By Jeff Moss
August 19, 2011
DetroitSportsRag@gmail.com
Just in case you haven’t heard the news yet, the conglomeration of CBS radio stations in Detroit is currently holding a contest to find the best bloggers in Detroit.
From now until September 9th you can vote for the “Most Valuable” local websites in the sports, dining and health categories.
And obviously due to some oversight by the folks over at CBS who must never have seen my comments on their on-air personalities (Ann Arbor Douglas Karsch the Third, Bill McAllister, Jeff Riger, Pat Caputo, Julie Chen, etc.) the DetroitSportsRag.com is one of the nominees for best sports blog in town.
To tell you the truth, I feel it is a little belittling to be nominated for “Most Valuable Blogger” as I really don’t consider myself someone who blogs.
When I think of a a blogger site I imagine someone who posts a video clip of Joe Namath drunkenly asking Suzy Kolber for some tongue with said blogger including some incredibly witty caption underneath explaining the hilarity of it all.
(Usually the web writer in question has some clever alias like “El Presidente” or “Ron Mexico” or some other awesomely creative name.)
I actually consider myself a WRITER who because of past life decisions can only share my original 2,000 word diatribes with an audience through this computer monitor.
If I was a descendant of Gutenberg or a Hearst I might be able to publish my articles on a printing press and disseminate them to the masses and actually be considered a bona fide journalist among my peers.
Alas my ancestors only co-founded Guardian Alarm and then sold before the company became a billion dollar juggernaut. So the intranets is the only avenue to spew my vile towards Jim Leyland and William Clay Ford, Sr.
Anyway, the competition for “Most Valuable Blogger” isn’t exactly comparable to the American League East race as there is only one website that can offer the quality of the DSR. I mean, I never have even HEARD of 95% of the other nominees.
But the site that probably should win if we don’t is definitely one I have read…MGoBlog.com.
Of course, Brian has an unfair advantage as you know, MGoBlog is his full time gig and he doesn’t have to spend half of his day arguing with insurance adjusters over like kind and quality or the definition of Actual Cash Value.
Not that the creator of the most definitive U of M athletics blog cares about this MVP vote since his site already attracts more traffic than the Chicago Loop at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon.
But the DSR needs all of the assistance we can get in spreading the word that site is back from the dead™ (Zombie Jew of Nazareth) and I guess the publicity from taking down this contest couldn’t hurt.
And I really want to win the first place prize that comes along with the Most Valuable Blogger. The very generous CBS Radio Corporation will be handing out a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate to the people’s champion™ (The Rock.)
Fifty dollars? Are you kidding me? I watch flies fuck for fifty dollars and this is the PRIZE for winning a contest sponsored by C-B-S?!?!?
I mean, how about opening the CSI or NCIS coffers and, ya know, awarding a gift certificate that could pay for a coffee table book?
Seriously, the DSR sponsored a contest last month on Twitter in which the first prize was box seats to a Tigers game at Comerica Park, which personally set me back 90 bucks. And, like, I don’t own a part of Two and a Half Men’s syndication rights.
If the DSR does happen to win I plan on taking the Amazon.com gift certificate and splurging on Drew Sharp’s “Razor Sharp” and Rob Parker’s “Getting Robbed: 50 columns from America’s angry black sports columnist.”
What I will do with the other $47.59, I have no idea.
(Aww, who am I kidding? The only place you can get Parker’s book is at a Joe Dumars’ Garage Sale. In bulk.)
But I am not going to lie, I would like to win this CBS Radio attempt to get bloggers to advertise their stations for free in exchange for a nominal prize.
Not because I think I am the best blogger in Detroit, but because I think I am the best COLUMNIST in town regardless of format.
Until Mitch Albom starts writing about athletics again and not about ghosts, hospice patients or Hallmark Movies of the Week, there isn’t a better sports writer in Detroit than me.
And I don’t even think I am that freaking good, but have you READ the competition? It is like the Special Olympics if they only allowed cerebal palsy contestants.
And if the DSR wins I will feel a little bad for Brian since he does devote a shitload amount of time to his site.
(Although the contest is for DETROIT blogs and MGoBlog really is more of a Washtenaw County entity. Not to mention, only NAMBLA spends more time focusing on 16-year old boys in shorts and tight pants.)
But as a consolation prize I will take Brian to Zingerman’s for a corned beef sandwich and a Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry soda.
And for the first time in the history of mankind, the runner-up prize will be more expensive than first place.
(If you want to show your support for the DetroitSportRag.com and you think I deserve the Hart Trophy of Detroit Bloggers, you can vote here: http://tinyurl.com/3v75vxg)