Fear and Loathing in Detroit: Sports Reporters vs. Sports Bloggers

And here I thought I was having plenty of fun yesterday, watching college football while zonked out on muscle relaxers for my frighteningly aching back.  While spending the day away from the computer, lying flat in the blissful state of a relatively flexible and painless lower back, it appears that a column written by the Detroit News' Chris McCosky had much the same effect on the Detroit sports blogosphere as tossing a molotov cocktail through the window of an unsuspecting home during family dinnertime.

This was brought to my attention by The Detroit Tigers Weblog's Billfer, so I'll begin by linking to his retort to McCosky's column.  I don't know if I'm quite as outraged as Bill, but it's definitely amusing that a prominent member of the local sports media apparently feels so threatened by bloggers that he deems it necessary to explain why his work should be considered more credible, going so far as to remind his readers that he actually went to school to learn his trade.

Journalism employs trained professionals.  We actually have to go to school for this stuff.  We take our jobs seriously.  There are rules and standards that we are beholden to.  There are ethics involved.  We actually talk to, in person, the people we write about.  If we rip somebody in an article, you best be sure most of us will confront that person the next day and take whatever medicine we need to take.

Just so you know where I'm coming from on this, I went to school to study journalism too, and have some experience working as a credentialed member of the media.  Some of that work included exchanging e-mails with Mr. McCosky for a Detroit Pistons season preview that I wrote for a magazine last year.  (And even back then, he railed against the sports talk radio/message board culture that was apparently making him chase stories he felt he shouldn't have to.)

Maybe that's made me more reverential toward the media than I should be.  I know beat writers, especially, put in long hours at the arena or ballpark pursuing the latest newsworthy information.  They also have to cull that material - most of which isn't usually very revelatory or compelling - into something readable while working on a tight deadline, which can be pretty stressful work.

However, a lot of "reporting" is also watching a game and recounting what happened for the next morning's paper.  They saw it, you saw it, and I saw it.  Would our accounts of the same event that we all just witness really differ that greatly?  Of course not.  The only difference is that the media can go down to the locker room directly after the game and ask Jim Leyland why he didn't take Jason Grilli out after he loaded the bases or ask Grilli why he threw four straight balls when there wasn't an open base.

But really, how often is the answer to that question really informative?  And how often is the person asking that question really going to challenge his or her subject when he knows he's getting a flat, meaningless response?  If Leyland dismisses a question with "It was the right call, and I'd make it every time," how often is a simple "Why?" the follow-up query?  How often does the mainstream media really take advantage of the access and opportunity that McCosky touts as the shiniest badge of honor for his profession?

I'm not saying it's easy.  To ask a sharp, probing question face to face, and risk an angry response that could affect everyone else trying to do his or her job in that clubhouse, can be a difficult situation to deal with.  I've had Dmitri Young, post-rehab, tell me to my face that he wasn't talking.  And I didn't push the issue because it wouldn't have mattered.  He didn't play in that particular game, and I was just looking for an easy interview to post on my magazine's website.  Maybe I should've pushed it, but I didn't want the fledgling magazine I was working for to lose its credential because of my grandstanding.

I don't think a beat writer for one of the city's two major metropolitan newspapers is going to have the same problem.  Would the Pistons really ban the Detroit News from the locker room or press row because one of the players got angry at its reporter?  I seriously doubt it.  Yet many writers act as if such a penalty could be incurred.

Go ahead and boast that you have to face a player or coach the day after bashing him in print.  But that same boast is also frequently used as a shield to justify not asking tougher questions in the first place.  ("Hey, I have to work with these people every day.  I'm not pissing them off to make my job miserable.")

I've probably spent far too long on that particular point, so let's move on.

With blogging and Web sites, it seems the hard work, standards, accountability, courage all of that is bypassed.  Who needs to study this stuff, or attend games, or conduct interviews when you can just sit in your basement and clack out whatever comes through your head, right?  If I rip somebody, or if I get something wrong, who cares?  Nobody will see me.

