According to Detpack, anyone who deletes comments is a hack, untrustworthy, a fraud, blah blah blah
"Unlike him (me -- foo), I will let his comments on my post stay. I do not delete in
my own work. I value everyone's opinion even yours and Dan's."
-- Socal
15 minutes later in that very same thread, he deleted 2 of my comments (soon to delete another). I guess he's a hack too! Then, as an excuse for deleting my comments despite agreeing with what you said about deleting comments, he cites his right to delete anyone's comments that he wants to as a valid reason why he could delete mine.
EXACTLY! I could care less if my comments are deleted. That's why there's a delete option there. I can't wait to see Detpack's rationalization for why it's ok and perfectly fine for "trustworthy" socal to delete comments but not me. Maybe because I speak the truth and socal only speaks sugar-coated quid pro quo fluff? Maybe that's why Detpack doesn't like me??? HMMM
He admitted himself that he's only 15 years old. The rules state you have to be 18 years old to even enter the competition. So to all of you who call ME the ####, look to the guy who just took 1 finalist spot away from someone else out of however many thousands who would have been legally eligible to compete.
Saw someone else post one of these a couple days ago... but theirs was god awful boring and completely inaccurate. Figured this community deserves the priviledge of hearing the TRUTH, not a bunch of brown-nosing fluff.
arabchickencurry - You should change that title on your latest blog --- "Vick is finally out of second chances"..You can replace "Vick" with "arabchickencurry" and it would fit just perfectly. It's a good thing you learned how to add pictures to your blog. Now you actually have something to fill up your page that people will even have any interest in glancing at. You know you're having a hard time filling up a blog when you have to blow up nearly all of your pictures to gigantic proportions just so they fill as much space as possible. CUT
Crookdnose - If you win this competition, it proves that sportswriters need nothing more than the ability to think up unoriginal, humorless lists over and over. Your most recent blog is about "5 things that need to be implemented to avoid disaster." Here's "1 thing that needs to occur to avoid having this contest look idiotic" ... You being cut.
DC_Domer - You managed to get a chance to interview players by lying to the team and telling them you're a journalist when the reality of the matter is that you're just another layman sports fan who could very possibly just be looking for his/her chance to knife some players up. Gotta love that post-9/11 security ....for the team that plays in the nation's capital no less... CUT
DrMidnight - It's too bad I didn't read your posts at midnight. At least then the light would have been low enough for me to not have been able to read your posts and be subjected to the horror. CUT
Detpack - Here's a summary of how Detpack's blogs usually start.... "blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah ..................... blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.........Ok! Now that I got the introduction out of the way, here's my piece!" Does anyone else in this contest use 4 paragraphs for the preambles to their posts? CUT
Forgotten_Fan - Your name says it all. At least you have a realistic outlook on your chances in this competition. CUT
HiPlainsDrifter - Too bad there aren't any mesas out there in the stix. Maybe you could have drifted right over the edge of one and spared me the torture of reading your ramblings. CUT
Jdeppa - Your assignment post was, "Another fruitless attempt at objectivity." What it turned out to be was a fruitless attempt at sobriety. You had to have popped a few corks before starting that one. I felt drunk just trying to make it through that mess. CUT
Jon Mano - Yet another guy who titles his posts perfectly..."No one's talking about him..." You got that right. CUT
Jwatters - It's a good thing you know how to add pretty pictures and graphics into your posts, because if I'm not mistaken, your blog would be about 2 sentences long if you edited it to include only the total amount of meaningful words on your page. CUT.
BradyBlog - Nice job figuring how to put those "blog navigation" links at the bottom of your page...unfortunately I was disappointed to find that those navigation links didn't navigate me away from your blog. CUT
Mustangj17 - Mr. "The Gunn Show." Do you have a gun? Could you point it at my head and pull the trigger? The only way I can relieve myself of the pain of reading your meandering, pointless blogs. CUT.
The_Doc - Do you think you're cool because you call yourself "The Doc" ? If you are a doctor, why can't you cure the sickness that is your blog? CUT
Norcalfella - It's unfortunate that Norcal's blog is "Norcalfella Unfiltered" I much would have preferred the filtered version...as in the version that filters out every blog Norcal ever writes. CUT
Sportstraveler - I think, after long hours of study, I've finally broken down traveler's complex post format... Paragraph #1 --> Picture (or 2) with bold headliner next to it --> 3-5 paragraphs" I like how you stick to what you think works for you and don't deviate from it one bit...I don't like how you are obviously a horrible judge of what works for you. CUT
tyhildenbrandt - You recently wrote a post thanking people who
voted for you....I can't tell what's funnier...the fact that you
thought the Rose Bowl would be a bust, that you thought USC would blow
out Texas, or that you think people voted for you. CUT
1 ) Who will be the person who gets the first comment by Socalsportsfan where he doesn't end his comment with a plug for his own site. "Take a look at my blog I think you'll like it," has to be socal's new most-used phrase, topping his previous favorite, "Would you like fries with that?" ... I'm not kidding. Look at every single comment Socal has left people. EVERY ONE! It's incredible. He must have it saved in a notepad file somewhere so he can open it and just copy and paste the sentence rather than having to type it out over and over.
