Are there sports blogs for those uninterested in sports?

January 16, 2007 10:40 AM

What sports blog would you recommend for someone who is uninterested in sports?

I'm one of those guys who just isn't that into sports.

I would like to have some level of conversational knowledge of sports however. If I'm out with friends and the topic of baseball comes up, I'd like to be able to mention something relevant I've read recently rather than wait for the topic to change.

I'm sure there are sites like ESPN which would provide a good overview of what's current, but my feeling is that it would cater toward the person who's already relatively on top of everything and interested in the details. I suppose the site I'm envisioning would provide a bit more backstory to the articles and wouldn't contain as much statistics and such that are are completely uninteresting to those like me.

I suppose one that has some focus on local teams would be great as well (Los Angeles for me). RSS feeds would be sweet, but not required.

If such a site doesn't exist, I suggest an enterprising MeFi-er to start a chain of easily digestible blogs devoted to conversational topics (politics, sports, current events, etc.)

posted by chimmyc to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (21 answers total)

Deadspin.com is easily accessible in that it's funny, well-written, and about more sports gossip and personalities than Xs and Os, but it would definitely still help to know the major names in sports.
posted by GaelFC at 10:46 AM on January 16, 2007

Free Darko is great. Maybe not 100% what you're asking since it deals almost totally with the NBA.

But I love it because its some of the only writing on sports I have ever seen that I would call "literate." I'm a sports fan, but I'm also a writer and book snob, and it pains me to read 99% of what passes for "sports writing."

So you might enjoy Free Darko, because it's not sportswriting, it's good writing that happens to be about sports.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:54 AM on January 16, 2007

That's one hell of a good idea. I hope someone does this for college basketball.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 10:56 AM on January 16, 2007

I am in the same boat when it comes to the boring sports (ie: baseball & nba). So what I do is read 'Yahoo! Most Emailed Sports Stories' to get a sense of whats going on. Knowing the top 10 most talked about sports stories each day keeps me in the loop even if its a boring loop.
posted by ZackTM at 10:59 AM on January 16, 2007

Sportsfilter is very conversational and entertaining. It's run by some MeFites and populated by MeFites too. You cannot escape.
posted by iconomy at 11:03 AM on January 16, 2007

Have you looked at SportsFilter? Might give you a way to jump around and look at stories that interest you, rather than having to wade through stories you think you "should" read. (Plus, the format will be familiar!)
posted by occhiblu at 11:03 AM on January 16, 2007

Jinx, ico!
posted by occhiblu at 11:04 AM on January 16, 2007

Slate's Sports column isn't as regular as a blog, but I find it pretty accessible in that they often explain why you should care about what they're discussing.
posted by sonofslim at 11:17 AM on January 16, 2007

UniWatch focuses entirely on sports uniforms.
posted by box at 11:53 AM on January 16, 2007

Kissing Suzy Kolber is good and snarky. Sort of a Deadspin spin off.
posted by spicynuts at 11:56 AM on January 16, 2007

Though it's already been mentioned twice, I too am not a sports fan, but a minor sympathizer, and Sportsfilter has filled me in on the things going on in the world of sports.
posted by drezdn at 12:01 PM on January 16, 2007

Salon Sports features a once a weekday column that has a lot of style and substance. I think you would get a lot of mileage out of it without expending too much effort.
posted by mmascolino at 12:03 PM on January 16, 2007

Fox Sports Blogs is great place. you can drift thru there and read things written by regular people who love sports. my first stop there is always Bread and Circuses. That guy is humorous and is actually what i would want to read in the sports section. i will admit to being a homer, my brother writes there, also.

check it out. every topic you can think of is being hashed out in the comments section. ESPN was actually caught trolling FoxSports Blogs for news stories.
posted by Davaal at 12:53 PM on January 16, 2007

The LAist is good for quick updates on what's happening in LA sports. (Along with lots of other useful local information!)
posted by platinum at 1:55 PM on January 16, 2007

Seconding King Kaufman's column on Salon.com.

And maybe USA Today's Sports Scope?
posted by staggernation at 2:05 PM on January 16, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for the recommendations, all! I'll go through these and see what catches my eye.
posted by chimmyc at 6:25 PM on January 16, 2007

Bill Simmons' column The Sports Guy at ESPN mixes and matches sports with all sorts of genre-bending commentary. Unfortunately, they wall off his archives to subscribers. But I recommend it as a weekly read.
posted by frogan at 6:30 PM on January 16, 2007

Well Pardon the Interruption on ESPN is not a blog but has lots of entertaining banter pertaining to current sports without getting into X's and O's.

If you can't catch it on TV (its on at 5:30 ET), it is also in podcast form.
posted by ngn01 at 8:40 PM on January 16, 2007

Dodger Thoughts is not only the best LA Dodgers blog on the web, it's one of the best sports blogs. It's definitely focused more on stories than just game recaps and stats so it should be perfect for you (as far as your local baseball needs go).
posted by subclub at 8:55 PM on January 16, 2007

I'll also second Pardon the Interruption. This is espacially true since the show features an always on screen rundown of current topics and a countdown clock of how long they will be discussing the current topic. With this innovation and a DVR I can usually watch PTI in about 10 minutes and get what I want out of it.
posted by mmascolino at 7:42 AM on January 17, 2007

I third the recommendation for Salon's King Kaufman. Slate's irregular sports writing is good too. Both, while being written by folk who like sports, understand that a lot of people don't and, unlike a lot of writing on ESPN or SI, admit that not really caring about sports is a valid position.
posted by croctommy at 10:16 AM on January 17, 2007