Tomorrow night, in Chicago, the crew from Free Darko (Dr. LIC, Shoals, and the third tenor) are meeting and greeting fans in a local bar.  This is pretty cool, actually.  We've always told Shoals that we would buy him a drink if he ever made it to NYC, and we meant that.  Our take is that while you shouldn't idolize bloggers/writers (they're just normal cats like everyone else), much like you shouldn't idolize athletes.  But it's totally cool to buy one a drink if you want to say "thanks for the entertainment/insight/inspiration".  We really wish we could be in Chicago to give love to the crew.  Oh, and to settle that beef with Brown Recluse once and for all....

With that in mind, here's our short list of sports bloggers/writers that we actually want to meet in person.  It's short because even though we love all of ya, I don't blog because I want to make friends or anything.  I actually have a lot of those (yeah, surprisingly. Beats me! <shrug>).  Still, there are some people that I would like to give a pound to, or say whatsup to. 

Oh, and we should note that people we have already met are excluded.  Namely Will Leitch and Henry Abbott.  They are both chill in their own right, and deserve a pound.  If we hadn't met them both already, we would probably have them on the list. 

And our top, surprising exclusion:  Bill Simmons.  Yes, he's the guy who has inspired most bloggers, including myself, at one point.  He's also a gifted writer, and one of the true originators of the blogsphere.  Still, at the end of the day, he's an avowed Sox fan, a former Bostonian who plays up to Massholes (he's their king), he has an annoying voice, and worst of all, he's originally from Connecticut.  It's a nice state, but we have yet to meet someone from Connecticut who didn't have a stick up their butt.  They're born uptight up there, that's all.  Hey, some of my best friends are from Connecticut.  Trust me... uptight as hell.  In addition, Simmons was schooled in some of those ritzy private schools.  Bottom line: Great writer, but probably (and again, we've never met the guy, so we're just going on what we know) not someone we would enjoy having a beer with.  That's all.

And most bloggers probably aren't as cool in person as they are to read.  That's just life.  It's like when I ran into Onyx many years ago at Macy's.  They were on top of the game at the time.  Sure, we all knew they were fake (we all knew it was just an image thing; or, as a friend told me recently..."they had actually shopped like four different demos, each with a different style.  The gangsta image is the one that got picked, that's all."), but seeing them in person... they were all like 5-foot nuthin'.  Larger than life, perhaps, but also smaller than my girlfriend.

So here's our small list:

1)  Billups:  The most interesting writing style in the blogsphere.  Also the style we most connect to.  His knowledge of hip hop culture and music resonates with me.  He's a lock for the top spot. 

2)   The Last Poet:  Okay, not a blogger, but a (former) regular in some of the blogs we read a lot.  An old skool NYCer with similar views and memories as me.  Whenever you get some old NYC heads together, it's fun... we generally just laugh and reminisce about back in the day:

PS:  Some of ya might not know this, but that hook Mos Def uses in that song is original from Beenie Man's hit dancehall song "Memories" ("memories don't live like people do... they always remember you").  Reggae Gold '95, beeyatch!  I didn't even have to look that up, I knew that straight off the dome.  Reggae Gold '94 was classic, too.  Murderer by Buju Banton and Sound Boy Killing (Remix) by Mega Banton.  Banton Battle!

The rest of the list:  Actually, we're gonna lose the numbers at this point, because deciding who is "more" interesting to meet in person is silly. The point is these are guys we would actually find time to have a drink with if there was an event going on, based on nothing more than just what we know about them from their writing.  That's an incredible compliment - again, I don't actually like the thought of hanging out with anyone in general that I don't know.  Here's the rest of the list:

Shoals ranks in there, too.  He might be higher, but we know lots of grad school, Ph.D types... they're always broke.  We can imagine that after the two rounds we'll have to buy all the drinks. 

D-Wil and the rest of the TSF is definitely up there.  His/their work is truly inspiration.  Sure, I worry that he might be too militant for me in real life - I alway pictured him as a sports blogging Huey Newton, with Mizzo and JWeiler as his Bobby Seale(s).  I might not live up to his standards, and disappoint him.  Or vice versa.   But I'll take that chance.

Skeets (and Tas):  The Canadians.  Skeets is funny as hell.  Of course, everyone we've met from Toronto looks and acts the same (dry Canadian humor).  They all kinda look like Snow, actually.  We had a blast our last time in Toronto, and we'll certainly drop by the studio if possible next time we are in Canadia.  At the end of the day, though, we wouldn't be surprised if we hit it off with Tas more, though.  Especially if he has a sister/cousin.  I do well with the Greek chicks. 

The Big Lead:  Pure curiosity.  Little is known about them/him.  Of course, they also give off that chill vibe.  Every once in a while, through their writing, they'll give off an element of, or perhaps a hint of, "street creditability".  Hmm.

Spinach Dip:  Hasn't written in a minute, but seems like a fun chap. 

The Commission:  Great taste in music, plus they are Miami Hurricanes fans, I believe.  Also, along the same "just likely to get along with" vibe - Jordi and Jack Cobra.

Posting and Toasting (plus Barnesgasm):  Hey, he's the equivalent of our blog sibling.  Of course we'll look out for our peeps.  We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for our Knick blog brothers.  We run things, things no run we... it's like dat yo!: 

Great joint, FYI.  We'll have to find a post for "Remember We" someday soon. 

Not making the list, because The Marathon Man doesn't like them:  Dan Shanoff (who once criticized McGill, which is pretty audacious for a Northwestern grad). 

Making the list because DJM loves them:  David Foster Wallace.  Even though he's not a sports writer.

This post should be filed under: "Crap I write about because there is nothing else to write about".  In fact, that describes the last two months of posts.... 

Leave a comment

Also on the Network: √ Things to Read: 3/15 [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Why RBIs Are an Illusion [El Lefty Malo] √ Fun At The Old Ballpark [C70 At The Bat] √ Ovie Ends Brian Campbell's Season [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Happy 29th, BBBJ [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Prospect Watch [Feeling Dodger Blue] √ Spring Training Thoughts: March 12 [Feeling Dodger Blue] √ 2009: The Curse Of Shea Stadium [Loge 13]

 Subscribe to my feed

3 Comments

Comments

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

Please only click "Post" once. It may take a few moments to process.