10 Questions with Mitchell of Juiced Sports Blog

1. Describe your blog in five sentences or less.
It’s a sports blog with three writers who all try to be funny. I try to be controversial as well, and some of my posts like “Virginia Tech: Not America’s Team” have really pissed some people off, but that’s just from me expressing my opinion. We try not to do the same damn thing as every other sports blog, so a lot of the posts are “out there.” I often mix sports with politics, for example.

2. Link us to one post from your blog that best defines who you are.
Here’s the Virginia Tech post: Stop Supporting Those Trendy Causes. I was sick of ESPN commentators talking about how VT’s football team needed to win to rebuild the school. The massacre was terrible, but it had nothing to do with sports! Even worse, VT was playing LSU, a team that ESPN crowned “America’s Team,” after Katrina, and New Orleans was still in bad shape, so wouldn’t LSU still need to win to rebuild LSU? According to ESPN, anyway. Unfortunately, the comments didn’t get imported when I moved from Blogger to Wordpress.

3. What sets you apart from other bloggers?
Just look at the post above. Not many other bloggers would write that even if they thought it. Also, that post is pretty long. All of our posts are longer than regular blog posts. I don’t like reading a 2 paragraph post that just links back to a news story, and I think my readers would like more as well. That’s why JSB writes long and original content.

4. When and how did you first discover blogging?
When I was like 13, five years ago, I read Maddox.xmission.com and thought he was hilarious, so I decided to start my own blog and found Blogger. I didn’t update it very often, but then I started writing sports for various websites, then I started my sports blog last year when the fantasy football site that paid me went under. I saw that you could make money from a blog through John Chow, so then I started my own blog.

5. What is your biggest pet peeve related to blogging or the internet?
Blogs that don’t add value. Often you will see a blog that has one or two paragraphs about a big story that everyone is already talking about then it will just link to the news source. Great, I already know about that story. I got into the blogging biz to entertain my readers and give them something to think about. I hope that each post they read is worth their time.

6. Name one plugin, blogging widget, or service that you can’t live
without.
Is StumbleUpon a service? They offer the best quality visitors of any social media site. Their visitors stay longer and view more pages than average visitors, and the traffic continues coming forever, though it dies down after a few days of Stumbling.

7. If you could choose anyone, living or dead, to write a guest post for your blog, who would it be and why?
Frank Deford. He went into journalism writing news but then he started doing a lot of sports writing when he started writing for Sports Illustrated. He comes from a better time when journalism had values. Sports writers traveled with the team and respected the athletes. They wouldn’t take a single quote and twist it out of context for instant gratification.

8. How has blogging made you a better person?
It has taught me a lot about marketing and promoting. Not sure how that makes me a “better person,” but it is good experience for future jobs or whatever I end up doing. I don’t think blogging has made me a “better person,” I just try to be as good of a person as I can be day in and day out.

9. What are your tips for becoming a better blogger?
Unfortunately, it is not always true that content is king. Marketing is king. You can have the best content, but if no one knows you have it, you won’t build readers. It’s like if John Chow writes a post on the side of a tree in the forest, will anyone read it? Well, now that I invoke John Chow, now, he doesn’t have good content either, does he? He used to.

10. Name one great blog that you read on a regular basis. What makes it
unique?
Mixed Market Arts with Colin LaHay. It’s another make money blog, but LaHay is young, and his blog is new, so he still has good content. He doesn’t update every day, but that means that when he does update he usually has good content. For example, he has found a lot of places to build links that I haven’t heard of anywhere else.

10 Questions with Hibs Blogger of Hibs Blog

1. Describe your blog in five sentences or less.
News and views about Hibernian Football Club. It’s been running a short while now and is getting more popular every day. I try to update it as regularly as possible to keep it fresh and interesting.

2. Link us to one post from your blog that best defines who you are.
George Foulkes’ Buffoonery

3. What sets you apart from other bloggers?
My subject matter is unique. There are no other active Hibs blogs.

4. When and how did you first discover blogging?
Having read other people’s badly written rants, I eventually decided to do my own.

5. What is your biggest pet peeve related to blogging or the internet?
Spam, spammers, not having enough readers, the usual stuff really.

6. Name one plugin, blogging widget, or service that you can’t live without.
Wordpress Sitemap Generator – geeky huh?

7. If you could choose anyone, living or dead, to write a guest post for your blog, who would it be and why?
Franck Sauzee – Hibs legend. Selfish reasons, it would mean I might get to speak to the great man.

8. How has blogging made you a better person?
It keeps me out of the pub.

9. What are your tips for becoming a better blogger?
Write regularly and don’t be scared to promote your blog in any way you can.

10. Name one great blog that you read on a regular basis. What makes it unique?
The Tears of a Clown – unique because I know him personally.

I most likely run the risk of upsetting a lot of people reading this post with the above statement, but what the heck. Football runs in my blood, so I can take the abuse.

My love of football probably explains why I spend a lot of my daily web surfing time reading football news. I suppose it’s an addiction of mine. Some smoke, others drink, I consume football.

There are a couple of landmark sites which I do not miss in my daily reading, but I do tend to wander off and try and find new sources of information from time to time. During one of such information gathering binges, I ran into the EPL Talk blog.

This being a blog about football, what could I do? Once an addict gets within touching distance of the material they crave, there is no turning back.

As can be seen once the blog loads, it is run by The Gaffer. An interesting nickname. For those of you in the dark, gaffer is a common term used to describe a football manager or boss.

The Gaffer, born in Wales and currently residing in Florida, USA has been following football for over 30 years. He is a journalist by trade and “spends his time analyzing the influence of the Premier League worldwide”. The Premier League – of course – is the top flight football league in England.

