I want to apologize to the first round of eliminated writers: arabchickencurry, Forgotten_fan, jdeppa, and mbrady. The email that you all received informing you that you didn't make the second round of the NGS was much too glib, especially considering how much time and effort you put into your Next Great Sportswriter blogs. The email DOES NOT reflect our appreciation for your participation, your great blogs, or your suggestions for improving our blog product and the NGS. It has been a learning process for us to engage in a conversation with you all, and we are doing our best. Sometimes, though, we make mistakes, and this was definitely one of them. I hope you accept my sincere apologies on behalf of the gang at FOXSports.com, and I hope you guys continue to blog and contribute to this passionate community that you've played a big part in growing! Kareem

Some good links from around the FOX Sports blogosphere (can anybody come up with a better name than "blogosphere"???)

• The Next Great Sportswriter judges have launched a blog. Check it out for tips on what they're looking for in the NGS contest.
• Jay pontificates on why there are so few female sports journalists, along with his picks for most likely females to win the NGS
• Jon asks whether you'd take steroids for $3M (good question--I don't think I would, but then, they wouldn't help me do my job better either!)
• Finally, Con Chapman has a great take on bringing beach volleyball to Iraq

Enjoy! I'm off to the Christmas Chanukah etc etc Holiday party! Kareem

So we've been heads down at the FOX yurt since we launched, working hard on a couple of new features. Before today, you could see all the posts on somebody's blog in a given category. For example, to see all the NFL posts on Brandon Petersen's excellent blog, you would go to: http://blogs.foxsports.com/BrandonPetersen/NFL. The new feature is at the top of this page, in the box that says "Blog Buzz". The box has a link to More NFL posts. Clicking this link takes you to: http://blogs.foxsports.com/category/NFL. This "More NFL Buzz" page shows you all the posts that have been categorized as "NFL" by every single FOX Sports blogger (currently 113 pages and counting--y'all are fanatics! Keep up the great work!) The beauty of this is that you can find all the posts on any subject you want. Just replace "NFL" in this address... http://blogs.foxsports.com/category/NFL ...with "NBA", or "Tony_Parker", or "Philadelphia_Eagles", and you'll see the FOX Sports bloggers' oeuvre for that category. It makes finding stuff you are interested in much easier. Cool. The second feature we're launching (it's a sneak peak--we're actually launching it tomorrow night) is on the FOX Sports story pages (for example, this one). In the top right part of the page, in the story tools section, there will be a link that says "Blog This". Clicking it will take you to your blog, with the FOX story you were reading all linked up, ready for your brilliant analysis. It's an easy way to join the conversation about stories you read here on FOX Sports. Enjoy these, and know there's a lot more to come! Kareem

If you're a registered member of Fox Sports Blogs, when you browse through other users' blogs, you'll come across an "Add to Favorites" button in the sidebar for each one.  In fact, even our blog has one, over there on the right.

When you click "Add to Favorites," you'll add the blog you're reading to the list of favorite blogs that's displayed on your own Fox Sports Blog.  That way, it's easy for you to find your favorite blogs again -- and you can show your readers which blogs you frequent.

Good question!

A blog is a personal publishing platform.

With talk radio, you have to wait for the DJ to answer your call before you can share your well-reasoned opinions about what coaches have their heads way up their behinds.

With a blog, you can tell the world -- instantly.

On FOXSports.com, your blog is your space. You can voice your thoughts on anything and everything. And when you share your blog with your friends, they'll be able to read what you have to say, and even to comment back to you.

And, of course, once you start reading other blogs from other guys here at FOX Sports, you'll probably want to blog about their blogs, and share your thoughts on the teams and players that they're discussing.