Intro #2, or Why Casual is Good, or My Last Disclaimer Before the Blog Actually Starts
Although my first column was more of an introduction of sorts, it seems like the first few columns I'm going to write on this blog are going to come with a standard disclaimer. I feel the need to tell you a few things about myself before you can get a little context to really understand the perspective I'm taking on things, and understand why my writing is the way it is.
First of all, as I mentioned in the initial "opinions and assholes" post, I have a tendency to let projects slip by and fade away for good. The main reason for that is because I tend to hold anything I do to this unattainable standard, and when I don't reach the standard I set for myself, I scrap it and move onto something else, at which point the cycle continues. So for this reason I have about 50 things that I've started and stopped after various amounts of progress had been made on them. So, for the sake of keeping this going, I've decided to begrudgingly lower my standards for the time being and simply write from off the top of my head. For this reason, some statements may be inaccurate, some of my history may be incorrect, and some of my opinions might be the opposite of what I feel later in the day after I've thought about it for a little while. I'll have no problem accepting my flaws, because I'm not trying to capture the ideal super-intelligent blogger image that everyone likes to portray themselves as in the blogosphere. Please feel free to correct me, argue with me, and attempt to change my opinions on things. I'm sure I'll do all of the above myself at some point or another as long as I hold to this philosophy.
Secondly, I'd like to point out that I am what some would call a casual sports fan. Yes, it does seem ridiculous that a self-proclaimed casual sports fan would start a sports-only weblog and expect people to read it, but let me explain why I feel I can pull this one off.
My definition of "casual" is relative. I'm sure when compared to people whose only exposure to NFL football is the Super Bowl, or to people in NYC who root for the Yankees only after they've won 4 or 5 World Series rings in a decade, or to people who claim that "baseball is boring", but then watch a night-long marathon of reality television on Bravo-- I'm sure to these people, I'm a sports fanatic. But when compared to people who subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket, MLB Extra Innings, and NBA League Pass, or to people who join fantasy baseball, basketball and football leagues for excesses of $200 a piece each year, or to people who can say off the top of their head who the number 6 hitter was for the Boston Red Sox in 1976--I'm sure to these people, I ought to be ashamed of myself for even having an opinion, let alone devoting a website to tell it to other people.
I fall somewhere in the middle. I watch SportsCenter in the mornings before work, I occasionally check CBS Sportsline and ESPN.com during the day, I peruse sports-based messageboards and occasionally post up my thoughts, I usually watch PTI in the early evenings when I'm eating dinner, and usually turn to some sporting event above all else when I'm watching TV, save The Sopranos or an occasional episode of The Simpsons. I tend to watch different sports for different reasons, and my interest in the sport in question can ebb and flow with how I'm feeling on a day-to-day basis. For example, I'm fascinated by baseball statistics. It's a game of averages, a game of playing the odds, and strategizing accordingly. But I usually watch a baseball game as background noise or a secondary thing. I'll sit and remain interested for all 9 innings, but I don't watch a baseball game with the same edge-of-my-seat mentality that I watch a football game with. When I'm watching the NY Giants, I have to sprint off the couch to go cook up some food or hit the bathroom and sprint right back to catch each play. NBA Basketball used to be my favorite sport to watch and play as a kid, and I'm LOVING this year's playoffs, but recently, I've only been intrigued by the 2nd half, and sometimes only the 4th quarter, of regular-season games (although I'm sure this has something to do with the NY Knicks backslide of recent years).
And these are just the big three. There's still NCAA basketball and football, boxing and mixed martial arts, regional and World Cup soccer, the Olympic games, and so on. Each sport hits me in a different way.
One benefit of my quasi-casual approach to sports is that I tend to approach things from a bottom-up perspective, and I don't assume that everyone gives a shit about every little detail about every sport. I don't let the headlines in the sports world dictate what I'm interested in or what I want to write about, just as I'm sure everyone has their own niche as far as what they watch and what they read about. Approaching it this way, I'm able to see the forest for the trees, and I'd like this periodical column to reflect that.
Basically, I'd like my perspective to lean more toward an HBO Real Sports-type of feel, and less of a WFAN-type. Meaning, I'm obviously going to give my biased opinion, but I'd like to try to present it in a way that lends credence to other sides instead of discrediting everything but my own way of thinking.
Okay, so I'm two columns deep, and I've spoken more about myself than I have about a single thing in sports. I swear, the next column will actually deal with something of substance. I just feel like without a proper introduction, there's nothing that breaks this blog from the rest of them. I guess only time will tell how closely I stick to what I've said here.
