Reader asks Sam Smith about Blogabull: I really like your new gig and will be reading and...

Reader asks Sam Smith about Blogabull:

I really like your new gig and will be reading and interacting regularly. Anyway, my question has to do with, "Derrick Rose. Derrick Rose. Derrick Rose" at the start of your prediction for the Bulls season. Any chance that was a nod to blogabull.com? I'm asking because that's on their masthead and, if your new role plays out the way it's described in your press release, you will very much be in competition with that website. I think it will be very interesting to follow. Blogabull already has this type of interactive community/following going while you have the experience as well as access to the team and it's resources. I'm not a big fan of Blogabull so I'll clearly be focusing on Bulls.com now. I have long been hoping the Bulls would grant someone access to do this kind of work, much like the Portland Trail Blazers have.

Cameron Watkins

Sam: As my longtime readers know, I have been slow to adapt to the internet culture. But here I come. I always considered myself more a conversational writer, and it was one big philosophical sticking point I always had with the Tribune. I still see it today and fought with them the last few years about it. I've long felt the game story outdated and the need to have a more direct, conversational writing relationship with readers. But too many newspapers continue to play by the rules of 50 years ago. Having a college-aged son helped. He is well read and a sports fan, but never reads newspapers. He is a big baseball fan and said he'd get the game coverage after the game on MLB.com and then seek out information and discussion. So if your newspaper product the next day is a game recap, what are you doing? Clearly, I lost the argument. My pitch to the Bulls was given my experience and history with the league and the team, let's see if we can make the Bulls site the destination for readers. Given the flexibility of a web site, I can concentrate on columns, conversation, observations and opinion, which is more difficult with a newspaper with deadlines due to circulation, which I understand and sympathize with. Being on the web, that disappears. I love the newspaper product and will always read newspapers. I cannot go out to breakfast or lunch without a newspaper. Perhaps if I had some friends, but… I am apparently in the last generation of people who will read newspaper. The newspapers seem headed in the wrong direction because my era has 40 years left of reading. So newspapers aren't going anywhere. Why they are trying to gear the papers for people under 30 or 40 who are not going to read them doesn't make any sense. Again, I lost all the arguments, so I left. My expertise is knowledge, connections and relationships. There's no competition with other fan sites and other sites because there are a variety of opinions, and as it's said, everyone has one. I expect to be interactive in my "Ask Sam" and other devices like live chats. At least as soon as I learn to work a computer.

http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/asksam_081030.html

over 3 years ago bullhockey 12 comments 2 recs |

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Since the "Quote" Fanshots don't really leave room for commentary, I'll comment here:

It’s interesting that the guy goes out of his way to reference and talk about blogabull, then also goes out of his way to say that he doesn’t like it. What’s not to like—it’s a completely open forum with some of the most educated NBA watchers around. If you don’t like what someone says, you’re free to add your two cents, with no real censorship. So if someone doesn’t like what’s said, they should speak up, not boycott.

Anyway. Sam doesn’t ever answer whether he reads blogabull.com. But I’m thinking he’s got to get curious once in a while, take a peek. Especially after admitting that he now is a blogger, and especially after this guy wrote this long comment about blogabull.

"It’d be ridiculous to hate someone for simply what they say in a sports blog. But I greatly dislike every syllable of your angst-filled, smarmy, nondescript, half-assed, elitist-garbage responses." –Rogerspark Kris

by bullhockey on Oct 31, 2008 11:08 PM CDT reply actions

It's interesting

I think Sam Smith hits the nail on the head with the new media vs. old media arguments. Regarding your question about “boycotting” or whatever, part of the problem now is that the actual factual information content of “the news” is much more widely available in the past.

Like Sam says, you used to be able to get your facts mostly from the News. A gameday recap. Now you can get that from 30 different places. And 30 more offer analysis and opinion on basically the same set of facts.

Sam Smith brings slightly more to bear because, as he points out, he’s connected. So his analysis and opinion has a lot going for it. But what aree those 30 different places competing on?

Basically they have access to the same facts and can be imagined to simply package them up differently into opinions and themes. Not necessarily out of a calculated attempt to be biased, but because they’re interpreted differently. And so readers with different tastes are going to go where they feel the most comfortable.

The end result, I think, is that there’s a much greater quantity of high-quality information out there, and certainly much more high-quality analysis and opinion. The potential downside is that everything gets somewhat balkanized. People can get over this by going and reading the places they don’t feel as comfortable, but this is difficult even when we’re talking about sports. When it comes to something like Politics (where the same dynamic is going on) it can be near impossible.

Another potential downside is that there might be a systematic tendency to undermine the primarily fact collecting agencies (say the Chicago Trib) if it sees it needs to compete with the opinion-makers by offering commentary on everything (cough… KC). In other words, they destroy their credibility, and then we stop believing the factual content that comes out. Which leaves us with no facts and a vast sea of opinion and analysis.

Of course, if a guy like Sam Smith starts blogging, he brings facts to the table through new media, but so far those sorts of guys are relatively few and far between (in politics you could maybe look at a guy like Michael Yon). And not every newspaper is going to screw things up as bad as the Chicago Tribune.

(I’ve devoted quite a bit of academic research to this subject, so it’s near and dear to my heart)

by Sports2 on Nov 1, 2008 8:18 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

Excellent. Thank you for a well thought out post.

by bullhockey on Nov 1, 2008 9:34 AM CDT up reply actions

If you have the commentary

then you can make a fanpost. the fanpost/fanshot disctintion isn’t as much meant to prioritize the content but to give different outlets depending on if you want to add commentary or not.

-management.

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 2, 2008 5:50 PM CST up reply actions

Great Question, I noticed the Derrick Rose thing too and thought the same thing

wondered why he never really answered the question though.

by Tobo on Nov 1, 2008 12:03 PM CDT reply actions

He doesn't want it to look like he stole his first idea in his new writing forum...

…from a popular website. If he says he did take it, then he loses a lot of credibility (not believability). If he says he didn’t, I’d guess most wouldn’t believe him. It’s no-win. Except for how he did it.

by tyger1147 on Nov 1, 2008 7:41 PM CDT up reply actions

It wasn't that original in the first place

so no harm done, Sam!

Cameron Watkins, go to heck!

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 2, 2008 5:49 PM CST up reply actions

I like what Bulls.com is doing

this is the first year they actually have original content. And in addition to Smith, it seems like the Swirsk is enthusiastic about writing, if anything :)

For instance, Sam had a game reaction up late Saturday night: it included some notes on the game, full quotes from Rose, and even an anecdote about how the press corps handles the Bulls locker room lately. It’s neat stuff, and stuff this site can’t provide.

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 2, 2008 5:58 PM CST reply actions

I didn't know about that blog, just the updates they had on bulls.com

Thanks

by Tobo on Nov 2, 2008 10:31 PM CST up reply actions

Maybe Sam wasn't kidding about having independence

http://bullsblogs.typepad.com/chicago_bulls_blog/2008/11/halloween.html

Even on the national TV broadcast, former coach Jeff Van Gundy was noting Kirk Hinrich’s poor body language as he ENTERED the game for the first time. The camera would catch Hinrich walking back into plays after he’d miss shots or was arguing with non calls. It does begin to raise the question of whether he can deal with or accept the backup guard role behind Derrick Rose.

Wow, you don’t usually see that kind of pointed criticism on an official team website. Kudos to the Bulls for allowing it.

by Big D on Nov 3, 2008 6:20 AM CST reply actions