whole pistols-at-dawn feel to the blogosphere, where networking and constant exchange came out of mutual respect. I was in touch with a lot of people I admired, and felt like ours was a community forged out of shared ambition and whip-smartness. Now, it's like everyone doing their thing, or I've just gotten that isolated and paranoid. FD itself was more expansive, less conclusive, and I worry, more vital. Sure, half the things we said were stupid or wrong, but there was that itch to both define ourselves through action and flail around in self-reflection. Increasingly, I feel like it's one or the other.
I know some of you (I see you, SML) are going to try and blame this on FanHouse. Wrong, wrong and wrong. If I weren't writing tons of short posts on the NBA, I'd still be doing band previews and restaurant blurbs for cash. Pumping out words is no problem for me, and this basketball stuff is already in my head to begin with. Some of those Longforms I did last spring are as good as anything that's ever been on FreeDarko, and getting paid by a corporation to write uncompromising columns is pretty much the goal of this whole experiment. Plus I do communicate freely with the people I've gotten to know through "work." It has a lot more to do with the overall shift in sports blog culture—the explosion of participants, endless jockeying for position and niche-ifying, the serial link begging that makes me puke, and the fact that, as never before, there's an element of professionalism seeping in. Or maybe it's always been like this, only I managed to avoid it when this was just a hobby.
Look, I'm perfectly willing to admit I might be overcome with nostalgia, or idealizing a time that never really was. I can still write, and get plenty excited to do so on a fairly regular basis; that Marion thing I did yesterday felt right and summed up something I've wondered about for several years now. And I'm sure that, when it comes down it, I'd rather be thinking about my long-term than being everyone's best friend. But I'd seriously like to know if anyone else feels a chill in the air.
posted by Bethlehem Shoals @ 9/28/2007 03:08:00 AM
46 comments
46 Comments:
I understand your "shit done changed" sentiment, especially seeing as how you've forged a professional alliance with several of your peers and a gigantic corporation. But here at FreeDarko, I personally haven't felt any unsettling shifts in quality or philosophy. I've been reading since two Finals ago and I'm enjoying it just as much as I ever have.
Also, to answer your rhetorical non-question about link-begging and niche-ifying, I think it has always been like that to some degree, but as you grow in influence, you see more of it. Not that I'D know that side of it first-hand, but I've seen enough pissing contests over who posted what when and who gets credit to know that's part and parcel of the blogging experience.
Lastly, I might throw out there that it is one of the most pensive parts of the basketball calendar. The draft is long gone, as is summer league, and we're on the precipice of meaningful basketball, but it's still just out of reach. Unless you have an Elie Seckbach to jaw about, this time of year can be a bit of a hole.
Hey quitter:
Fuck you. That's it.
Also:
$1105.10 gone to waste. Take the money and run.
dear anon,
i never said i was done, and it's not like i started doing fd yesterday. i'm sorry that after writing this site for going on three years, i have one day of doubt. email me your name and you can have your fucking money back. all $1105.10 of it.
Wait a minute. You have a cat … with a bladder infection? No Schrutebucks for you.
Yeah, I would agree that there is a certain degree of professionalization going on here, and I'm also not entirely convinced it's a bad thing. Yes, you get to support yourself with your writing (can't beat that!), which is great. But let's also remember that the blogs becoming more "professional", can mean more access for people who aren't a part of this still fairly tight community. I mean, for every article that gets written about how blogs are growing, it means a few more people that might stumble upon FD and start enjoying it. Fanhouse provides a pretty dizzying array of blog choices, and this is a good thing. People don't like Longform? Well, they're free not to read it, but my guess (backed up by no data whatsoever) is that this site has gotten more readers as a result of it. I'm not reading this post as doubtful, Shoals. I see a guy thinking about the nature of his profession and how it's changing, something everyone does. Difference is, you're watching it change at it's relative infancy.
As for FD, and community, I feel like the community of people who comment here has remain relatively unchanged. It remains interesting, insightful discussion of basketball topics. I think FD has gotten bigger, without sacrificing it's basic community and integrity: an impressive feat, to be certain.
I wouldn't blame the Fanhouse for what you described (and believe, I know what you are describing well - I've been around these internets in one shape or form since '99), Shoals.
I blame Deadspin (Gawker). The History of Sports-Blogging - I've been working on a draft of it for a while, and I think it's due.
