Admittedly I have been gone for a while. But, I think I left the blogoshere in very talented, capable hands. From… (I was going to start naming but knew I would forget so many of you that I thought it better to simply state the obvious: There are so many talented bloggers, it is actually difficult to read them all. Unless you are a high school kid who obviously has tons of free time to pontificate from their soapbox – in which case, you should have noticed the unbelievable creativity, thought and insight that has gone into so many posts.
Okay, you know what? Screw it. I am Cansecoing this blogoshpere: I’m naming names.
Tophatal - The African American Experience As Seen Through The Eyes Of A Brit !
EdClinchSaintHardiman - Clinch's History with the Super Bowl: An American Institution/Benchmark
Socal – The Legacy of Michelle Wie
Christopher Ross - Better Blogs? It's Like, Come On.
Norcalfella - Knockout round marches on without United States
Nooch - Northern California Dreaming
1steelerfan1 - "I'm Johnnie McGrath" - A Fictional Story
jgrace_12 - What Today is Really All About
UltraMegaOK1988 - Online Poker is Rigged, and I Have Evidence
Dudski - Sports Town Moves to Mayberry
I have missed so many – to those Bloggers, I apologize. I will, when time permits add to this list. I think a running total oughta do the trick in disproving, rather than proving, that the theory that good blogs and posts are hard to come by.
Each of us bloggers has an archive. Rick Reilly ain’t great all the time, either is Jason Whitlock, Tony Kornheiser or anyone else.
The notion that one blogger is so skilled with the ability to throw down mandates, so above reproach is ridiculous.
I understand high school gym class bravado.
I understand that reading Red Badge of Courage and then completing your shadow box can give one a huge sense of accomplishment.
I know how cool it is to write for the high school newspaper, reporting on the fat content of Wednesday’s pizza and how that is ground-breaking if not small town Watergate.
I understand the misguided words of youth.
Step back, work on your craft and unless you plan on working for the E! network, leave the bashing to Canseco and McGwire circa 1988.
Cansecoing?! No way, I'm totally calling Webster's to see if I can get that into the next edition of their dictionary. Don't worry, you'll get credit for it.
Seriously, that's funny.
And I agree with some of those posts you mention... definitely some good reads, and there are a bunch of good reads out there.
NSF, Thanks for the props man ! It's been a distinct pleasure to have read your work also ! But at this time of year it's hard to come up with something that'll captivate the audience within this forum. But it's great if we're all willing to give it a try. When we set about to get things going on that front. Why the long absence ? Please don't tell me you were working undercover for the CIA or some other non descript agency within the government ? If so then I don't need to know ! Check out my new piece under the guise of tophatal titled Thanks But No Thanks !
NorthSide - Agree totally, although I wouldn't include mine in that list. All I did was copy an existing work. I have to give the credit to Mr. Jefferson on that one. There's plenty of quality work on this site, and plenty of quality bloggers to go with it. The notion that a guy on the bottom of the heap would try to rise to the top like that is laughable. If anybody should be complaining about the quality, it's somebody who writes quality posts consistently.
I say, to each his own. Let people write and read what moves them.
Hey Northside, I watched Kicking and Screaming last night with the kids again, and thought of your avatar.
I agree wholeheartedly with your post and selections. I read Kendrick's post last night and then CR's today and I have tried to stay out of this, but on your post I can agree. Kendrick's initial post wasn't nearly as inflammatory as his remarks to certain commenters. I'll leave it at that, but nice work as always.
Let me list three of my favorites while I am at it,
Being a huge Helen Keller fan I just had to read this, only to realize it had nothing to do with Helen.
I'm not sure why someone feels the need to be critical of the entire sites skill set of writing, but we all control what is on our blogs and we all have opinions
You know what they say about opinions...
A minute mastery of the Queens English should be attained before casting stones at others.
I've read blogs from some of the younger bloggers recently, and they must have stopped teaching English after the 4th grade in some of these school systems.
