Well, it took quite a bit longer than I thought it would, but we have indeed finalized the official nominees for the 2006 College Football Blogger Awards. A few notes before the announcements.

Rather than just pick some of our favorites, Brian and I thought we'd ask for input on the nominations, and, well, we got input. Lots of it. When we saw the greasy, tangled hairball that Brian's nomination gizmo spat out (garbage in, garbage out, don't you know) and compared it to the scores of nomination posts (many of which were not linked to in the comment section of the official announcement, as requested! No nominations for you!), we immediately solicited the assistance of several notables you no doubt recognize and trust. Having convened the Fellowship, we took to the task of compiling the official nominee list, which in fact proved to be much like Elves and Dwarves seeking a common ground on the question of beauty.

So we all sat around on a Skype group chat the other night while half-watching the wildly entertaining GMAC-Bowl and hammered everything out. You should know a couple of things about that evening. First, do you remember that You Talkin' to Me Award for the best trash talk of the season between rival blogs? Gone. And do you remember that Chris Berman Antimatter Award for the best contribution to the lingo of the college football blogosphere? Nixed. Good ideas, both of them, but they just didn't pan out, so they were scrapped. We also added one new category, for the best mainstream media type.

Second, even the Dwarves were models of objectivity and diplomacy throughout the selection process. More often than not, we were arguing against ourselves and on behalf of others. The goal really was to identify for posterity the best of the best of the 2006 season while still helping others to discover lesser-known, but well-deserving blogs. We believe we've accomplished that.

So just who is this diabolical cabal? Who are these mysterious "notables?" Hmm. It is indeed a mystery. And for the answer, and the official nominees for the first four categories, you'll need to head over to MGoBlog at around 12:00 EST. Brian will meet you there and then. He's busy compiling the final BlogPoll, so cut him some slack if he's a little late.