Recently, friend asked me why so many fansites and blogs, for lack of a better word, "suck".
I figure a lot of fansites and blogs aren't really done with the reader in mind. They're more about the person or people writing them, not the reader.
There are some fansites and blogs I probably should read, but simply can't bring myself to endure. I've wasted too much time wading through self-important crap about "the site" or "the blog". Generally, it makes me want to reach through the monitor and give the writer a vicious and well-deserved series of backhands.
Fortunately Google Reader makes it pretty easy to opt out of RSS feeds. I've nuked a few of late.
Being that I'm somewhat of a nitwit, I'm hardly immune. I go back in the archives to 1997 or 1999, or even more recently, read some of my own stuff, and it makes me want to hurl. Self-indulgent tripe of the kind I try to avoid like the plague today. Live and learn, I guess.
So, with that as warning, I'll plead with folks not to cancel the RSS feed subscription to my little blog because of an entry that's more about what it's like to run a website than it is about the Browns. This is going to be complete and utter self-centered garbage. Turn back NOW. NOW!
If you don't turn back, I'll at least promise to not to do it again. Have mercy. Please.
The Perfect Gig for Total Morons
Before some friends and I cranked up the OBR, and it's various predecessors, I spent 15 years working in the information technology industry as a consultant. I worked for one of those big accounting firms that wound up doing information technology projects almost exclusively.
Those were heady times. There was huge demand for information technology services, and guys like me with even a modicum of technical skill and ability to work with clients had it made. Supply and demand was in our favor, and we were able to extort charge mind-bogglingly high rates for our services.
The sports media biz, though, is the complete opposite of what I experienced before.
Supply and demand is totally reversed.
The internet and airwaves are flooded with blogs, fansites, fantasy advisors, rumor mills, headline monkeys, personalities, and even the occasional person who knows what they're talking about. At some points of the year, you could spend all day just reading the newswire.
There are two consequences of this almost infinite supply of content, which help to explain why the sports media business, like the blogs my friend was describing, kinda sucks.
The first is what happens in any situation where supply and demand is out of whack: dollars don't flow to the suppliers. There are some sports media entities and writers who do quite well, of course, but in general it's a tough business.
The second problem is the supply and demand tilt means that the business is absolutely cut-throat. It's simply not a good business for folks who were raised in a sheltered enough environment that they wind up being naturally
trusting of others. Take it from me.
If you like being back-stabbed while someone tells you how they truly like and appreciate you, though, this business positively rocks.
Of course, it's a lot more fun to spend days talking Browns football and hanging with fans than it ever was to schmooze clients or try to impress folks with my knowledge of this year's system development methodology fad. I admit it. And I never did get the hang of giving clients CPR after handing them the bill.
Still, there are some huge downsides to trying to scrape by in this business.
Sometimes, Email is a Good Thing
While I love the OBR and spending my time writing self-indulgent blogs, there are times when I question why the heck I do this.
The conversation goes sort of like this:
"Why did I leave information technology?" (Smashes forehead violently head on desk) "Why did I leave information technology?" (Again. Wham.) "Why?" (Bang) "Why?" (Ouch)
I guess the answer, unlike these unexplained headaches I get, sometimes shows up on its own.
Here's an email I got not too long ago, from Jeff Glatzer, aka Darkdawg64. There are a several emails and message board posts I keep around. This is one of them.
Barry,
As a former fellow publisher myself I must compliment you on the success of the OBR. I enjoy the anticipation of receiving and reading all the up to the minute info. The temptation will increase here as training camp approaches.
I also wanted to compliment you on the great draft day bash at Tony Roma's on Saturday. One of your moderator's, Kat, swung by and introduced herself to me. I thought that was very warm and I felt genuinely welcomed at Roma's. Thanks for a great bash! It was my pleasure meeting you and everyone else.
I also appreciate the wonderful opportunity to meet and talk with so many Browns fans for hours! What a great way to get a football fix! It was 100% better than my previous two years I spent at the stadium enduring the Browns sponsored Draft day party.
My compliments to you are actually three-fold. I also thoroughly enjoy reading and gaining information off of the OBR website. The Watercooler section rocks! I see where all the cool people from the old Dawg Talk forum (the old Browns forum) went to. It was nice to put a face to a name at the bash on Saturday.
I'd just like to let you know I have found a new football home on the OBR Watercooler. I will rely on getting all of my future updates, information, and general football conversation here. I hope to meet a few new friends here as well.
Thanks again Barry and let's do it again next year.
Your Truly,
Jeff Glatzer
I've gotten emails from folks who think of the OBR as their biggest connection back to their hometown, from servicemen overseas, from the loved ones of Browns fans who passed on, from fans of every corner of the Brownsiverse.
People who have taken from their busy lives to spend a minute writing a webdork with a poorly maintained yard somewhere in Lake County, Ohio, just to express their appreciation for a hobby turned almost-vocation.
That, right there, is why you do this stuff. It's about getting love back.
If you're in this for any other reason, well, then you're a friggin' moron.