SportsGrid Presents: The Top 25 Sports Bloggers, Writers, And Tweeters
The Starters
A.J. Daulerio, Deadspin – A runner-up in for Mediaite’s top online editor of 2009, A.J. Daulerio runs Deadspin, the biggest, baddest sports blog on the block. Since he’s been given the keys, he’s broken stories on Josh Hamilton’s momentary fall off the wagon, and famously emptied his inbox full of tips about the crazy sex stuff that may or may not happen at ESPN.
Journalistic ethics aside, the ESPN episode proved that Daulerio was not afraid to take on an entity that effectively controls the way we view sports. It also showed that Deadspin is more than just fights, boobs and athlete dong, but an important voice, that, if ignored, will totally put you on blast.
Brooks, Sports By Brooks – Brooks bills his site as “Sports Celebrity News,” and sure enough, if you go there you’ll find mostly stories of sports figures’ exploits outside of the game. You’ll find something about the wife of disgraced ex-Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach selling his Texas Tech gear on eBay, you’ll find something about Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari’s commemorative bottle of bourbon.
But most likely, you’ll find boobs. Lots of boobs, even if they’re creepily young boobs. Brooks also might highlight an amusing error or two from around the Web…but we know why you’re really visiting his site.
Jason McIntyre, The Big Lead – Perhaps best known for their Jason Whitlock interview and MSM bullying at the hands of Colin Cowherd, The Big Lead is second only to Deadspin in its ability to deliver pertinent gossip and insightful observations on sports culture. The driving force behind the site is editor Jason McIntyre, a former sportswriter who spends equal time reporting on sports and the interesting characters that cover it.
McIntyre’s interviews with sports media personalities are among the best you can find online, and the site has also gotten respect from an unlikely place: Cowherd, the popular ESPN Radio host who famously crashed the site, has credited TBL numerous times in the past year.
Will Leitch, The Sports Section – Here’s a guy who’s just all over the place. Along with Joe DeLessio, Leitch provides a thoughtful look at New York sports on The Sports Section, NYMag’s sports blog. In addition, he’s still a frequent contributor to Deadspin (witness this new Roger Ebert piece, one of the best Leitch has ever written), which he founded, and he’s got a Tumblr, nicely accented by the tagline, “Because, sometimes, I just don’t think people have enough access to my opinions.”
Leitch is keenly aware he’s carved out quite a spot for himself in the online opinion-sharing arena – and it’s warranted. He’s a good, entertaining writer and his passion comes through in his pieces (including his movie reviews, which he generally saves for Tumblr, where he admits being a movie critic was always what he really wanted).
But what might have been his most important contribution to blogging came on TV. You’ve probably seen it by now: Costas Now, Buzz Bussinger goes crazy, Leitch keeps his cool, takes the high road, comes out the bigger man, etc. Even mentioning it at this point seems like overkill. But it really was huge. It got bloggers talking – bloggers like this very list’s Spencer Hall and the ex-bloggers of Fire Joe Morgan (one of whom, Michael Schur, also appeared for a taped segment on that same Costas Now). It also got bloggers looking, well, an awful lot better than the mainstream media – because if Bissinger was anywhere near an accurate proxy for the MSM as a whole, then…wow.