I spent a bit of time reading the various posts, as one would, and I was struck by the sheer quality of his writing. The guy is obviously a pro. The posts are a pleasure to read, informative yet to the point. The ease with which this guy conveys his thoughts is absolutely amazing. At times I felt I was present at the football games he was describing.

In addition, I really like the fact that The Gaffer takes the time to regularly update his blog. Daily updates are the best way to keep both Google and your readers happy, not to mention that content is king in every respect.

The EPL Talk blog is a part of the EPL Talk network which provides news, chat and other features which I won’t go into at this time.

Having praised The Gaffer and his blog this far, I would feel guilty to walk away now without pointing out some of the deficiencies I noticed while reading the EPL Talk blog.

I feel that such wonderful content deserves a bit of support on the visual side. I would recommend a cool banner with attractive fan/stadium/game shots to add a bit of colour to the place. The blog theme could also use a bit of work. The left hand column has no left padding making the text there look messy. The social bookmarks for each post are of different sizes and could be made to look a lot neater. There are many plugins that could be used for this purpose.

In all fairness I also have to point out that there are positives on the visual side as well. I love the fact that the text is of a solid size and easy to read. The posts are spaced out and most posts are accompanied with an image making the content more appealing.

Overall, I had a fun time reading The Gaffer’s blog. If you love football or if you want to marvel at some really good writing, head on over to the EPL Talk blog and pay The Gaffer a visit. I am sure he will appreciate it.

PS. To The Gaffer – if you are reading this, I hope you take my visual suggestions into consideration.

10 Questions with Karah of Diary of a Track Bunny

1. Describe your blog in five sentences or less.
Diary of a Track Bunny is about me and the things that I love most: NASCAR, music, television, and movies. It’s also following my senior year in college and my journey to work in the NASCAR industry.

2. Link us to one post from your blog that best defines who you are.
Favre, Backstreet, and Screw the World!

3. What sets you apart from other bloggers?
I’m a little wacky, creative, and sometimes just plain silly but in a serious way… if that makes sense.

4. When and how did you first discover blogging?
Hmm around 2000 through Livejournal but this February I started my blog and finally
stuck with it.

5. What is your biggest pet peeve related to blogging or the internet?
people (trolls) attacking bloggers.

6. Name one plugin, blogging widget, or service that you can’t live without.
Wordpress in general… LOVE it.

7. If you could choose anyone, living or dead, to write a guest post for your blog, who would it be and why?
Tony Stewart, because he’s way funnier than me and I would love to know what he would write about.

8. How has blogging made you a better person?
It’s made me be more open online.

9. What are your tips for becoming a better blogger?
Keep writing, even if you don’t have anything interesting to say because if you stop blogging, your site dies.

10. Name one great blog that you read on a regular basis. What makes it unique?
jenn.nu. Jenn seems really nice and she’s like me, not afraid to share her opinions.

1. Describe your blog in five sentences or less.
My blog is a training diary first and foremost. While it is fundamentally a place for me to document my training and progress in BJJ, it is also a place for me to celebrate the success of our school and of my friends. Over the months that I’ve been blogging, I was pleasantly surprised that it has also become a way to connect with other martial artists out there on the interweb, and has served as an introduction into a diverse field of blogs completely unrelated to martial arts.

2. Link us to one post from your blog that best defines who you are.

Martial Arts and Promotion

3. What sets you apart from other bloggers?
You never know what you’re going to get. Whether it’s the occasional rant or the odd movie review, I like to think that I have a unique perspective on things. I ask you, where else can you find a a haiku combining both martial arts and flatulence?

4. When and how did you first discover blogging?
I really had no idea what blogging was about until my coach suggested to us all that we keep a training log. I didn’t want to keep it on paper, and thought that blogging would be a good way to share my ups and downs with my family. This was when I discovered how many other blogs were out there…more than 50 million according to Google!

5.What is your biggest pet peeve related to blogging or the internet?
My biggest pet peeve is when people start blogging and really peak my interest, and then stop posting…no explanation. One day, you’re reading, leave a comment and then 4 months later reluctantly delete the shortcut. It’s like starting a good book, but the author quit half way through.

6. Name one plugin, blogging widget, or service that you can’t live without.
Statcounter. I’ve discovered more good blogs from backtracking on those that have found mine than any other way. Statcounter has also allowed me to get a sense of who I’m reaching and how.

7. If you could choose anyone, living or dead, to write a guest post for your blog, who would it be and why?
Helio Gracie is a co-founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I’d learn Portuguese just to read his post if he would write an article for me with practical advice to beginning students.

8. How has blogging made you a better person?
The discipline involved has really helped. While I have plenty of opinions, the discipline related to blogging regularly and documenting my training has really helped. I also find it valuable to track my progress. We often set goals and achieve them, but it’s nice to be able to go back and mark one’s progress on a virtual timeline.

I think it’s also made me a little better looking. Wait…that’s shallow. I mean smarter. I think I’m smarter as a result of blogging. Is that shallow, too? Shoot…now I’m conflicted.

So, to sum up, blogging has made me more disciplined…and conflicted.

9. What are your tips for becoming a better blogger?
Well, I’m not necessarily the guy to ask. The blogs I like are the ones where the author provides regular content and doesn’t lose sight of his or her audience. Write about that for which you have a passion. Because as I mentioned before, if you’re not REALLY interested in it, you will become bored and then stop posting…making me cry into my chocolate milk late at night wondering why you’ve abandoned me.

10. Name one great blog that you read on a regular basis. What makes it unique?

Brain Cheese

Linda, the author, is an inspiration to me. Her blog is a chronicle of her battle against MS and a general outlet for her peronal…let’s call them ramblings (with love). She is funny, creative, supportive and a source of strength and inspiration to everyone who reads her blog.