Year End Recap: Rays, Superman, SEC & Fake News
It was almost a year ago that I got so pissed off with FOX’s coverage of the Bowl Championship Series games I was shouting at the television even when it was on MUTE. It was then I decided I needed an outlet since I was no longer in college and didn’t have the guys around to vent with and to.
After some study, I decided a blog was a perfect choice since it would also give me the opportunity to continue working on my craft of writing since I hope to become a full-time sports journalist in the future. With the help of the other sports fiends I know, The Blue Workhorse staff and site was assembled with a continuous work in progress mentality.
Since we went live on January 22, we’ve learned the blogging ropes, met a lot of cool people, have had a small bit of success, and have hopefully spread some insight and knowledge along the way.
So you have what this season has brought, and now I’ll take you through the top 10 most popular posts (in chronological order) on this site from the year that was 2008:
***Less than a month after our first post, Dwight Howard showed in the Slam Dunk Competition that maybe he could really be Superman, and helped us get our first real big traffic surge. I wrote a breakdown of the competition that included photos of Superman and links to video of each of the impressive dunks performed by Howard, Gerald Green, and the other competitors.
***Just over a week after Howard’s superhero performance, the sports world lost a true originator when famed Pittsburgh Steelers’ broadcaster Myron Cope passed away. In tribute of Cope and the Terrible Towel he created, we compiled our Top 9 (we’re anti-Top 10) sports paraphernalia traditions that included everything from green weenies to foam tomahawks to cheeseheads.
***In March, we highlighted the story of Georgia basketball seniors Dave Bliss and Sundiate Gaines, a basketball story that was later forgotten about in the midst of Stephen Curry, Memphis’s free throw woes, Kansas’s championship, and the rest of March Madness. The two seniors went from four years of disappointment and obscurity to national attention and a trip to the NCAA tournament in a span of 8 glorious days.
***The Blue Workhorse made its debut on sports talk radio in April after Heisman, our resident pot stirrer, wrote a controversial article on why he thought Bruce Pearl may end up being bad for the University of Tennessee. Later in the month, Heisman again angered many Volunteer fans with his opinions about the possibilities of Pat Summit being able to cut it as a men’s basketball coach.
***Throughout the year on occasion, we have showed some love with our Sunday Sports Selections series where we showcase sports related gadgets, books, movies, and even clothing. However, it was a little hate that produced our most popular Sunday Sports Selection. Evidently, a lot of people dislike the Red Sox and Yankees.
***During the month of July, seemingly every breath Brett Favre took was covered by ESPN. I’ve no doubt that if Favre would have strained while taking a dump, we would have been able to read about it on ESPN’s Bottom Line. So I decided to mock the continuous coverage with a fake news story about #4 returning to the city where he started his NFL career.
***Our most popular post of the year came in October thanks to the Fall Classic, the Tampa Bay (no longer Devil) Rays, and a little help from Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard web page. In an attempt to sway the majority to cheer on the underdogs in the World Series, I gave 23 reasons to root for the Rays.
***In November, following Phil Fulmer’s forced resignation, DRang took a look at a possible long term solution for the University of Tennessee football program. After it was picked up by some of the most prominent Vols web sites/forums, it became one of our Top 10 posts.
***And finally, our most recent post to make our year end list came thanks to the assistance of 60-something other sports blogs who all participated in our Sports Blog Heisman voting. After counting all the votes and reading what each of the participating sports bloggers had to say about their candidates, we named the 2008 Sports Blog Heisman Trophy Winner.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I’ve enjoyed your site, as well as the “blogging friendship” with you. Keep up the good work. Thanks for your help! Happy New Year.
Sportsdawgs last blog post..Into the wild: AdSense for feeds
January 1st, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Thanks Sportsdawg. I’ve enjoyed the friendship and your site as well. Hopefully, 2009 will be a successful year for both The Blue Workhorse & An Opinion On Sports!