Yahoo Bloggers vs. ESPN.com (and specifically, Rick Reilly)

http://outkickthecoverage.com/rick-reilly-vs-the-yahoo-sports-bloggers-a-tale-of-the-tape.php

Two thoughts:

1. This article makes some great points; HOWEVER
2. As much as I despise Bleacher Report, David Finnochio's comment under the story tells the rest of the story pretty well, in my opinion.

Thoughts?

 

From an outsider's perspective: Yahoo! Sports' blogs are really good and have definitely found a major niche in creating interesting, sport specific content eight-plus times a day (at least in season) during work hours. Specifically:

• Puck Daddy is easily the best place to go for hockey analysis, at least aside from .ca sites.
• Ball Don't Lie is among the best NBA blogs, and editor Kelly Dwyer is particularly excellent.
• From the Marbles is the only worthwhile highly active NASCAR blog I've come across.
• The Dagger destroys ESPN's lame attempt at a college basketball blog.

From my perspective, those four (plus, to a slightly lesser degree, Devil Ball Golf, Shutdown Corner and the others) are must-reads. Factor in Yahoo's excellent sports-specific columnists, and I do believe it's the best-run sports site. I agree with Mr. Travis on this post.

And sure, having links from the Yahoo main page helps tremendously, but those links are more often to the columnists, not the blogs.

 

Blogs!

If Clay Travis thinks internet success is a matter of "pageviews" he's a little behind the curve.

 

I've been told -- by Yahoo! writers even -- that page views can be gamed and that Yahoo! is especially adept at that. Took them at their word and, thus, tend to discount those stats as claims of superior Internet sports journalism.

The site does a good job and is easier to root for than the WWL. But they ain't The National or golden era SI.

 

Worth mentioning that the rest of his argument is phony, too. So, not an altogether great outing for Mr. Travis.

 

There are a few things wrong with a few of his premises, and as an aside, he's writing like Dave Morgan is still with Yahoo! (doesn't it read that way?). And Yahoo numbers are not suspect, exactly, but they have always been inflated considerably by Yahoo!'s primary function as a portal.

 

An honest question:

In "unique visitors" is he counting that as per blog? Like one unique for Puck Daddy, one for From the Marbles, etc.? Or if someone clicks on one blog, then another, then another, is that just one?

 

Shocking.

 

I might add Dr. Saturday to that list of four. That blog just constantly spits out solid content.

 

Considered clicking on the link but after finding out it was written by Clay "Tim Tebow, are you a virgin? Travis I decided to clean the gutters instead. Better use of time.

 

Never seen someone make as many mistakes as Yahoo's Chris Chase. Typos, factual errors ... surprised he hasn't been cut. For all the things Yahoo! does well, he is a major ding to their credibility.