IPB Questionnaire Answers: Cat Edition

The latest response to the IPB Blogging Questionnaire comes to us from the Lone Star State, courtesy of one of the hilarious Untypical Girls, Cat. You can read her answers here.

1. What was your motivation for starting blogging? Has that changed at all in the time you’ve been blogging?

I originally started blogging with a LiveJournal, but that hardly counts. When I realized how tiny the hockey blogosphere was for females, I was like “…I should start my own!” So I got together with my two closest friends who are hockey fans, and we started a blog. It’s sort of my baby. After being introduced to other hockey blogs run by women, I decided to keep going with it.

My motivation has changed a little bit. Although I still love bringing a female voice to the Stars (along with my fellow Untypical Girls as well as the awesome Patty), I think now I mostly blog just to talk about hockey all the time, and annoy my non-hockey-loving friends a little less. Just a little, though.

Also, I have to admit that I really love talking. I’m a little egotistical.

2. What do you think your blog contributes to the hockey conversation?

Nothing. No, seriously, nothing. I mean, sure, I’m a girl and I love the Stars, but that doesn’t mean that I say anything profound or awesome on my blog. I mostly write for myself to get things out, honestly.

3. What do you want to get out of the blogs you read?

I want it to be funny. I think too many blogs get lost in the seriousness of the sport, and I like my blog and the blogs I read to be funny and light-hearted.

4. What determines which blogs you read and which you don’t?

If I like the style of writing, the personality of the writers, and what they’re writing about, I’ll keep reading it. Most of the blogs I read are hockey related, but I also love Cute Overload and Go Fug Yourself. Not all the hockey blogs I read are about the Stars, either - obviously, I read IPB, and a lot of HLOG blogs.

5. How important is the issue of gaining press access to you as a blogger?

It’s not really important at all. While I think it would be really cool, I don’t know if I would enjoy doing it often. Maybe four or five times a season, I would. There’s a difference between bloggers and journalists. Bloggers have much more freedom to say what they want, and for some people, having a press pass would probably be dangerous. I mean, I’ve seen people at practices be horrendously rude to players, can you imagine if they had press access?

6. To what extent do you feel accountable for the content of your blog? How concerned do you think readers should be about the authority and accountability of your blog?

I feel pretty accountable. I don’t say things on my blog that I wouldn’t say to people in person (although I might not say “Hey, Trevor Daley, why’d you play so bad last night?”), but anything I say is stuff that I either really do believe (as far as opinion goes), or things that I’ve read on reliable sources (like Heika or Tracey Myers’s blogs). I try to inject humor into my game recaps, to make myself a little different from places like Yahoo Sports or the Stars website.

I just like to have my blog there to get what I want to say out there. If people like to comment and start conversation, that’s rad. If not, that’s cool too.

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?

I don’t like bloggers who are all “I HAS KNOWLEDGE”. I prefer blogs that just express their own opinions, like I do. Sometimes it’s hard to judge - maybe some people DO have inside information, but I generally blow it off. I worry enough about my team without having rumors to make it worse. Like most people I know, I get my news from newspapers and actual media people, and I get my fun and interesting conversation from blogs.

8. What value, if any, do you think blogging brings to the NHL?

I think it’s really enjoyable, really. I think that a lot of fans like to write about their team and show their passion and interest, and maybe they have some differing opinions than the media, and it’s fun to see. Here in the South, where hockey isn’t that popular, I think it also helps to bring fans together. I know that I’ve met at least one awesome hockey fan due to my blog (Hi, Patty!), and I hope that continues.

[Originally sent in an email, 12/06/07 by Cat.]