Lunchbox Links

I don’t think anything any team does is going to stop idiots from posting ridiculous things in random blogs( like me, for example :P ). However, I would look at things from the opposite point of view as him. You will never stamp out the half-wits of the world, but you can reward the good guys. I’d look at it more like teams will grant access to bloggers who are legit(like RHQ, for example). The rest would be barred, not because they are critical, controversial or whatever, just because they have not proven to that particular team that their commentary adds value to that team’s fans. As far as things go, I wouldn’t grant access to morons like Buffery and Ziccarell either, but that’s just my personal opinion.

If you can send a little baggie out to Scotland I’ll happily send a chq to contribute to the RHQ fund – promise.

Long time reader, I’d say almost daily, but been a bit lazy with the posting but this got my attention… Now I love this blog, it’s a different take on things, has bit of a no holds barred approach, has been moreso on the negative side as of late (but then again, I feel the same way)…My two cents are this, there are silly blogs and what I’d call this blog, a professional blog. Now if you’re going to be a professional blog, i.e. get into the press conferences, be able to take photos (which btw if you need someone, I do a fair bit of photography), and get recognized as a independent news media source, then yes, you have to be held accountable for what you write, and that only happens with some sort of financial penalty.

This is the only way that any professional sports organization would allow you to be considered more ‘serious’ and would weed out the random people in their mom’s basement as you put it.

Again, 10k is alot so maybe that’s a bit over the top, but maybe 2k to start with limited privileges and then you work your way up if you want more? Ie. if your readership increases enough and you guys make more off the website, then you upgrade your membership and get more access?

Just thinking out loud here, and the only way to get some credibility in the real world would be this approach and then you guys have established yourself and can open up many other possibilities… Maybe think of it as an investment?

Just my thoughts, there is a lot of garbage out there and this might be a good way to separate the real players so to speak.

DW,
Credibility is obviously very important and once you lose your readership, chances are they aren’t coming back, no argument there. Most bloggers do this for fun and there’s nothing wrong with that, but like I said, if you want to become a professional blog, ie. recognized as a legitimate media source, instead of someone who writes Op-Eds all the time, then yes, there has to be some sort of collateral to show that you’re serious about this. Otherwise, why would MLSE or any other pro team give you real press privileges vs. the globe & mail and toronto star?

I’m not saying you can’t blog whatever you want to blog about, the point is, if you want to take it to the next level and you want to show that you’re not just some random blogger and want more exposure/recognition with a possibility of making money (i.e. notice the best buy ads on the site?) then yes, I’d say step up, put some money into that, provide the team some reassurance that you’re not going to say something inflammatory and hide behind your monitor.

Once you establish yourself and are in good standing, then you’ve opened up many many doors for you, so I’d imagine you could get a pretty good return on investment.