This is ridiculously reductive.  To McCosky, it "seems" the hard work is bypassed because he apparently didn't look at much to back up his unsubstantiated assertion.  Study what "stuff" exactly?  If Billfer devotes a post to hitters' spray charts or Lee Panas writes about runs created by position, did no amount of work go into that?  Did they just conjure that information out of thin air?  No, they looked far deeper into the game than any member of the mainstream baseball media.  And they did so because the information provided by those who are ostensibly the be-all, end-all authority on sports reporting doesn't tell enough of the story.

That brings up the ugly truth about the sports blogosphere that the mainstream media doesn't want to acknowledge.  They created us.

Fans are increasingly not getting what they want and need from the conventional outlets of newspaper, TV, or radio.  So we, as readers and fans, are either going to seek out the kind of information that's more in line with our thinking, that gives us another way of looking at the game, or just create that material ourselves.  Along the way, we might even find something that we hadn't previously considered, and that feeling of discovery is a refreshing bit of flavor among all the gruel we're consistently served these days.  And if many other fans weren't beginning to feel that way, McCosky wouldn't have felt it necessary to explain that his job is more important than our hobby.

Furthermore, if we "get something wrong," we're most certainly held accountable.  Not only by our readers, but by other bloggers.  It's why there's a comment section at the end of every post, so that readers can offer up an immediate response to something they agree or disagree with, a luxury conventional media hasn't offered them until relatively recently - likely in an attempt to keep pace with new media.  Maybe that's another reason McCosky's so miffed at bloggers.  Maybe his editors are suddenly asking him to keep up with an outlet that's providing a much quicker fix than the next morning's newspaper.

I want my writing to be taken seriously, so if I write that I believe Brad Wilkerson should be the Detroit Tigers' left fielder next season, I'm going to do everything I can to support that belief.  Otherwise, why should anyone bother to read any of my material?  Nothing's more humbling (and embarrassing) than being called out by a reader who can collapse your argument with a simple breath.  No one understands how precious one's time is than those who invested their own into something almost purely out of love and interest.  Those who don't take their work that seriously won't be getting much more of anyone's time.  We don't receive the benefit of the doubt that many attribute to anything that's in print.

But while we're talking about what's in print, let's address another McCosky assertion:

Bloggers are having a field day speculating on how Joel Zumaya really injured his shoulder.  Nobody believes a heavy box fell on him.  So the Internet is rife with stories about how he fell off his dirt bike.

There is not a single Detroit Tigers blog that posted this rumor about Joel Zumaya injuring his shoulder while dirt-biking.  And if I'm wrong about that, McCosky didn't bother to point me to where I'd find this theory.  As far as I can tell, the closest anyone came to that was me addressing that conspiracy theories were being floated out there and linking to a couple of places where such rumors could be found.  I also said that such conjecture was irrelevant.  And do you know what opened the door to such a subject being approached in the first place?  An article by McCosky's colleague at the Detroit News, Lynn Henning:

The details of Zumaya's mishap, and the long lapse between the incident and Thursday's disclosure, raised at least as many questions as were answered.

That was in print.  In a newspaper.  Speculation.  By a professional journalist.  And message boards and commenters ran off from there.  No blogger created that.  Yet apparently, we're all swimming in the same cesspool that McCosky used to soak the brush he's painting the Detroit sports blogosphere with.  This is exactly the type of irresponsible conduct he's charging sports bloggers with carrying out.  And it didn't even happen.  How's that for accountability?

Finally, McCosky proves just how original his thinking really is with the same old, tired shot that all those who find themselves threatened by new media love to take:

But you do have to know most reporters at legitimate news sources work hard to deliver fair, accurate and pertinent information.

And what they do is vastly different than what the clever dude in his pajamas is doing on his computer, down in his basement.

