People read sports blogs because they want to keep up with the teams, getting much more information from a good blog than they would from their daily newspaper.  Radio and TV sports news are the waste of time.

http://uoflcardgame.com

Brian @ MGo is one of the best w/o a doubt. He does an excellent job and it would open anybody’s eyes to what independent fan-powered media can be. And the great comment from Evan about MGO nails how unique and valuable partisan sports blogs can be.

I’m biased, but in that same vein, you should also check out SB nation – http://www.sbnation.com/blogs – we have a network of 228 communities with intelligent fans writing about their favorite teams every day. And they wear their bias on their sleeve. When you say:

“If I ran a sports news operation, I’d want my own absolutely partisan Brian Cook writing about the biggest team we cover.”

That is exactly what Yahoo! Sports, CBS Sports and USA Today thought of all the SB Nation communities. And that’s why you find our headlines promoted on all their team pages.

I’m sorry, I understand this is a harsh reality for people who have spent much of their adult life doing this, but most sports writing is just boring. If people want to compete, write in a manner that is interesting, not just quick and information filled.

It is written by a Michigan fan for Michigan fans. I am a Michigan fan, so I like it. But it doesn’t pretend to speak beyond the fanbase. I would expect sports journalism to be neutral about its audience and speak to anyone who picked up the paper. You can’t understand mgoblog unless you are a committed Michigan fan.

What I appreciate about mgoblog is that the newspaper recaps the game with some additional insight, maybe postgame quotes or more info about an injury. But I’ve watched the game and I know what went on in the game. The next day coverage by newspapers tells me mostly what I already know. Mgoblog does not tell me what I saw in the game, but why I saw it. It’s at a comfortable level that a committed but casual fan like myself can get some insight into how a complicated thing like a football play takes place, and why it is successful or a failure.

But aside from the in-depth play-by-play analysis, Brian offers a incredibly well-written opinion on each game that reflects my own opinion of the game. It is the same reason I like reading Hendrik Hertzberger (although I am sure I am misspelling his name) in the New Yorker – his opinion reflects my own, but is so sharply written that I feel even better for having that opinion. Brian writes what I’m thinking and makes me feel better that I’m thinking it. I have not found a sports columnist (so we’re talking opinion rather than reporting) that can do the same thing for me, so I’ll keep following mgoblog.

I am particularly appreciative for mgoblog because I trust it, and therefore trust the opinion it provides to me that I am not qualified to develop on my own. From reading about Michigan this year, I know the linebackers were a disappointment. I would never know this from reading the papers or listening to the commentary during the game. I would never be able to form that opinion from my own observations. But since Brian thinks it, as well as the additional commenters whose reputations are in good standing on mgoblog, I can think it, too. And when Hopson, the linebackers coach, gets hired away by Memphis, I can feel relieved. And then I can go to mgoblog, read Brian’s take on it, and feel even more relieved.

In short, mgoblog makes me feel like a better, smarter Michigan fan. I can’t find any other source of journalism that does that for me. And that’s why mgoblog will continue to thrive.

Evan

http://mgoblog.com/content/long-mcfarlin-thread

Cook likes to criticize professional journalists, but of course if one ever did that, not only would Cook be all over him, the journalist would never work again.

I much prefer the work of professionals to the bloggers.