Will Leitch is a cool guy with good intentions, but so was Robert Oppenheimer.
i was saying "don't blame them for my malaise." but i think that blaming deadspin for the current climate of sports blog is like blaming drug abuse on crack.
and while there are plenty of baby fiends fixated on links from will, deadspin's also running much more column-length content. shanoff, mjd, and big daddy drew all have regular spots there, which couldn't be more encouraging for other blogger/writers.
i know that deadspin links helped get the word out about FD. but i think i've sent will maybe three "please link this" emails in the two years that deadspin's been around. i wrote what i wrote and was pleasantly surprised that it got attention.
the newer blogs i like all seem to come from a similar place.
i don't know why that last comment sounded like flea.
Okay, here's my take, clarified: everyone's doing their own thing now. But it's not guns drawn, let's do new stuff that no one's done before. A lot of it is off the template. That template has been established and mass marketed.
You don't see Billups anymore. You don't see Straight Bangin. You don't see Free Darko.
The only really "unique style" sportsblog to start in the last 12 months is probably NOIS.
Agree or disagree? Am I missing something? Are there really other unique sites out there that have come around in the past 12-18 months that I am forgetting about? Examples? Again, it's just something I've been thinking about, not a certain fact....
The chill I feel in the air is about the NBA itself. I'm feeling more than a bit disenchanted...I live near Seattle, and this business end of things is a dismal view indeed. The arena situation leaves a Mordorish pall over the city, and the latest news is that "Kevin Durant shills for ( Nike | Gatorade | whomever )!"
Just keep it FD, man. If the blogosphere has turned from a universe of limitless collaboration and goodwill to a more workmanlike day-to-day, that just leaves room between the present and "dizzying" potential, right?
- like the first time you asked a girl out and really wasn’t as bad as you thought it would the 15,000 times you were too afraid to ask her out
- like when you take the hard class in college and find out it’s not that hard, people just stopped trying.
- or when you got your ideal job out of college and realized that some people just have jobs in order to do other shit and don’t care
-like when you started a blog and thought you were making a unique contribution, but eventually the idyllic blog and blogosphere becomes normalized (in your mind), and you are not sure what your contribution is any more.
Ya, there are the same pissing contests when you play rock and roll too. fuck it anyhow you are doing what you like and a lot of folks dig reading it. I know I check the page basically every day mon-fri. I disagree with it sometimes which is great. At least I feel like there can actually be opinions coming out of this. Its not dry and boring thank god. So keep fucking enjoying writing.
Shoals, I wouldn't worry so much. Part of this is---and I hate to say it, because it's both condescending and makes me feel like an old fart---you're still very young. Being idealistic is much harder the older one gets, and is usually dependent entirely on one of the following approaches:
a) ignoring the outside world; dangerous
b) saying fuck it and learning to shrug off reversals and perceived stagnation in the world around you.
FreeDarko is a beautiful thing. I've been reading it for several months now (last year's playoff previews on Deadspin were how I heard of the site) and can personally testify that this site has both rekindled a dying passion (once towering) for professional basketball in my heart, and reaffirmed for me that to care passionately is to truly be alive.
I don't know if this helps your doubts. You are, however, doing something significant. Keep on doing it.
I second what Jamie and the two Anons said above. Seriously, shake off your self-doubts, or whatever you have that's haunting your thoughts. You are needed.
This site is definitely an inspiration—it does what it wants, how it wants to, and people love it whether they're supposed to or not! I think that's an important lesson for anyone doing something creative.
It's funny; I actually found FD from Deadspin...but I couldn't agree more with SML when he blaims the change in the tenor of the blogosphere on Deadspin. Obviously they aren't on a whole-sale level completely bad; any sort of broad conglomeration of talent like that has good and bad writers, good and bad ideas and content. But what is sickening about it, to me, is the comments section, which because of the Gawker affiliation has evolved into this grotesque people's court of bitter, anonymous, and one-ups-manship humor and venom.
And it is not that there is anything inherently wrong with going corporate, considering Shoals and TrueHoop have really lost nothing in translation, but it is undeniable that putting the voices we trust in a rareified commercial environment makes them less...well "pistols at dawn."
Shoals, you need to learn to ignore the ball-creaking comments from Anons like me.
OBVIOUSLY, this isn't one of those, "I pull your hair because I like you" things. Your site fuckin' rocks, I never gave ANY money, and am TOTALLY bitter about anything which limits the words on this site.
It's just lashing out at the ones you love.
My favorite sites (fd included) all have a sense of movement, a "going somewhere" to them.
This past week's manifesto and LBJ/Durant brought that fire. That's why I loved them and why - to me - they stand with the giants of previous FD exposition.
I think it's hard to keep up a narrative of movement when met with an increased audience, some semblance of success, universal weblog praise, etc. Revolutions need disagreement, obstacles to take on... I think the commenter was right when he said this time of the season is ripe for introspection.