This is right up there with saying that Detroit sports fans still light cars on fire when they're celebrating a championship, the old stand-by writers from other cities pull out whenever their teams are playing one of ours.  It's a throwaway comment that's actually easy, thoughtless hackery.  Should I now make a crack about freeloading sportswriters gorging on complimentary food in the media lounge?  (And the food provided on McCosky's beat at the Palace of Auburn Hills is pretty good.)

I'm also offended because I'm typing this in my home office (which happens to be on an upper level of my house) while wearing a sweatshirt and jeans.  That's pretty much the same thing your sportswriting colleagues wear, based on my personal experience.  The pajamas went in the hamper before I took a shower this morning.  Get your facts straight like they taught you in school, McCosky.  Well... at least he called us "clever."  Maybe that's what McCosky was trying to be here, and this was just some poorly executed attempt at satire.

It's baffling to me how writers like Chris McCosky get so defensive about this stuff.  Ask most sports fans where they get their news, or how they caught up on last night's game.  A majority of them will still probably say the newspaper.  And if they do read sports blogs, they still know who was on the scene to report on events as they occurred.  They hear who's called an "insider" on the radio each week.  They see who ESPN puts on the air as "experts."

So why feel so threatened?  Why act like old man Tom Smykowski in Office Space, having to explain his job to that consultant, Bob Slydell, so he doesn't get laid off?  ("Can't you understand that?  What the hell is wrong with you people?")  Is it because he sees his job changing, and doesn't like it?  Is he having to chase rumors or write website material that you previously didn't have to?  Are bloggers suddenly getting more credit than he thinks they should?  (And if that's the case, let me know where that credit's being handed out, because I think a lot of us would love some of that.)

Maybe that's something he can address in print, after talking to some of the bloggers he criticized.  You know, in person.  Or even via e-mail.  As an accountable professional journalist is supposed to, upholding the standards and ethics he or she was taught in school.  Or is it just easier to attack and move on?

Who is the Face of the Detroit Tigers?

A little while ago, the folks at ESPN.com SportsNation asked me if I would be interested in participating in a series called "Face of the Franchise," in which four panelists selected their choice for the best current representative of a Major League Baseball team. The panel would consist of a writer from ESPN.com, a beat writer or columnist from that team's city, an analyst from "Baseball Tonight," and a team-specific blogger.

After briefly wondering if someone was pulling a joke on me (and doing the requisite Google search), I said "Hell yeah, I'd be interested" and started thinking hard about my choice. And when I say "thinking hard," I mean agonizing over it, like Rob in High Fidelity when the reporter asked him what his top five favorite songs were. This was going down for posterity. My name would be on this. My Tigers fan (and blogger) credibility would be at stake.

The only rule I had to follow was that my choice had to be currently associated with the team. I couldn't pick an old-timer like Ty Cobb or Al Kaline, or any of the players I grew up watching, like Alan Trammell or Kirk Gibson. A few choices came to mind right away, and I began to consider whether or not I could write an interesting paragraph on this person, and the likelihood that he could be chosen by the other panelists.

I also asked a handful of friends who they would pick as the face of the Detroit Tigers, but no clear choice stood out. Actually, that was kind of reassuring. I wasn't just being anal-retentive or indecisive.

Then I imposed a couple of my own rules. 1) My pick had to be a player. An manager, owner, or broadcaster could certainly be the face of a team. But in my mind, fans don't go to the ballpark or switch the game on because of a manager or owner. Players get us excited; they're the ones we watch. 2) Casual fans, or even people who don't follow sports had to be aware of who the player is. I probably didn't follow this rule very closely because it somewhat conflicted with the first rule. For instance, if I ask my mother about the Tigers, she'd probably mention their manager, Jim Leyland. And if I consulted a non-fan like Mis Hooz, she likely wouldn't name anyone. But if I talked to baseball fans in other cities, who might they name?

