It tickles me that PurpleRow is the first listing in the blogroll. This looks like a fantastic site. I’m excited.

Looking forward to what they’ll do.

More Rockies is more better, but coming from these guys, more Rockies is more excellent. I’ll head over there for a look this morning.

Thanks for the post!

Thanks for the heads up.

Thomas Harding, for instance. He avoids mentioning us by name, but I clearly get the idea that the Row is on his mind in those last couple of paragraphs. This one, in particular, bears notice:

But as the media business goes through its difficult time and more publications disappear or cut back on coverage, the fear is there is less original information. That creates an information void that would be difficult to fill without the daily access that comes with being part of the traditional media. A lot of blogs build on the information that’s garnered through such reporting.

The thing is that he’s mostly right about blogs, but he’s missing the point (and baseball itself is missing this point) that as the traditional print media continues to decline, the team and the MLB will be better served by opening reporting access to nontraditional media to take their place, including some blogs. Right now many blogs don’t provide as much original information because they are not allowed the same access. Baseball in general and the Rockies in particular use several excuses for this:
 
1. They don’t want to open it up to a few bloggers because than they would have to allow everybody who writes on the net (which means everybody in general) the same access. This is hogwash. Baseball has always had the ability to restrict who they credential and set standards, My parents couldn’t print a newsletter from their dot matrix printer 20 years ago and get media access. This doesn’t have to change in the Internet era, but baseball should be cognizant of the fact that fewer media outlets means less free publicity, and they need something to replace that if they wish to continue to grow their business. By opening access to some blogs that meet certain requirements that they could set, that reporting void Harding mentions could easily be filled.

I actually think that bloggers themselves should be more proactive in this and set their own standards for entry into an association similar to the BWAA. By forming a lobbying arm, they will be able to better establish the credibility that they currently lack.

2. Concern for players’ privacy. Sites like Deadspin that air the dirty laundry of professional athletes are rotten apples that bring down the reputation of other bloggers in this. Again, this isn’t a difficult obstacle to overcome, though. There is no reason that bloggers couldn’t honor the same professional code that other sportswriters follow when it comes to locker room etiquette. If they can’t you kick them out.

3. Bloggers are mean. Well, that’s true. I can’t help us there.