The 2007 College Football Blogger Awards: Jury Prize: concept

by Joel Hollingsworth on Mar 3, 2008 9:02 PM EST

Time for the final award for Day One of the 2007 College Football Blogger Awards. First, a recap of the day's events:

Funniest Blog, at Every Day Should Be Saturday;
Best YouTube, at Rocky Top Talk;
Funniest Post, at Burnt Orange Nation;
Best Analysis (post), at MGoBlog; and
Best Community, at Burnt Orange Nation.
Best Audio, at Rocky Top Talk;
Best New Blog, at Fire Mark May;
Best Looking Blog, at Burnt Orange Nation;
Best Photoshop, at Every Day Should Be Saturday;
Best Recurring Feature, at Sunday Morning Quarterback;
Best Analysis (blog), at MGoBlog;
The Job Award, at Every Day Should Be Saturday; and
Best Pac-10 Blog, at Bruins Nation

JURY AWARD: CONCEPT

Ah, rivalries:

The best sports and sports blogs are powered by the underlying combustion of heated rivalries, those contemptuous familiarities that prod and poke at every conceivable opportunity, stoking mere passion into an eternal conflagration.

Okay, so maybe that's a bit much, but it cannot be denied that antagonism and conflict underpin the growth of many a blog. After all, partisanship practically writes itself. In the words of Markos Moulitsas, the founder of both the liberal political blog Daily Kos and SB Nation:

It's that intense partisanship and team loyalty that are really, really similar, and blogs really appeal to partisans. It's a brilliant platform for people who are passionate about things.

Hey, orange and crimson together is beautiful.
Photo credit: artct45

Sports bloggers have long engaged in trash talk, good-natured and otherwise, but until this past season, I was aware of no single blog on which rivals co-habitated. Then, this past August, one handful of Tennessee fans and another handful of Alabama fans stopped flipping each other off long enough to put their fingers to the higher and better use now known as Third Saturday in Blogtober.

Ghost of Neyland, TideFanInTN, Vols to the Wall, Crimson Daddy, and the other Orange and Crimson purveyors of the blog named after the traditional day on which their two teams annually collide somehow manage to keep the animosity alive and respectful at the same time. If sports blogs are indeed fueled by animus, Third Saturday in Blogtober could simply coast on fumes for the next 107 years of the rivalry.

Chest bump for the concept, guys. Keep it coming.

That's it for today, folks. We'll wind it up again tomorrow morning starting at around 8:00 a.m. EST. Burnt Orange Nation will kick off Day Two by presenting the award for the Best Mainstream Media Blog. See ya then.

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Comments

Woo! for 3rd!

They earned it!

by David Hooper on Mar 3, 2008 9:07 PM EST reply actions

Sweet.

Now we can get Ghost off of suicide watch.

No, seriously, thanks for making up an award so we'd have something to win.

by crimsondaddy on Mar 3, 2008 11:04 PM EST reply actions

If they had to make an award up.

It's only because you blew the doors off the concept of what a blog has to be. I seriously think this idea will catch on in other rival fanbases.

I just don't know if anybody else will be able to find as cool of a blog name for a rival blog.

by David Hooper on Mar 4, 2008 7:43 AM EST up reply actions

I went to Ghost with the idea...

but he gets 100% credit for the name. I thought 'A Blog Divided' would be good, and when he came back with TSIB, it blew me away.

by crimsondaddy on Mar 4, 2008 9:35 AM EST reply actions

Thanks, guys

We are humbled and thrilled with the award. It really means a lot to see our work going rewarded. Honestly, it's bigger than we ever thought it would be, and hopefully, the dynamic that we're all friends comes through, even on the days when we can't stand each other (which is really quite often).

As far as the name goes, it just came to me. I usually stink at stuff like that (as my headlines suggest...)but Crimson Daddy had the idea. We just wanted to splinter off and do something we could be proud of, and do it PG-13 rated. Hopefully, we're accomplishing that. And I was never on suicide watch, at least not too closely watched. The blogs who were nominated and won awards are all very, very deserving.

Again, thanks Joel and everyone else ...

by ghostofneyland on Mar 4, 2008 10:01 AM EST reply actions