After considering all these factors, I'm not sure that my choice ended up being any different from who I was leaning toward in the first place. If you've been reading BYB regularly, you can probably guess who I picked as the face of the Tigers. But you can read the official pick here, along with those of Rob Neyer, Jon Paul Morosi, and Eric Young (whose pick will go up tomorrow).

So who would you guys vote for? Who do you think is the current face of the Detroit Tigers? It'll be much more fun to see who the fans choose, and if we'd reach any kind of consensus.

Who's Your New Tigers Blogger?

I've been procrastinating with this a bit, but now seems like an excellent time to share what's going on. I've been asked by the fine people at SportsBlog Nation to take over their Detroit Tigers site, Bless You Boys, and after giving the matter a whole lot of thought, I've decided I'll take the gig.

Not only am I curious to see what it will be like to write for a larger sports blog network, but I'm really excited about contributing more to what has now become a formidable Tigers blog community. I'm hoping my first post - the mission statement, if you will - will be up within the next day or so. (I can only hope my mission statement leads to a better result than Jerry Maguire's.)

To be honest, I was initially intimidated by the idea of running a Tigers blog when several other people already do it so damn well. Could I possibly have anything different or interesting to say about what's now Detroit's most beloved team? I guess that remains to be seen. But besides the sense of community and camaraderie that's been created, one thing that's been so great about the Tigers blogosphere is how each writer has been able to find his or her own niche to fill. I hope I manage to find mine over the next few months.

So what does this mean for Sweaty Men Endeavors? Well, I might be naive or delusional, but I intend to keep it going. I've put a lot of work into this over the past year-and-a-half, and I'm proud of (most of) it, so I'm not letting my baby go. There's too much stuff coming up - the NCAA tournament, NBA playoffs, NFL Draft, etc. - that'll be fun to write about. My attention span needs a place where I can write anything I want, and I don't want to give that up.

I'm not sure what will happen here during the summer, as I think it's safe to assume virtually all of my Tigers-related material will be posted at Bless You Boys. (I'd also like to thank Mike McClary for inviting me to post at The Daily Fungo over the last month or so. I hope I can still contribute to the discussion over there, as well.) But there's always something going on worthy of celebration or ridicule. Plus, I love baseball, so maybe I'll try to write about what's going on elsewhere in the sport. Once football season starts up again, however, I'll want to crush the Lions (and agonize over the Wolverines) and we've established a fine tradition of that here.

If you already check in at Bless You Boys, I hope you'll bear with me as I try to find my footing there for the next couple of weeks. And if not, I'd certainly love for you to follow me over and chime in during the upcoming baseball season. I really appreciate all of the readers who stop here every day to read, and think we'll have plenty of fun to spread all over this Detroit sports blogosphere. Thank you, and let's keep this thing going.

Knowing my place on the food chain

I'm about a week late with this, but I really think it's deserving of mention. My buddy and fellow blogger Brian would probably prefer I not write about this (and maybe I should've run it by him first), but it was so amusing - and impressive - that I just had to make note of it.

As you might (and should) know, Brian runs what is the authoritative blog on northern college baseball, Big Ten Hardball. To me, this is exactly what blogging should be: see a void, fill the niche. Brian wasn't getting what he wanted about Big Ten college baseball from any newspapers or websites, so he decided to create the damn thing himself. Since he was offering something no one else was, it was only a matter of time before he drew the readership he deserved.

Anyway, Michigan baseball held its annual "Meet the Team Night" last Monday, and since I live nearby, Brian asked if I wanted to join him. Even though I know very little about Michigan baseball, other than they use bats and mitts and play at Fisher Stadium, I tagged along. For one thing, I enjoy learning about a sport that's new to me. That's what made me a sports fan in the first place, and I've come to miss that feeling.

Plus, Michigan has a good team coming back, but baseball isn't the giant monolithic machine that football is, and it was nice to see people be invited to support and take an interest, and have a chance to meet the players. There's still a feeling of amateur athletics to it. But frankly, I just wanted to see Brian get to work the room and enjoy yielding some benefits from the work he's put in.

