When we were asked to pick to a blog to follow for the entire semester, I selfishly chose John Clayton’s blog because it was one that I already looked at every day and one that was regularly updated. Unfortunately the blog itself is only available to “Insiders,” at the ESPN website and it requires a bi-yearly credit card payment along with a log in name and password. However, I can still provide you with information regarding the blog, and the first several paragraphs of each article.
I chose John Clayton because he has an unquestionable depth of sports knowledge. He is frequently featured on ESPN on shows such as “SportsCenter” and “NFL Tonight.” Clayton, who physically looks as though he has never participated in a competitive sport in his entire life, appears to know more about the individuals on the Football teams than most people know about their own families.
The site refreshes its links to audio and video files on a nearly daily basis. And his insights change direction and sports every day. With topics ranging from draft picks, to Clayton’s personal views about controversial issues that face the National Football League, those loyal followers of his blog are never allowed a dull article.
I plan on continuing to follow this blog because the information is always well-gathered and relevant. The topics that John Clayton chooses to report on are always those that are on the forefront of the sports world and his views are always backed by facts that he gathers through intimate knowledge of the sport along with the relationships he has built with the players he covers.
If I were to change one thing about John Clayton’s blog it would be that there would be more feedback from the readers to Clayton. There is a comment section and a forum, but there really isn’t very much interaction from Clayton to the readers themselves. Also, I would like to see more video clips directly on the page. On ESPN’s homepage there is always live streaming video of the top stories on SportsCenter. I think that if Clayton were able to incorporate something like this on his blog he would be able to draw a larger reading community.
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Nice, Owen. What do you think about Insider or pay sites in general? Do you think they raise the caliber of conversation, or do you think sites like ESPN and others would do more to foster communities of readers by making access to all their columnists and contributors free?
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