The youth of this site need better representation.
Where is Northsider?
Damn, NSF has all the heavy hitters coming out of the woodwork.
Hey, what's NSF got that I don't?
And thank you kindly, socal. I respect that you didn't name yourself, but please know that in my book you always drop it like it's hot, my brother. Always a fan and never a hater.
I must say that I am also extremely disappointed. This blog has absolutely nothing to do with Helen Keller. And you just don't see enough Helen Keller blogs out there.
And the English language adds a new word to its 5 billion page dictionary: Cansecoing! It almost sounds oriental if you say it 10 times real fast!
Cansecoing = 1. to willfully out someone by name; to create a firecrotch in someone else's underwear. 2. the act of sticking a pointed needle into the buttocks of another human being male or female. 3. to ask for immunity but the inability to receive it. 4. to intentionally shrink one's own ball sac. 5. to make players look like morons in front of a Congressional Oversight Committee, ex: Rafeal Palmerio.
KP - thanks mate. I am going to look for that in the coming year. If emoticon can be a word, so can cansecoing..
Rampant my man - I would tell you, but I would have to rat you out to Selig... I mean Congress.
Socal - it was you who gave me that "moniker". My daughters watch and have already begged me to never coach their soccer team - when they get old enough to play that is.
You are right, his comments were far worse. The audacity in the piece is what first made me nuts. I too was not going to respond, but then i was wondering who I was kidding - of course I would!
Miracle, I apologize. There will be a screening/playing of "Read-a-long, Sing-a-long: Helen Keller" this evening at my house.
Lisa - thank you - that is very kind of you. Has anyone ever told you are the XX version of Socal? (I mean chromosomes for those gutter dwellers out there.) That is a compliment.
jgrace - I put you on the list, so you stay on the list - sorry mate, that's just the way it goes.
Nooch - ditto
Mean, I figured it out - you need to change your name to Moan Divine has a nice AVN Awards show nominee ring to it.
ShooterB - Wow, great to see you. Blast from the past. I have got to get your archive.
kp - no changes, I swear. It's just a really long title.
Miracle - that is a plan. Sometimes my job rocks. I am on the lap top on the deck right now drinking a LaCrosse Light, waiting on the margaritas - no hard stuff til 4:30 CT, in the sun, loving life.
Midnight - no worries mate - you're a 90 degree right angle, a given. Your piece on the Top 10 athletes not in the Hall of Fame, you wrote last December I think, is easily on the list.
NSF, you've been here as long as I have (Dec. 2005), and you don't think the quality of the blogs, and of the bloggers has decreased gradually (and significantly overall) since then?
In my opinion, it has. As I may or may not have mentioned on Kenrick's blog (one of mine got lost in cyberspace, a FOXSports trademark), this blogosphere has devolved into a high school clique.
Look through FlyingPig's posts for the roasts, and look at who comments. The same 10 or 15 people. Look at the blogger lists (like yours, for example) -- you name a lot of members of the clique (of which I don't consider myself a part of by choice).
I don't know if you were around when it happened, but FlyingPig plagiarized Ray Comfort (I've mentioned this too much, but plagiarism is one of the highest crimes in my book) and everyone rushed to his defense. They defended plagiarism.
Any blogosphere where the majority defends plagiarism is not a healthy blogosphere.
And back in early 2006 or so, there was healthy debate and respect for differing opinions. When the clique was formed, intolerance spawned. Check my politically-themed blogs from back then, and look at how respectful the debates are, and compare them to the debates that go on now.
nice read .. i agree 110 % about mr. thomas .. he had to be put in his place and knocked down a few pegs or two i honestly dont know how he could think he could make a blog like that and NOT have ppl respond .. total lack of respect man .. it's a shame it really is ..but he threw his hissy fit and he got excatly what he wanted people talking about him weither good or bad .. it's sad he had to stoop to that level and use shock value as a way to get noticed ..
All that I just wrote, however, has to do with the quality of the bloggers, not the blogs.