Not only wasn't I disappointed, but I got a little reality check, as well. I'm gratified by the readership I've been able to generate at this little blog you're reading here. It's worth all of the effort. But no matter what this site becomes, I will never expect athletes - amateur or professional - to walk up to me, shake my hand, and tell me they enjoy reading my blog. (Oh, and their parents love the site, too.) But that's exactly what Mr. Big Ten Hardball got to experience on Monday night.

And there are a lot of fantastic blogs that cover University of Michigan athletics, but I don't think it's likely that any of their writers will ever get much chance to chat with Lloyd Carr or Tommy Amaker. (I hope I'm eventually proven wrong on that, of course.) Yet there was Brian, getting 5-10 minutes of quality time with Michigan baseball coach Rich Maloney.

Affirmation, baby. In comparison, I'm just a song-and-dance man. Treating Brian to munchies at Cubs AC seemed like the least I could do afterwards. And I can tip my cap here. Kudos, my friend.

Happy Hour 02/06: The Nationals' Pastime

Fellow sports bloggers (and baseball fans, in general) might find Barry Svrluga's feature in today's Washington Post interesting. The article profiles the many blogs that have been created in devotion to the Washington Nationals - the "Natosphere," if you will - which seems especially surprising given the short history of the team in D.C.

The two blogs prominently featured in the article are Capitol Punishment (a favorite of mine) and Curly W, both of which have caught the attention of the home team.

The e-mail popped in, and Chris Needham took a minute to digest it. The sender was easily identifiable: Stan Kasten is the president of the Washington Nationals, the baseball team about which Needham comments almost daily via his blog.

Needham had just published an entry titled "StanSpeak," in which he took the liberty of "translating" Kasten's words for the club's fan base, a smart-alecky but smart look at what the man who runs the club might really be thinking.

Needham opened the e-mail cautiously. He knows about this?

Since that initial e-mail, Kasten has corresponded with Needham again. There's something of a punchline to that second conversation, however, so I won't ruin it for you.

The Nationals' blog and fansite community continues to grow impressively. "15 blogs about a two-year-old team," according to Curly W. As you might imagine, a strong sense of community has developed - something several of us Tigers bloggers have had "DIBS" on for quite a while. (And as we know, the Natosphere ain't the only sports blog community getting sit-downs with team presidents.)

The revolution continues... and it will probably be posted on a sports blog near you.

Not sure I needed to know that

Like any blogger, I always like to know how readers find their way to my site. Did people respond to something I wrote about Tony Romo, for instance? How many people found Sweaty Men Endeavors through my post on Kobe Bryant last year? Did that post on those frisky Eagles ticket-seekers draw some traffic? (More on them tomorrow, by the way.) Etc., etc. You know how it goes.

Site Meter and other such web counters, of course, become crucial tools in satisfying such curiosity. You can find out some really interesting things. It's often surprising and sometimes enlightening to see what sorts of web searches bring people to your blog. (And yes, I realize I asked for plenty of problems when I gave this blog its title. Believe me, there have been some gems.)

And then, sometimes you're reminded that you'd just rather not know. Because the truth is too disturbing. Case in point. I hope you found what you were truly looking for, sir or madam.

Boy, I hope this doesn't turn out to be something that happened when I was blacked out from drinking...

Blogger invasion extras

As a follow-up to Wednesday's post about the soggy bloggy field trip to Comerica Park, others in the gang have chimed in. Check out Billfer's post at The Detroit Tigers Weblog and Brian's at Beyond Boxscores.

But the best description of the excursion might belong to our little Samela, at Roar of the Tigers. She definitely captured the tone of the evening well. Reading her post made me feel like I was there getting soaked (and touting the virtues of Neifi) again. I was laughing all night.

More than words, however, Samela brings us pictures - and some damn gorgeous ones, to boot. The hour-and-a-half rain delay obviously gave her ample opportunity to stretch her photographer wings.