Although my first column was more of an introduction of sorts, it seems like the first few columns I'm going to write on this blog are going to come with a standard disclaimer. I feel the need to tell you a few things about myself before you can get a little context to really understand the perspective I'm taking on things, and understand why my writing is the way it is.
First of all, as I mentioned in the initial "opinions and assholes" post, I have a tendency to let projects slip by and fade away for good. The main reason for that is because I tend to hold anything I do to this unattainable standard, and when I don't reach the standard I set for myself, I scrap it and move onto something else, at which point the cycle continues. So for this reason I have about 50 things that I've started and stopped after various amounts of progress had been made on them. So, for the sake of keeping this going, I've decided to begrudgingly lower my standards for the time being and simply write from off the top of my head. For this reason, some statements may be inaccurate, some of my history may be incorrect, and some of my opinions might be the opposite of what I feel later in the day after I've thought about it for a little while. I'll have no problem accepting my flaws, because I'm not trying to capture the ideal super-intelligent blogger image that everyone likes to portray themselves as in the blogosphere. Please feel free to correct me, argue with me, and attempt to change my opinions on things. I'm sure I'll do all of the above myself at some point or another as long as I hold to this philosophy.
Secondly, I'd like to point out that I am what some would call a casual sports fan. Yes, it does seem ridiculous that a self-proclaimed casual sports fan would start a sports-only weblog and expect people to read it, but let me explain why I feel I can pull this one off.
My definition of "casual" is relative. I'm sure when compared to people whose only exposure to NFL football is the Super Bowl, or to people in NYC who root for the Yankees only after they've won 4 or 5 World Series rings in a decade, or to people who claim that "baseball is boring", but then watch a night-long marathon of reality television on Bravo-- I'm sure to these people, I'm a sports fanatic. But when compared to people who subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket, MLB Extra Innings, and NBA League Pass, or to people who join fantasy baseball, basketball and football leagues for excesses of $200 a piece each year, or to people who can say off the top of their head who the number 6 hitter was for the Boston Red Sox in 1976--I'm sure to these people, I ought to be ashamed of myself for even having an opinion, let alone devoting a website to tell it to other people.
I fall somewhere in the middle. I watch SportsCenter in the mornings before work, I occasionally check CBS Sportsline and ESPN.com during the day, I peruse sports-based messageboards and occasionally post up my thoughts, I usually watch PTI in the early evenings when I'm eating dinner, and usually turn to some sporting event above all else when I'm watching TV, save The Sopranos or an occasional episode of The Simpsons. I tend to watch different sports for different reasons, and my interest in the sport in question can ebb and flow with how I'm feeling on a day-to-day basis. For example, I'm fascinated by baseball statistics. It's a game of averages, a game of playing the odds, and strategizing accordingly. But I usually watch a baseball game as background noise or a secondary thing. I'll sit and remain interested for all 9 innings, but I don't watch a baseball game with the same edge-of-my-seat mentality that I watch a football game with. When I'm watching the NY Giants, I have to sprint off the couch to go cook up some food or hit the bathroom and sprint right back to catch each play. NBA Basketball used to be my favorite sport to watch and play as a kid, and I'm LOVING this year's playoffs, but recently, I've only been intrigued by the 2nd half, and sometimes only the 4th quarter, of regular-season games (although I'm sure this has something to do with the NY Knicks backslide of recent years).
And these are just the big three. There's still NCAA basketball and football, boxing and mixed martial arts, regional and World Cup soccer, the Olympic games, and so on. Each sport hits me in a different way.
One benefit of my quasi-casual approach to sports is that I tend to approach things from a bottom-up perspective, and I don't assume that everyone gives a shit about every little detail about every sport. I don't let the headlines in the sports world dictate what I'm interested in or what I want to write about, just as I'm sure everyone has their own niche as far as what they watch and what they read about. Approaching it this way, I'm able to see the forest for the trees, and I'd like this periodical column to reflect that.
Basically, I'd like my perspective to lean more toward an HBO Real Sports-type of feel, and less of a WFAN-type. Meaning, I'm obviously going to give my biased opinion, but I'd like to try to present it in a way that lends credence to other sides instead of discrediting everything but my own way of thinking.
Okay, so I'm two columns deep, and I've spoken more about myself than I have about a single thing in sports. I swear, the next column will actually deal with something of substance. I just feel like without a proper introduction, there's nothing that breaks this blog from the rest of them. I guess only time will tell how closely I stick to what I've said here.
posted by 44 Sports at 7:08 AM
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