When I went to college at Penn State, I had visions of becoming a professional sportswriter. I was a journalism major, studied in the Center for Sports Journalism, worked on the Daily Collegian's sports staff and graduated with a journalism degree.
Then I started covering high school sports for a group of local, weekly newspapers and ultimately discovered the full-time, professional sportswriting life wasn't exactly for me. Thus, after joining the publishing field, I began my own sports blog — I was already an avid reader of them — in 2008 to scratch my sportswriting itch, which led me to where I'm at.
As such, I have a vast appreciation for sportswriting in every form, but it was by reading the sports blogs I followed while searching for meaning in life after college that truly inspired me to write as my true fan self. And in the time since those early days of the sports blog, many of my favorites have gone the way of my professional sportswriting career, including the precursor to this very site, Ed The Sports Fan, where I forged my relationship with the founding editors of this very site, Kenny and Ed.
So, in addition to ETSF, here are my 10 favorite defunct/idle sports blogs, in no particular order:
-Food Court Lunch — Hilarity north of the border
-Fire Joe Morgan — Destroying sports journalism with precision and laughter
-FreeDarko — The eccentricity and beauty of liberated fandom
-Major League Jerk — Major league baseball jerks
-Nation Of Islam Sportsblog — Just read it
-The Fightins — The greatest Phillies blog of all time, founded by the godfather Mike Meech
-Deuce of Davenport — An ode to Najeh Davenport and his hamper practices
-Tirico Suave — My favorite sports blog name ever
-Both Teams Played Hard — Sheed quotes = awesomeness, right Ball Don't Lie?
-High School Hoop — The Dime Mag spinoff that provided great info on current high schoolers and awesome clips of pros during their teenage years
What are some of your favorite defunct/idle sports blogs? Let us know in comments.
Now on to the links …
Shooter fears he killed Pat Tillman - ESPN
Penn State Recruiting: Don't Be Surprised By James Franklin's Early Success - Black Shoe Diaries
Point-guard battle for the ages - TrueHoop
Up Close on Baseball’s Borders - New York Times
Matthew Saad Muhammad: Why I'm still fighting - Philly.com
How To Cheat, Do Drugs, And Succeed At Baseball, By Dock Ellis - Deadspin
Watching And Not Watching Dirk Nowitzki - The Classical
Tim Duncan’s swansong will be worth watching - The National
Writing Is Hard Work - When Keeping it Real Goes Right
The next wave of head-coaching prospects - TrueHoop
Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein on the indispensability of This Is Spinal Tap - The Dissovle
Dave Parker Fights Parkinson's and Makes Peace with His Baseball Past - Bleacher Report
Sports Illustrated Honors The Bullets/Wizards With 19 Classic Images - Mr. Irrelevant
PROS AND CONS: THE BIG TEN - Every Day Should Be Saturday
Baseball’s Thirteen Unwritten Rules, Explained - Bugs & Cranks
Tracy McGrady makes Sugar Land Skeeters opening day roster - Big League Stew
