Leaderboard for week of 4-6-2009: Sports writers strike back

Last week we focused on sports writers and said that it wasn’t easy for us to find innovative, beatblogging sports reporters.

Some of you took offense to that and sent in additional nominations. It turns out that you were right; there are lots of innovative, beatblogging sports reporters (just not on the scale of their news colleagues). This week we’re back with three more, really innovative sports beat reporters.

We’re still not pleased with how many sports reporters have blogs that they aren’t using properly. The kinds of blogs with giant comment ghettos. But this week gives us hope.

This week’s Leaderboard is filled with sports reporters who get interaction, and interaction is ultimately the name of the game.

Greg Auman | St. Petersburg Times

• Auman reminds me a lot of Ed Silverman. His individual posts don’t usually stand out, but when you take his entire body of his work, it’s when you begin to notice how he shines. He covers his beat well and harnesses the Web well. It’s the total package.
• His beat — University of South Florida sports — lends itself well to blogging. He is an expert on all things related to sports at USF but not focused on an individual sport. His beat and his blog allow him to connect with students and alumni of the school.
• He posts a lot of quality updates to his blog. Many of his posts serve as conversation starters for the community. And Auman, unlike many sports reporters, is active in the comments after his posts. This, unfortunately, is uncommon.
• Auman’s tweets, however, do shine on their own. He posts little tidbits of information that may eventually become longer posts. He has created a Twitter feed that offers real value to USF sports fans, and his tweets compliment his blog perfectly.
• I also like how Auman makes use of live chats with readers. Live chats are a great way for sports reporters in particular to connect with users.
• Auman is the perfect combination of good sports reporting combined with more casual blog posts and a health dose of interaction.
• The level of interaction that Auman engages in — from the comments after his blog posts to Twitter to live chats — is a level that all sports reporters should strive to achieve.

Britt Robson | Secrets of the City

• Robson’s work covering the Minnesota Timberwolves could best be described as a combination between a basketball analyst and a blogger. His writing style lends itself well to blogging, and the way he writes and the content of his writing has helped create a niche that compliments standard sports writing.
• One of my pet peeves with many sports reporters and columnists who have been given blogs is that they never interact with people in the comments section. And, naturally, the comments after their posts are usually incendiary, banal and don’t contribute to the conversation. In short, they have successfully created a comment ghetto by not taking ownership of the comments that appear after their comments. (I’m looking at you Cleveland.com sports writers).
• Robson is active in the comments after his posts, and, of course, a comment ghetto has not formed. There is actual debate and discussion that occurs. It furthers the conversation and adds to the value of the blog.
• It’s refreshing to see the quality of community that Robson has created around a professional sports team. It’s rather uncommon. I don’t know what it is, but it seems like many sports writers who cover professional sports don’t feel the need to build a community around their blog. But is it even a blog if a “blogger” wants nothing to do with the comments after his posts?

Dona Ditota | The Post-Standard

• Ditota made the Leaderboard for her use of Twitter for sports analysis and live blogging. Rather than liveblog play-by-play for games, Ditota provides stats and analysis. She did a phenomenal job of providing live analysis and updates during the Oklahoma-Syracuse game. Her tweeting during games is the perfect compliment to other live sports coverage.
• This tweet from Ditota mentions how OU was able to beat a zone defense by shooting well. This little tidbit of info could help sports fans understand what they are seeing.
• It doesn’t make that much sense to just liveblog play-by-play at a major sporting event. People can get that kind of information from a variety of places — TV, iPhone apps, mobile phone video, etc — but getting succinct analysis is not easy to get. Ditota filled a niche. In fact, her coverage was the perfect compliment to watching the Oklahoma-Syracuse game live. It was also helpful for people following along on the go.