In the fall of 1999 the television show Popular debuted on the now defunct WB network. The subject of juxtaposing teenage geeks athletes, the "in" crowd and not so hip outsiders had show producers hoping to hold an audience. Kennedy High proved nowhere close to the success of West Beverly's 90210 brat pack. After 42 episodes the show's set went dark. Sort of like many of the quality blogs on FOX since.

The exodus of talent is explained by some in eloquent exit statements, while others fade into the background. I could speculate on the reasons being lack of recognition, sparse comments, limited personal time, and most definitely lack of pay which no doubt all serve as deterrents. Next Great Sportswriter competitions offer the $5,000 carrot. Thus far it has had the end bitten off of it by Ty and Brandon. It appears that a third member of this club will be added in NGS III so I am already looking ahead.

SO WHO IS EXCEL-ING?

Dudski made a list a while back documenting one way to figure out who was popular in the FOX blogging community. He went from one blog to the next tallying the number of times someone appeared in the favorites. With some time to reflect, this seems like a logical way to find talent which perhaps has been overlooked. If you enjoy someone's work, the best way to honor them is by adding them into your favorites. I thought I would open the handy program that all nerds hold sacred, Microsoft Excel, and take this task to the next level.

My expectation was that after starting with a blog featuring over 20 favorites, then taking all of their favorites and so on and so on and so on... I would never hit a brick wall. Surprisingly I did because a chunk of bloggers have no favorites. After 602 unique blogs were perused I have to believe my list is pretty comprehensive. Rather than simply post the raw results, here are the pertinent facts.

THE WINNER

SoCalSportsFan will one day be given a nod by the NGS judges. After landing on 120 he is far and away the leader of this list, nearly 50 ahead of the next best finisher. If there is any justice in NGS III, I think he has to be given a chance to compete. Obviously he is the blogger of the people.

CREAM OF THE CROP

NorthSideFan, The_Sports_Intellectual, sleeplessinseattle, MeanDovine, borntoplayin69 and The_Dan were the next top 6 finishers after discounting all NGS I and II finalists. All of them were on my list of 27 bloggers to scout for the NGS II so this is no surprise to me. MeanDovine has recently stated his lack of interest in winning the NGS, and The_Dan is still working on the residency issues. Sadly, borntoplayin69 will be taking a break from the world of blogging.

MORE TOP FINISHERS

HalfBaked is a blog that I foolishly overlooked when previewing NGS II. He has sharp wit and is a very solid blogger. Cuziffer, UltraMegaOK1988, and JamesMorisete were on my 27 although James has since RIP'ed his blog. Cuz and Ultra belong in the same group because neither fits under a neat, tidy category. Cuz writes fast, loose and off the top of his head. Ultra cuts deep with controversy. Both would have editors taking Pepto Bismol as they try to figure out "what to leave in, what to leave out" as Bob Seger would say.

When smoketheblowfish writes a blog, there is no mistaking it. Serious, bizarre, heartfelt, silly or however he happens to be feeling that day. He cloned himself just to maintain his sanity as well. JrCuss has a strong following and is highly regarded by fellow bloggers. Female bloggers josettedupres and ellesie99 finished next. Both were on my preview blog, but FOX in their vast wisdom chose Elizabeth Bennet for NGS II instead. DrCrab is the last person I will mention. This is a perfect place for the clich