About This Blog
29Slim: How’s work?
TheBaron: If it were better I wouldn’t be chatting with you.
29Slim: Point taken.
TheBaron: Have you seen all of this Buzz Bissinger stuff on the interwebs today?
S: Yeah. I really think we need to start our own sports blog.
B: Great. Let’s do it. Pick a name.
S: You’re not even going to ask why?
B: Nope. Pick a name.
S: But I had a whole lecture planned out. I was going to blow your mind with insights about Buzz making a complete fool of himself on TV, but how he made a couple points that were, you know, actually relevant.
B: Good observation. Now pick a name. And a color scheme.
S: I hate you.
B: Fine. What points did you think were, you know, actually relevant?
S: All that talk about the negative feel of a lot of blogs. And I thought, “The Baron and I ought to have a sports blog that has different standards.” Notice I didn’t say “higher.”
B: I did notice. Because that would be disrespectful to blogs that we frequent.
S: Indeed. It was a carefully chosen word.
B: You’re very proud of yourself.
S: I wonder what kind of reception it would get. It might be hard to get people reading a cleaner blog. Dirt sells.
But we wouldn’t have to be all sunshine on the blog. I think a better mix would be a good idea. It does seem that some bloggers are just online paparazzi trying to get dirt on athletes and trash them. Not enough substance.
B: Substance?
S: Yeah, like social commentary.
B: Okay, but couldn’t you call posting pictures of Matt Leinart with 18-year-olds and a beer bong “social commentary?”
S: You could. I don’t disagree with that being news, or commentary on society. But maybe if we blogged about why it’s social commentary and let other blogs post the pictures and do the trashing, then we’d be different.
I don’t think everything can be a heavy discussion mind you. That would minimize our audience.
B: Good point. We wouldn’t want to minimize the audience we don’t have.
S: No. Never. In fact, let’s maximize it.
B: You are, right now, appearing to be less of an idiot than you were 5 minutes ago.
So now that you’ve made me do a complete 360 on this blog thing—pick a name.
S: Jackass.
B: While that would fit the authors, I’m not sure that fits the tone we’d be going for on the blog.
S: You, not the blog. But that reminds me. We should leave the cursing out. While Buzz was dropping his F-bombs he made another good point about vulgarity. We should try to keep it clean. Whaddya think?
B: Henry Abbott doesn’t cuss, and he’s successful. Even though cussing is funny sometimes. Plus, cussing would, again, take away from the tone we’d attempt to have, right?
Okay, can we pick a name yet?
S: No need. I got one: “Running the Point: Sports blogging with a purpose.” Or something along those lines. But funnier. Because that sounds really boring. And arrogant. And…
B: Wow.
S: What?
B: I didn’t expect the first name you came up with to be any good.
S: I have been thinking about it for a few days. It’s basketball related—my favorite sport, and gets across the idea that we’re trying to be a little different. Anyway, I thought it might be okay.
B: It’s really good.
S: Don’t sound so surprised.
B: So good that it’s taken.
S: What?!? … Crap! By a Canadian, too! What a load.
That’s alright. It’s like karma for Canada.
B: Wha?
S: Yeah. Dirk Nowitski won the ’07 MVP when Nash clearly should have. So Canada loses an MVP but gains a good blog—or at least a good name.
B: So you’re okay with this guy being quicker than you in thinking up a clever name for a blog because Nash got jobbed?
S: Whatever. It probably took that guy a month to come up with that name. It took me 5 minutes. I just started thinking about it later than he did.
B: So what other names do you have?
S: I kind of had all my eggs in that one.
B: Good planning.
S: What if we blogged like we chat? A back-and-forth thing.
B: And we pick a name that has to do with passing a ball back and forth.
S: We could name it after our favorite PG of all time.
B: Terry Porter?
S: Sure.
B: We can’t name our blog after someone else. I hate to say we can learn something from a Pearl Jam, but remember that they tried the name Mookie Blaylock? That stuff just doesn’t float.
S: You know, I make coming up with ideas look a lot easier than it is. You come up with something.
B: 2-Man Weave.
S: Crap. I like it.
B: Yeah, but do you get the subtle, intelligent humor?
S: Like a 3-man weave. You can’t run one with 2.
B: You’re brighter than I thought.
S: No, it’s just not that subtle or intelligent.
It has to be 2manweave.com though, because twomanweave looks like womanweave with a T.
B: Good call.
So you’re sure you want to do this blog thing, ’cause it’s $9 to register the domain. And I don’t go throwing around 9-spots with reckless abandon.
S: You want my credit card #?
B: That’d be great.
(Originally posted 5-7-08.)