There's still more to be done here.
2 other points that I was going to save for my post, but I'll add to the discussion:
1. Blogging is easy. It used to be hard (especially in the pre-Deadspin days)... like I said, I have my own personal graveyard of failed projects. Everyone who has been around for a bit longer than 2 years does.
Now it's not so hard. That's good, obviously. Not a bad thing - that's one of the strongest positives that Deadspin brought into the game.
But it does mean this: Survival of the Fittest no longer applies like it used to. So no blogs that maybe should have gone extinct, just because they aren't adding anything new... they're still standing. I'm not taking a cheap shot at anyone's blog... I'm just stating a theory.
2. The big guys are in their own circle nowadays. This is what Shoals referred to in his post, I believe. Namely that guys like Henry Abbott, for example, are to busy making cheese nowadays to comment on posts on other blogs. Skeets, Shoals himself, various others (Caveman, for example)... they're all commenting on other blogs significantly less than they used to. Obviously that's because they're all busy with their own work, getting money. It's fine - cats like us can pick up the slack, hopefully.
But the point is that those guys from Shoal's blog-generation... they've maybe all made it big now, and aren't able to hang out like they used to anymore. They might not send out as many e-mails like they used to, or share/kick around ideas like they used to. That's the reality of blowing up.
The cypher on the corner... it ain't on the corner no more. Everyone retreats to their new nice homes now. Collabs are less common. You've all made it, but making it means it ain't like it used to be....
I don't know when this section turned into a Save Our FD deal, but I echo everything that's been said. This site needs to stick around.
SML: When you say blogging's easy, do you mean the writing process or getting your name out there and gaining readers at a respectable clip? I assume it's the latter. Also, can you explain your "lack of extinction" theory a little more? Thanks.
Your doubts are only natural. I've been reading FD for quite a while and its been nothing short of inspiring.
I used to love basketball; now I feel it.
@Ty Keenan: The writing process is what it is. For some people it's easy, for some hard. Blogging as a whole has gotten easier - no startup costs anymore; no maintenance cost anymore; no HTML coding knowledge required - I mean, there was a time adding a link or jpeg was freaking impossible.
Getting your name out there now is easier, too, I guess. If a big website likes you, cool. Even if they don't, thanks to great sites like Ballhype and Yardbarker (and Jason's other sites - Lowpost, etc), you can find other people's posts, and they can find you.
Therefore blogging is easier. That's great for bloggers. But the flip side to it is that blogging no longer has any barriers to entry. When there were barriers, it forced people who were truly into it, truly motivated writers, with ideas that they believed in, passion... to really work through those barriers. That doesn't mean that everyone nowadays is passionless. But there are a lot of blogs who's writers maybe aren't driven like that around nowadays.
That's a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing because writing isn't a field that should be that difficult to do. Anyone with a pen and paper (or the modern version) should be able to do it.
But succeeding at it should also be a struggle. It's the struggling that makes the work better, more polished....
I guess I just don't think that it's ever less than a struggle to write well. All the technical avenues that have opened up are awesome, as you said, but I still think it comes down to the quality of the writing. There are certainly some sites that do well on things other than merit, but there are only a few of them, and it's not like I'm forced to read them. I get the impression that the writers who aren't driven never rise above a certain level in terms of getting known. Maybe I'm just naive; I dunno.
The writers I like all seem to care about the words they put on their computer screens. Either that, or they're coasting on natural talent, and who ever said that was the worst thing in the world. So I think succeeding is still a struggle, even if it's easier than it was before.
Couple of thoughts:
1. Bloggers are making money now? When did this start happening? I can't even get my AdSense to work.
2. I was an avid blog reader before I became a blogger myself, and when I started out I was pleasantly surprised just how accessible the writers were-Abbott, the folks at KSK, and Shoals himself all responded to my emails with advice, kind words, and the general feeling that I was worth something, as well as extremely helpful linkage, which is something you can't say about most mainstream writers. Deadspin is an exception, but they're pretty huge.
3. As big as the blogosphere is, I'd actually like for it to invade the mainstream consciousness more. I now find it extremely frustrating to talk to people who think they know a lot about sports, as they end up parroting the same outdated opinions still shot at them daily by ESPN: The importance of good manners and fundamentals, the lack of acknowledgment of swag, the outdated opinions on what the right thing to do is. The counter-culture's voice must be represented in order to lead us all to sports nirvana.
