Sports blogging still has a long way to go

The thing that bothers me about the professional world of sports' resistance to bloggers is that a lot of them are no longer the stereotypical, fanboy bloggers living out of their mother's basement. So when I read articles about Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wanting to ban bloggers from his press conferences -- because obviously allowing a few reporters that aren't with a professional organization is the absolute worst thing in the world -- I get frustrated. There is so much good sports writing prevalent today that could be considered "blogging." Take Grantland, a project headed by ESPN's star Bill Simmons, for example. That's technically a blog, correct? Yet, Simmons has assembled an all-star staff that would stack up against any other professional organization. So it's disappointing to see that Grantland can't get credentialed to certain events simply because their title isn't the New York Times, the Boston Globe, etc. It's disappointing because the best writers, and Grantland absolutely has some of the best writers, should be covering the most significant events.

In my opinion, we need to start to wean ourselves off of the word "blogger." The term carries a negative connotation, even though today's definition of a blogger is vastly different than what you'd find in the infancy of sports blogging. Grantland is not the only example here. SB Nation and Sports on Earth also churns out some of the best content to offer, but still they don't have close to the same access as newspapers and professional organizations such as ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Although sports blogging faces an uphill battle, the world of professional sports is beginning to open their doors to the Grantland's and SB Nation's of the sports blogging world. Now, if we can reshape wide-spread beliefs about the lines between bloggers and journalists, a real breakthrough in sports journalism can be made.

Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/business/media/21bloggers.html?pagewanted=2