What blogs are best is a matter of personal opinions. Some enjoy top-10 lists; some enjoy long essays; some enjoy "quick hits" (like what Cuziffer has done), etc.
I will say the academic level of this blogosphere as a whole has gone down over the last year or so... but I have no tangible way to prove that. Just a hunch.
I think that, instead of getting offended by Kenrick's blog, prove him wrong. Write the best blog you've ever written. Challenge your blogging buddies to stop writing fluff pieces and show what they're made of. Make a valuable contribution to this blogosphere instead of whining when someone pokes their fingers in your chest and tells you to step up your game.
I consider myself a part of the group Kenrick challenges, even though I don't write my articles specifically to post on this blogosphere. I think I get lazy on my articles sometimes. Maybe I don't research things as well as I should. Maybe I have fallen into a rut of using the same words over and over. I have taken Kenrick's challenge to heart, and it doesn't matter to me how old he is, or how poor his grammar is. The kid has a good point.
Gr8one54 - Thanks for comment mate. I just don't get why shock value is, inherently, shocking anymore. It's like the car accident on the freeway - we have all seen more of these than we would like to count - but there they are, all the morons staring out their windows, slowing to 35.
Ultra - we are the old guard. I agree that the overall quality has gone down since inception. But, I say that with a caveat: the cliques you mention are what is brining this arena down to the lowest common demoninator. I am all for backing our buddies - I do it. I read my boys and girls that I enjoy most. But, I also make every attempt to read others as well.
By reading a select few we alienate so many.
I will do my best to answer the call and I applaud your doing so and prodding me - not sure I would have had you not called me out.
The percentage of quality posts is probably down from where it was when I first got here (May of '06), but I got kind of spoiled early on-the NGSII contest was going on, so I got to read a lot of good stuff right away.
There have been a high number of recent bloggers who don't have a lot to say, it seems, and with the added number of posts being thrown up daily, the quality ones naturally get pushed to the side quicker. The problem is that if you have to search a little harder to find your favorite writers, it makes it more time consuming to check out new writers who may be good also. I guess the answer is better use of time while on the site. Here's to spending more time reading/writing quality than wading through riff-raff. (riff-raff won't get bleeped, will it?)
To challenge the people who write on this site, you better be head and shoulders above the rest of the field. If you are not a cut above you may want to keep quiet and go about your business rather than getting caught up in what other bloggers on this site are doing.
I'm glad NSF is back just like the others who have been here since NGS I.
Has the writing gone down? I'd say the style has changed. It's less serious these days. But if you challenge the bloggers here to write better then the challenger better prove why he/she is all that. We don't have to prove ####
Ultra...you sound like the biggest whining cry baby of all time. YOU are the only one who EVER mentions the clique. Since you're the authority on who that is, and seem to be above their "cliquish" ways...why don't you name those members of the "clique". Holy #### dude...can you cry a little for crying out loud?!!! Kenrick is a good kid...we all know that. However, he didn't just try to call out bloggers...he made himself sound like blogger royalty..like he was the authority on what is a good or bad blog. Even you should know better than to think he has that ability. And YOU keep bringing up the fact that he is succoming to the "clique", whoever that may be. Get over yourself dude.
Everybody seems to be really into talking about blogs nowadays.
I'm new to this blogging thing, and to this portion of the site altogether, but my favorite blog without a doubt is xphoenix87's. Quality, quality, quality, work. A great read.
I saw Chris Ross' blog the other day and he had a really interesting style. I'll be checking out more of his work.
The one blog I check with regularity though is phoenix's.
Ultra...you're a liar...and that's plain and simple. I asked you to be a MAN and tell the truth..you decided that saving face was more important. And you obviously don't read enough blogs to see my comments...because there's another lie..."fatmaw can't comment without insulting"..that's funny. I sure seem to have more friends on this blogsite than you. And where did I insult you? The truth isn't insulting Ultra...once again, get over yourself...and try telling the truth from time to time...it's actually quite a good feeling!!