You can see the best of the bunch at Sam's Flickr page, including this guy who may or may not have really been Fernando Vina.

That could be him, right? Maybe he's gotten a bit thicker since he's not playing. Who else would wear that shirt?

Blogger invasion at Comerica Park

Call it The Detroit Blog-Down. Or maybe the Motor City Spiel-Down. Whatever. Bloggers were out in full force last night at Comerica Park, taking over the first row of section 212 in the right-field mezzanine. The '27 Yankees can keep their Murderer's Row. I'll take these guys instead.

Who was in the bunch? Billfer, who organized the whole CoPa klatsch. The Bleacher Guy (efforts are apparently under way for a legal name change). Brian from Beyond Boxscores. Big Al was in Da Hizzey! Eno dropped by for a bit. And the woman responsible for the following photograph, who endured being the only female and youngest of the gang, Ms. Samela (to whom I apologized profusely and frequently for sticking her with that nickname) of Roar of the Tigers, rounded out our super-team.


From left to right, we have Rob, Brian, me, Bill, Greg, and Sam waiting out a rain delay. Big Al joined us later on - unfortunately, after this photo was taken.

And let me clarify, that is NOT sweat staining/soaking my shirt. (Actually, from a distance, it almost looks like stripes on the shirt, doesn't it? So just pretend.) Just because the blog is titled "Sweaty Men Endeavors" doesn't mean I take it that seriously in public. That is rain, people. Check your game recaps. Clearly, the only people who took their weather forecasts seriously were Brian and Samela. Smart kids. I spent the rest of the night worrying I'd come down with something.

Anyway, it was a great time at the ballpark (and Nemo's beforehand). Very cool to meet everyone, and put faces to blogs. And a lot of joking around. Popular punching bag of the night: Neifi Perez, who could become the Tigers' Chuck Norris (at least on defense) if any of our jokes were committed to paper or recording. Oh, well.

Against my better judgment?

After playing fantasy football for the first time last season, I knew I'd only want more this year. I thought I'd cut myself off at two teams, but once Pradamaster invited me to join The Ultimate Bloggers Fantasy Football League, I remembered that good things come in threes.

I just posted my draft post-mortem on the league's blog, but in a nutshell, I'm pretty happy with my team (except for the QBs). I don't think any of us were pleased with NFL.com's draft and roster restrictions (can only start two receivers, can't load up on reserves until all the starting positions are filled), but we all had to deal with them, so it's not like anyone gained an advantage. If you weren't able to attend the draft, however, NFL.com's player rankings really screwed you. Don't believe me? Ask twins15, who had the Steelers defense auto-picked for him in the 2nd round.

But the league should be a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to playing with those guys. (Don't worry - I'll save my fantasy football angst for the league's blog.) Man, I'm not getting anything done this fall...

Expect nothing and you won't be disappointed

I meant to get to this yesterday, as it would've been more timely, but the day seemed to get away from me - and took my precious computer/blogging time with it.

Anyway, I was listening to some sports talk radio while tooling around town, and caught a promo for Sean Baligian's show, "It Is What It Is," on Detroit's WDFN-AM. In the teaser, Baligian mentioned blogs and his surprise at how many there are now. Was he really going to talk about blogs on his show? Okay, cool. So I made a point to tune in (which, frankly, I usually don't) because I wanted to hear where he'd go with this.

After an hour or so of Tigers talk to begin the show, he finally got to the promised topic. Baligian admitted he wasn't much of a blog reader, and didn't see himself becoming much of one. But he acknowledged their growing popularity and said the right writer or topic (say, TSN's Bob McKenzie) might attract his interest. And then he put it to the audience. Were blogs a part of any listeners' daily reading/checking/surfing routine? Had anyone opted for reading blogs over ESPN, CBS Sportsline, or other sports sites?

