The Influence of Sports Blogs

Writing articles and opinion columns is and always will be the primary focus for writers and journalists. But a new innovative way of expressing oneself has recently materialized. Blogging has become increasingly popular among many writers as well as the general public. Blogs or web logs are expressed in a profusion of topics ranging from business and finances to sports and entertainment.

I’m not too familiar with blogs unrelated to sports, but I’m sure they are similar in a lot of facets. In sports blogs, topics can be more intense as opinions are more abrasively expressed. You’ll see more bias exposed in blogs where it is less articulated in conventional columns or articles. Most sports writers and journalists will use blogs as a way to vent. They use it as a way to express their thoughts and opinions without holding back or mincing words.

When a writer posts an article or column, they write with a certain responsibility to uphold some kind of ethics. They are hesitant to convey a point of view in a specific manner if they think it may offend some readers. It’s not because they are afraid of expressing a particular point of view, but it seems to be an unwritten rule among most writers to try to hold an unbiased status. The reason being is that most articles are intended to appeal to a large audience. Writers want to draw in a consistent audience and maintain high readership. It’s the articles that, for the most part, define a writer’s career.

A lot of writers use blogging as a hobby. Personally, when I write a blog, I am giving a short, to the point opinion on a certain topic or topics that is flowing through the mind. While articles and columns are usually well prepared and edited, blogs are usually written ‘in the moment’. Because of this, most blogs may tend to have more grammatical errors than an edited article.

Another aspect pertaining to blogs is that they usually provoke forum discussions, which can frequently result in some interesting arguments. Sometimes, the points of views expressed in a blog can be so controversial, that it can actually stir the emotions of some readers who are passionate about the issue discussed. Some bloggers enjoy that so-called power they have over the readers.

Basically, when I write a blog, I consider it a way for me as a writer, to blend in with other sports fans to discuss topics of interest. When I write a blog, I am more of a fan instead of a writer. It’s considered a break from the routine, which is good for a lot of writers.

While blogs provide writers another alternative, it’s the articles and stories that still fuel a writer’s passion. After all, a writer may spend all day or even several days working to perfect an article before publishing it. Because so much more work is put into the articles and stories, it naturally holds more meaning to the writer as well as the readers.