Funny stuff Ultra. You keep avoiding the issue. That's fine. You can run over to Kenrick's new blog and warn him about the "clique"....oh, you already have. You still haven't named the clique you seem to be infatuated with..and you still haven't manned up. You never will. You aint got the nads to throw your integrity out there for everyone to see...that's because you don't have any.
You've resulted to calling me a "girl"....afraid I can't top that one. Keep sidestepping the real issue here Ultra...it's what you do best.
You still haven't named the clique you seem to be infatuated with
Actually, I did:
"Look through FlyingPig's posts for the roasts, and look at who comments. The same 10 or 15 people. Look at the blogger lists (like yours, for example) -- you [NSF] name a lot of members of the clique (of which I don't consider myself a part of by choice).
I don't know if you were around when it happened, but FlyingPig plagiarized Ray Comfort (I've mentioned this too much, but plagiarism is one of the highest crimes in my book) and everyone rushed to his defense. They defended plagiarism."
If you have reading comprehension -- and I know you do -- you can see that the following people are in the clique:
- People who frequently commented on each of FP's roasts
- Some of the people NSF listed above
- Those who defended FP when he plagiarized Ray Comfort
You've resulted to calling me a "girl"
I didn't call you anything. I asked you if you were a 14-year-old girl (since they love MySpace) because you're more concerned with having "friends" on here than anything else.
Keep sidestepping the real issue here Ultra
What is the real issue here? Isn't it the point of NSF's blog? That Kenrick may have been out of line in calling out the blogosphere? Or is it that you can't get over having your comment deleted for being an immature 34-year-old?
Last edited by UltraMegaOK1988 on July 6th at 6:29 PM.
With each comment you make, you show your immaturity more and more, and thus lend credence to why I deleted your comment.
If you wanted to portray yourself in a positive light, you should have kept your composure and stayed away from the playground insults. Now everyone sees why I deleted them. You're immature and intolerant of differing opinions.
Ultra..the point is...you keep defending yourself by whining about whoever the "clique" is. You enjoy Kenrick's blog because it angered people. It angered the people you don't like...could that be the "clique"? It don't anger you because it is your opportunity to jump on the bandwagon here and start crying about the "clique" once again. You have no idea what has been going on behind the scenes..things you don't see on this blogsite. NO IDEA!!! You just whimper and complain about the clique..and then you jump on any bandwagon you feel with give you the opportunity to lash out at whoever the clique is. That's the issue.
you keep defending yourself by whining about whoever the "clique" is
You act as if it's not a valid point that there is a high-school-esque clique here. Do you believe it exists or not?
Do you think 15 or so bloggers, most of whom had been very friendly with FlyingPig prior to my blog on which he plagiarized Comfort, defending someone who stole another man's work is not evidence of a mob mentality?
You enjoy Kenrick's blog because it angered people.
Thank you for telling me what I believe.
And just like all the other strawman arguments, this one goes right in the garbage.
You would only get offended at Kenrick's blog if you felt that you were part of the group he was talking about.
Do you get upset when comedians joke about Asians? Of course not, because you're not Asian. If you weren't a blogger who needed to step it up, you wouldn't be so offended.
You have no idea what has been going on behind the scenes..things you don't see on this blogsite.
What are you talking about? And how does this in any way diminish the idea that there is a clique? If anything, it only proves it...
Okay, I've been gone awhile. The whole work, job thing is really becoming more of a detriment to my blogging than I had hoped our thought. Perhaps Fox Sports will start paying me - a lot to write some posts. I mean seriously, I have to be better than Schrager right? Than again, perhaps the Cubs will win the World Series.
I'm a diehard Cub fan.... so, within simply that statement you may assume I cry a lot. Truly sob. To that i would just like to say, there is nothing wrong with a man crying, sobbing endlessly clutching his blankie, I mean his Michael Barret bobblehead, no wait... Oh forget it.
GO CUBS!