Hmm, this could be interesting. Here was a guy acknowledging a popular trend, yet admitting he wasn't much into it, but wanted to learn more from his audience. To me, that sounded like the beginnings of some good sports talk radio. And who knows what direction the discussion might take? What if a blogger called in? Would any particular blogs (gee, none come immediately to mind) be mentioned?

Unfortunately, the segment took a direction right into a wall. And after hitting that wall, it kind of slid slowly down, like a semi-rancid slice of bologna. Now that's not necessarily Baligian's fault. Talk radio usually goes where the listeners take it. A host can try to steer the discussion, but if people are calling in with "humorous" suggestions for whom they'd like to see a blog from (for example, Ron Artest), rather than talking about whether or not sports blogs add something to the general discourse or provide a compelling alternative to what the mainstream media offers, then that's how the show will go.

Wah wah waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.

And it's not like I suddenly thought I was listening to NPR. I didn't have high hopes. But I did have some hopes.

When I joined Brian for a Michigan baseball game a couple of months ago, one of the things we talked about was how much less we checked traditional media sites for scores and analysis. By the time, say, the Detroit Free Press website has something about last night's Tigers game, we've probably already read at least two or three things about it. We checked the score at ESPN.com. We stopped by Billfer's site, or a handful of others. If we didn't catch the game, a news account might be nice. But if we did watch it, we wanted something more immediate, and more in line with what we were thinking and feeling.

That's what blogs give us. And that's what I hoped to hear on the radio Tuesday morning. But I didn't. And it was probably a mistake to expect otherwise.

After I switched from the radio to my iPod, I realized this was another reason blogs had become such a daily part of my routine - both as a reader and writer. When I'm not getting what I want from the newspaper, TV, or radio - sources I was previously accustomed to - I'm either going to find someone else who's saying what I've been thinking, possibly discover something I hadn't previously considered, or just create the damn stuff myself. And I think many, many more fans are beginning to feel that way.

Your instinct was in the right place, Sean. But the execution just wasn't there, man. Maybe you (or your listeners) will get it right next time. Or maybe I'll have learned not to have any expectations.

Hello, I'm your blogger

Hey, check out the doofus in the snow!

If you're in the metro Detroit area, and have access to the Metro Times, a certain chronicler of sweaty men is one of nine local bloggers profiled in this week's cover story, "Meet the Bloggers." (And as the links indicate, the article is also available at the MT's website.)

If you've already read the feature, and are visiting for the first time, thanks for stopping by to check this out, and I hope you're intrigued enough to keep coming back in the future. (I'll do my best to keep you interested.)

For those who haven't seen it yet, the article is a fascinating look at the variety of blogs that are being written in Detroit right now, and I'm incredibly flattered to be a part of the piece. It feels a bit strange to see this blog alongside sites covering the city's politics, urban decay, art and music scenes, and community. But sports are a big part of the culture around here, and I'm obviously glad that Sweaty Men Endeavors was considered an interesting enough part of Detroit's blogosphere to be included.

I'd like to thank the writer, Nate Rogers, who was intrigued enough by the "slightly gay name" to check it out, look me up for an interview, and write what is quite possibly the best article the Metro Times has ever published. I'm thrilled with the piece, which reflects the enjoyable conversation Nate and I had last week, and captures the tone of this blog very well.

And I'd also like to thank the article's photographer, Doug Coombe, who made it fun to sit down on snow-covered metal bleachers in an empty Michigan Stadium and make a fool of myself in front of the camera. After trucking through the snow and up the stadium steps, I was ready to collapse and make snow angels (which might have made another beautiful set of photos), but Doug's a busy man and had to get moving. (Just tell me you were as tired and sore the next day as I was, man.) Doug can now add me to a photo resume that includes shots of Oasis and the White Stripes. I'm sure he's thrilled about that.

So please pick up a copy - I promise I haven't taken every one in Ann Arbor - and see what metro Detroit's bloggers have to offer. It's a really cool feature, and I think it's great that the Metro Times chose to cover this subject. We all appreciate your readership.