2 ) When will Tiffany (a.k.a. Darren) start posting softcore porn again? If she doesn't start posting pictures of nearly nude models again, everyone might start to think she's not as great of a writer as they thought while she was doing so. Is it just me who was observant enough to notice this, or did anyone else realize that the ONLY pic of herself that wasn't a professionally taken photograph of a model modelling showed her with a completely different haircut and hair color than both of "her" model pictures??! Anyone ever wonder why she never posts any pictures that can clearly show her face? Maybe because she doesn't want people to be able to compare her real photos to her model photos? Face it you horndogs got your rocks off to the mental image of what is almost certainly a fat, balding 45 year old man who hasn't shaved down there since Michael Jackson was black.
3 ) How long will it take before Detpack posts a comment to this blog pleading for me to just give him some acceptance. I've never seen anyone crave the acceptance and praise from another, random person more than Detpack, except for maybe O.J. Simpson. Even O.J. would think Detpack's pleading is girly. Of course, he is a comic, and you know how that goes... no one in the world is more insecure than a comic so he certainly fits the stereotype.
4 ) When will the person responsible for the fake judge post stand up and admit it was him?? I think whoever did it just might be voted President of the U.S. by this gladhanding community so I don't really know why he's holding back.
5 ) I've already seen suggestions that the finals should include 32. I've already seen suggestions for even as many as 64. I'm wondering when the blog is going to come where someone finally just puts finally puts it all out there -- EVERYONE should be in the finals!
I'm reading through all of these finalists blogs and I swear I don't
think half of them understood the assignment and what's even funnier,
there are people clammoring to give them all praise and pat them on the
back for a job well done lol.....look at the assignment....PREVIEW
a game! Not give your opinion on what the media is covering too
much... not give your opinion on which team has cooler looking
cheerleaders...not give your opinion on which stories should be stories
and which ones shouldn't be...not talk about the history of the
coaches' careers and nothing else...
Everyone has an opinion.
People don't need to hear another opinion from a journalist. When
people go to a newspaper or magazine to read a preview o####ame, they
go to read what a person who works professionally in the world of
sports has to say on the teams, point out some things that a layman
wouldn't necessarily recognize, and talk about strategies and what
might happen to counter those strategies....that's what the judges are
trying to get the finalists to emulate...a WRITER (gee go figure in a
contest labeled the next great SPORTSWRITER)... not a freakin beatnik with a keyboard.
I just can't believe there are people posting comments like "Great job!" and "you're the best in this competition by far!" to an article that spends literally the entire time discussing why the blogger is bored with the media hyping the game up too far. That's not a freakin preview o####ame! That's an opinion!
Look at Detpack's for example. Under the "Giants offense" section, he spends the entire time talking about how kids must have teased "Tiki" as a kid, and how to be annoying at football games. WOW. The "Defense" section is even BETTER!! He spends one single sentence saying "Strahan just seems to be getting better with age" (wow such a profound in-depth statement!!), and then he goes on to say, "and we all know what #56 can do on the field" !!!! LOL!!! In a PREVIEW o####ame, he simply assumes the reader knows the numbers of the players by heart, and he assumes the reader knows everything about the players, how good or bad they are and why!!! LOL!! Why even write a preview if you're just going to assume the reader knows everything about the game???
After that little gem, absolutely every single word of the rest of the paragraph is discussing Detpack's lack of knowledge of sports. Ok, correct me if I'm wrong here, but maybe it isn't the best idea to announce to the world you're not exactly fluent in all things sports in a SPORTS WRITING CONTEST
LMFAO!! And to top it all off, people write "Great article!" to it afterwards!! OMG I am ROLLING here! LOL! Detpack's blog has to be the funniest one of all, but for all the WRONGreasons!
Tyhildenbrandt discussing a freaking MOVIE for 2 paragraphs. He spends literally half of his article talking about how the media is hyping up the game too much, and how the game won't ever live up to the hype! Want to hear some amazing, eye-popping numbers?
