Access.  It's what sports writers have that most bloggers don't.   Tony Kornheiser, Jim Rome, Mike Lupica.  These guys can actually talk to the athletes.  Us poor bloggers are stuck googlin' and scroungin, trying to take someone elses info and figure out how to spin it in a new way.

And we've got some people who do it very well.  But wouldn't it be great to actually be able to phrase the questions, guage the responses.  Not just lob up the usual softballs most reporters serve.  Heck, we're bloggers.  Hold their feet to the fire, make 'em sweat.

What got me thinking about all this was the post by NorthSider about the "Game of Shadows" authors.  NorthSide's piece was pretty vanilla.  It was mostly PR stuff telling the authors' side.  Not what you would expect from a blogger.  I'm not sure how much true access he had.  I'm betting a lawyer was present, and he was probably limited in what he could ask.

There were seveal questions I would have loved to ask these guys, and not about their sources.  In my mind, I couldn't help but imagine if LSUFan, or Flying Pig, or (help us all) Miracle had been asking the questions.  I think it would have been a different story that was written.  Anyways, it made me think.  If you could ask any sports personality one or two questions, who would it be and what would you ask?

I might ask Tiger Woods what he says in private about the chumps he rolls over at every Major.  Or ask David Ortiz what he thinks of George Steinbrenner.  Or George Steinbrenner what he thinks of the Boston Red Sox.  I might ask Reggie about his Mamma and Daddy's living arrangements.  Or Barry Bonds if he really thought it was flaxseed oil.  I might ask Adrien Peterson about that Lexus.

You get my point.  So.... knowing we're bloggers, and we don't really stop to think, who would you talk to and what would you ask?