4. On a more vain and personal note on the same subject, I've managed to make a tiny little dent in this world, and about 27,000 people have read my blog to date. I go to a large university, so you'd think that one person would have read me, but no. 31,000 avid sports fans, and I haven't found one regular reader of FD, KSK, or even Deadspin; "You're with me, leather" is just a bizzare non seqitor. When I get off the computer, I'm just another quiet kid who goes to class, goes to football games, and knows a lot about sports, which is disappointing; I'm a writer, damnit, and I want people to recognize me as such.
5. I agree that the current blog format is somewhat damaging to the spirit of blogging; my posts that get linkage are rarely the ones I'm most proud of. Instead, I get exposure for the sheer audacity of my impetus rather than the quality of my work. Deadspin is the worst at this; a well-written search for the truth of the game will get you nowhere, but a clip of Chinese 3-ball baseball will get you pub. Additionally, I didn't intend for my blog to only be an NBA blog, but having Abbott on my RSS has more or less forced my hand; if I want to write about Heroes, 200 people are reading if I'm lucky.
6. Any discussion of the blogosphere's explosion has to include Simmons; he was actually how I found this site, and his impact on the sportswriting world cannot be overstated.
SML is right about the lack of commenting on other blogs from the "big guys". It's when you stop commenting on your own blog that you're truly dead.
I feel you, Shoals.
Just because it feels right:
- Before FD I would never have considered the NBA my favorite league or basketball my favorite sport, and I'm not even sure if I can now, but I certainly don't read blogs devoted solely to baseball or football. Yet, I seem to look for new posts hourly. I don't even know why I have FD in my Google Reader, I usually find new posts before it does. If fantasy is the main reason I follow football (sorry Shoals), then FD is the reason I follow basketball.
- I found Deadspin and this site around the same time (maybe 2 years ago?), and I never even paid attention or noticed Deadspin's comments section until someone in these comments mentioned what berts reiterated above - that its just a bunch of dick jokes. Yet I find myself going back multiple posts to scour the comments sections here, not even commenting, but just to watch it unfold. I can't imagine finding better discussions about basketball anywhere else and I think that stems from the writers (Shoals, DLIC, etc., all of them really) bringing out interest in basketball (in my case) and generally making people care, which is good.
I think the main problem with the proliferation of sports blogs is that a great deal of them suffer from having no real mission statement or intent. However, the best out there have these very clearly defined (even if in FD's case that statement is intentionally elastic and largely esoteric).
Furthermore, I think its important that a site should very closely mimic the personality of the person who authors it. At The Blowtorch I try to show all the ridiculous stuff that happens because I have a very hard time taking anything seriously (a blessing and a curse - ask my girlfriend) but there's always a part of me that nerds out when Duncan avoids getting stripped the way Malone did.
The hallmarks of a great blog are intentionality and purpose. Rather than simply reacting to what has happened, a writer needs to use everything as a tool to advance their views. When someone's dedicated to viewing sports through their own looking glass, it's something that can matter.
I have been reading FreeDarko for a long time now. At first I was a lurker- a religious reader who never posted. Back then I viewed FreeDarko as a portrait- one to be admired from a far. I kept my comments in check in fear of soiling and tarnishing the ethereal nature of the analysis. My visits to FD were characterized by excitedly reading a new post, reflecting on the view points, then steering away to another website, rarely if ever looking at the comments section. Eventually I began to embrace the FD community and feel part of it- this feeling probably crested during the Warriors-Mavs series when I was commenting more than once a day.
I have always been a huge NBA fan- watching just about every game. However, with the exception of biographies (Jordan Rules) I hated reading about sports. I could not stand the generic commentary and shallow analysis prevalent on ESPN or local newspapers. I have to credit Simmon’s for first developing my interest in sports journalism. His analysis may not be granular but it was far from generic (at the time). I actually found FreeDarko through a Sports Guy column that talked about Arenas’ desire to maintain a cult-like status in the blogosphere- mentioning FD and TrueHoop. From that day, I have been an avid FD fan and daily site visitor. But I am a realist, change is inevitable and FD is not immune to it. Today when I opened Simmon's article with his NFL picks- I realized that I felt no excitement or interest in the material- I just quickly perused his picks then closed the page. Simmon's postings are no longer must read material for me, they come across as mainstream, overplayed and just plain lame. So far, FD’s evolution has improved my experience on the site- but I am cognizant of how easily a rose like FD can lose its bloom. But for today- FD still lives!!
People this is serious:
It's Blogfrica, not the blogosphere.
Lol, shoals is worried about FD becoming passe.
Well, it was passe 2 years ago and you kept writing, now you wanna stop when YOU realize it?
You seem like you are clinically depressed. Wellbutrin works better than bullets dude.
And keep FD content coming. Our consumption is limitless.