Ty's article: 12 total paragraphs
Paragraph Ty actually started talking about the actual GAME he intended to write about: 9
LOL!! And there are people commenting on his page that he's blowing everyone else out of the water!! LOL!!
Sportstraveler writes all about the 2 coaches in the rose bowl and their coaching records and history and blah blah blippity blah... everything he can possibly talk about EXCEPT THE GAME. There is no analysis. No break down. No previews. No NOTHING you cant find on google LOL. At least the public saved themselves here by not heaping ridiculous praise so far on him.
HiPlainsDrifter opens up the first half of his entire article by detailing the matchups between the CELEBRITIES, JEWELRY, and CHEERLEADERS who represent the two teams!!! WOW! Now there's a match-up I'd buy ESPN the Mag to be able to read every week!! I can't WAIT to see what he thinks about Compton College's "gats" vs. East L.A.'s rifles!!
When Jon Mano's not simply regurgitating Roethlisberger stats in his blog, he's writing "3 keys" for each team which include such incredibly enlightening insights as... "The line has to play outstanding," and, "Make plays," and, " convert 3rd downs." Really??? I thought a key to winning might be to punt a lot !!! Mano reminds me of those retarded sideline interviews they do at half time.
"So, uh, coach Fox, what do you think you guys need to do to get back in this game?
"Well, Suzie, we just need to tighten up, start playing Panther football like we know we can play Panther football. We need to score more in the 2nd half, try to limit them from scoring, convert some more 3rd downs while getting them off the field on 3rd down, and if we do those things, we have a shot."
AMAZING
There are more but I think my point is getting across here...am I the only one that sees this here?? I mean really...maybe I should change my name on here to Voice - of - Reason. This is why public voting contests are a sham. The public doesn't have expertise in the field they're voting on, so they have no flippin clue what's actually good and what isn't. It's like having a bunch of beauticians judge an olympic figure skating event. They'll give the girl who dances around the ring and looks real graceful and has a neat costume a perfect 10, but they'll give the guy who performs a quadruple axel a 9.4 because his shoelace came untied during his routine. Quite obviously the vast majority of people here have no clue what's good writing and what isn't if they're telling the people I've listed (and a few others I don't have the patience to list) that they did a good job! They didn't even do the assignment correctly, but they did a "good job"! LOL!!!
There are some twits on here who think the best blogger on the site is a guy who can write a couple stupid jokes that make them laugh (detpack), despite the fact that he clearly didn't even come close to doing what he was supposed to do.
This reminds me of Animal House. When Jim Belushi and another guy were having a debate to be judged by the students, Belushi won because when the other guy was asked a question, he answered it with an insightful opinion. When Belushi realized he couldn't answer the question, he just turned to the audience and did something really gross and class clownish to the students, and they all awarded him the winner of the debate. Did he win the debate? Hell - freakin - NO. That's EXACTLY what's going on here. Detpack just turned to the audience after he realized he didn't know what the hell he was doing, and then he stuffed a gerbil down his pants to make everyone laugh, and it worked!! At least 5 people were tricked into thinking the article was great!
FINALISTS: GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND PAY ATTENTION PUBLIC: START REALIZING WHAT THE HELL ACTUALLY CONSTITUTES A WRITER
THE END
P.S. I thought about it, and I think that if I make a post all about criticism, people aren't going to take what I'm saying seriously. So just to show that I'm not just posting criticism for the sake of criticizing, here are the bloggers who I saw that actually got it right in their entries
A) arabchickencurry -- right idea on his although the format could have been a little better
B) Forgotten_Fan -- very good write up
C) Mustangj17 (although too much stat regurgitation, not enough analysis)
D) The_Doc *
E) Norcalfella
* The_Doc has the best one by far in this round out of those who have put in entries. Did exactly what a game preview is supposed to accomplish. Considering this guy posted his entry almost 10 hours before the 2nd entry went up, I really can't fathom how so many of these finalists could have done missed the mark so badly. You guys had a freakin blue print to what you were supposed to do here posted up just 3 hours after the judges posted the assignment, and yet you still obviously had no clue what you were doing. Now, in my other rant, I criticized Doc heavily, and IMO rightfully so, but I'll give him his ups when he deserves it too, and this time he knocked the ball out of the park.
** I was going to include jdeppa, because I think he's on the right track with his, but ultimately I decided he was doing too much "fan predicting" and not enough analyzing... I.E. he repeatedly says things like, "Smith will score 1 TD" and "Foster will gain 100 yards." It's nice to play the fantasy football predictor game in the playoffs, but a game preview talks about not only what could happen, but also WHY and HOW it could happen. Jdeppa didn't touch enough on why or how. I think he'll make it to the next round though, and I think he'll get it right the next time.
