Another set of answers to the IPB Blogging Questionnaire has come rolling in, this time from our terrifically irreverent HLOG sister Tracy, of True Coyote Love. You can read her answers here, or at her blog.
1. What was your motivation for starting blogging? Has that changed at all in the time you’ve been blogging?
My motivation was one of simple pleasures. I had nothing else to do with my time besides nurse my love for hockey. Unfortunately, living in a virtually hockey-less environment, there weren’t many people I could call up and gab to for hours on end about such and such stupid plays, etc. So I talked to myself. In the beginning, I had 3 readers that I knew of; myself, my best friend at the time, Amanda, and my mom. Now, I could have just talked to them face to face but as someone who doesn’t possess a lot of self-control when it comes to running her mouth, I might have kept jabbering away at them far after they’d stopped listening. So I blogged. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to impress anyone because my first posts were pretty much just regurgitating any other news source (more on that in a later post).
2. What do you think your blog contributes to the hockey conversation?
Well, at the root of all the BS, it’s a love story. Sure, hockey and I have our ups and downs, I call it a stupid whore and it beats me up occasionally, but at the end of the day, we fall into bed together and realize why we continue this dance. Ok, seriously, I want to say that I bring a side of humor to any situation relating to my Coyotes and just generally bring them out into the world. Aside from myself, there are 2 other Coyotes blogs that I know of and we all have a different style of blogging. I feel that we are all working together to bring some level of love to our desert dogs and in the end, that’s all that really matters.
3. What do you want to get out of the blogs you read?
I want to be entertained. I don’t want just the stats and black and white reporting, I love the personal touches bloggers throw in. Their stories of interaction with other fans and players and things that ‘traditional media’ maybe doesn’t have access to; the realness of the sport and it’s fans.
4. What determines which blogs you read and which you don’t?
The blogs that I read need to be witty and have some sort of variety. Obviously they need to make some sort of sense and the blogger should be able to string two sentences together without coming off as a complete tool. I started out reading a plethora (oooh, big word) of different blogs but over the last year I’ve scratched it down to the ones that I can actually sit down and read without my eyes glazing with boredom. Normally, this means that I actually care about the team but not always. I can sit and read Steph’s rantings on the Red Wings for hours, not because I actually care about them but because she’s hilarious and she knows her hockey, not to mention she cares about them and that shines through.
5. How important is the issue of gaining press access to you as a blogger?
It’s not. I’m sure that it could be a rewarding experience but, as previously stated, I write for me. I can just as easily come up with my random musings sitting on my couch as I can sitting in the arena or in the press box. I don’t need credentials to prove to people that I can write (and some of you may disagree with me on that); I’m a fan first, blogger second and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
6. To what extent do you feel accountable for the content of your blog?
I feel entirely accountable. Everything I post is something that I put out in the world for people to see. I understand that I am the only access some have to the Coyotes and although I can be a sarcastic wench at times, I don’t want to paint my team in anything but the best light. I’ve never had a day where I’ve been like, “Oh well they shouldn’t have taken me seriously, I’m just a blogger.” If that’s my attitude, I need to start a personal and private blog because one about sports is going to get read if it’s worth anything at all. Personally, I’d rather not have people reading my stuff and thinking, “Man, this girl is an idiot.”
7. How concerned are you about the authority and accountability of the blogs you read? Do you find it difficult to judge the authority and accountability of the blogs you read?
It’s not difficult at all to judge. After being a blogger for so long and a blog-reader even longer, you get a certain feel for which blogs are ones you can trust and which ones to steer clear of. I think it’s important for bloggers to show a sort of professionalism in their blogs or it just gives mainstream media more reasons to look down on us and trash us.
8. What value, if any, do you think blogging brings to the NHL?
Not just to the NHL but to any circle where blogging is involved, it gives you a different perspective on things. Blogging gives you access to markets that you might not have had if it weren’t for that certain someone sitting behind their laptop and laying it all out for the world to see. All in all, blogs bring people together in a way that newspapers and magazines can’t do. Take the HLOG for example, our voices are all completely different but we’ve still managed to make it work somehow and that’s the beauty of the blogosphere.
[Originally written for True Coyote Love, 12/06/07 by Tracy.]
Glückwunsch zum neuen Blog!