Where is Billups and what have you done with him?
I think Krolik's point #5 is pretty important. A lot of the time it seems like links are based on titles instead of actual quality or content. This manifests itself most clearly in gimmick posts. I don't have any problem with them as a basic exercise (even if they're incredibly stupid, they can be funny), but if I'm going to read about how Ron Artest is like Wolverine, I want to know how they're really similar, not just that both get angry sometimes. Unfortunately, this same kind of linking practice seems to apply to real content now. It's unfortunate, and I feel kinda dirty about it when I'm the beneficiary. (Well, not entirely dirty, but even then I'm mostly happy about it just because people might eventually read my really good stuff.)
Goathair's entire comment is excellent. That's something I've been working through as I've gone along.
Anon 9:31: I prefer Blogburgh.
What I want to know is how we've escaped the most easy analogizing all- which gods are the new stars. At first it seems too easy, too pedestrian to even try, but then you realize it's been under our noses the whole time: Greg Oden is the FATHER OF THOR, for uh, godssake. Forget the mad grizzled thing, just look at his surname!
If he only had an eye missing instead of brittle, unevenly sized bones. We could call whoever proves to be his most faithful henchmen Hugin and Munin.
I'm just saying.
I do believe that FreeDarko needs a goal to evolve towards. There is enough talent collected here to write the best NBA book ever written, and probably one of the best sports books too.
But what's it going to be about? There are so many different tangents to take: the age-limit, the dynamics between teams, audiences, corporations and individuals, the "I ain't sayin' it, but I'm seein' it" racism, David Stern, the contrast between Gilbert Arenas and the Spurs, LeBron, the love for the game etc.
all of my roomates and other close associates now refer to things as being "freedarko," we just need the association to get back in season.
i feel dead from july thru october. its like the winter blues for basketball fans.
I could second what a lot of commenters have said before me, but just the fact that there have been so many posts with active comment sections in such a dreadful off-season (minus KG being moved and some games of the European Championship) speaks volumes. For me the recent AK47 article gave me a whole new perspective on him, and I'm sure different articles did something similar for other readers.
So you do help to carry me through the boring times, which is best described by this excellently made '06 Pistons video that even shows the Serbian Gangsta posturing to the line of "the innocent can never last":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwOhAgsf8eo
Set to "Wake me up when September ends".
The problem is, blogs start with this wide-eyed "Oh, let's see what's out there" idea. Then, after a while, they develop a community. And part of a being a community is developing shared values, which lead to certain original members of the community being "in", and others giving up as they realize that they really don't share all those values. Then, the original writer becomes trapped by the approval of his audience, and because blogs allow comments, he knows more and more what his audience does and does not like.
Just for fun, I blame SML, ha; now you know what people like SML think, and it has a limiting effect on your creativity and imagination. But also, I point to the lack of rewards for commenters as contributing to the slide. I wish I could pay people for each good comment on my site; it makes such a huge difference in blog quality. But because I can't, I have little to give them other than my own comments back, and eventually many give up and go away.
Finally, SML, you're working on a history of blogging TOO?! That's too funny. (Runs back to own blog and hits "Publish" on his own draft of blogging history). Just kidding.
blogs = post-modernism.
Perhaps coincidentally, a couple weekends ago, I decided to read some of the old FD posts that I had missed. I made it through all of 01.2005. I was struck at the time that things seemed a little more experimental and incoherent--like you all were throwing things at the wall to see what would stick, trying out different voices, playing with the format.
Skip forward to the present, I wonder whether you've all found a lot of what works, decided on a voice, and done all you can with the format (for the time being). The freshness is gone--or at least on hiatus.
There's nothing wrong with hitting your stride and then running forever. Maybe it seems less exciting, but the work remains solid, approaching mature even. As others have said, the last couple of weeks have seen some really excellent stuff--the psych profiles of Marion, VC, LeBron; the FD Manifesto; and the stats analysis, e.g.
It seems to me that everything is going right.
So right that I explained to 3 people today what my ABA Atlantic Division shirt was all about today.
Going self-referential on this one:
I do believe that FreeDarko needs a goal to evolve towards. There is enough talent collected here to write the best NBA book ever written, and probably one of the best sports books too.
But what's it going to be about? There are so many different tangents to take: the age-limit, the dynamics between teams, audiences, corporations and individuals, the "I ain't sayin' it, but I'm seein' it" racism, David Stern, the contrast between Gilbert Arenas and the Spurs, LeBron, the love for the game etc.
More importantly, will it have pictures?
Blog karma/comment rating is not new technology. Check into it.
Shoals;
Nothing stays the same ... ever.
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