I am leaving BTJ to blog at WIM
Many of you have heard the big news that James Mirtle, one of the four founding fathers of the hockey blogosphere (in my opinion), left his humble abode at Blogger to become the hockey manager at SBN and now blogs there at From the Rink.
Over the past year, I have tried to divide my blogging attention to BTJ and Winging It In Motown over at SBN. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to make both successful and I feel that both blogs have suffered over the past year because of my attempt to do so. I had been thinking of consolidating my blogging efforts and Mirtle’s decision to join SBN made my decision even easier.
I believe that under Mirtle, SBN can become a fantastic hockey blogging platform and the current software is amazing for game threads. It even allows readers to make their own FanShots or FanPosts and I can then promote them to the front page allowing readers more interaction. As a result, I am leaving BTJ to solely blog Red Wings hockey at Winging It In Motown. It was a hard decision to make (after spending almost 4 years blogging here at BTJ) and I even consulted my advertisers here about it.
You will now find a mesh of my Wings blogging at WIM with more BTJ-feature posts like Behind the Blog returning as well as the newsy posts and game threads already common to WIM.
So I’m asking all of the BTJ readers to please add WIM to your RSS reader or to your list of blogs you read on a daily/weekly basis. Mirtle is asking for all of the SBN blogs to boost their weekly post totals so content will be increasing over there and we are even hoping to add another WIM blogger or two so if you would like to join Joe and I at WIM, please send James an email.
Battle of the Blogosphere
This week, Behind the Jersey is competing in the Battle of the Blogosphere at The NHL Arena Program. This battle consists of 128 blogs and goes seven rounds. The first round is still going on and BTJ’s bracket has just begun. We are competing against the fabulous Battle of California (BOC), a blog that I started reading on its first day.
I will be the first to admit that my blog is not known for its humor. While I adoringly read funny hockey blogs, I acknowledge that mine will never be like that because frankly I’m just not that funny. BOC is my favorite non-Wings humor blog out there. Despite Anaheim’s defeat over my beloved Wings in the 2006-2007 postseason, Earl Sleek’s take on the Ducks is absolutely hilarious. His cartoons, which can now also be seen at AOL Fanhouse, are the best in the hockey blogosphere. Earl isn’t the only blogger over there. BOC includes RudyKelly who covers the Kings as well as PJ & Mike Chen who talk San Jose hockey. If you haven’t been reading this blog already, please head over there and do so today.
I’m going to steal Earl’s explanation of what to do next:
Anyways, I’ve been stalling long enough — here’s the Battle of the Blogosphere. Be warned, it is a long listing, and I don’t recommend voting for each and every contest. My advice? Scan the list, pick out your favorites, cast a vote (registration is free), and when you’re satisfied, stop. Here’s where you can win, though — if you catch yourself on the trailing side in any poll, it’s probably worth giving the other entrant a read. Of course, I don’t assume that this Battle of the Blogosphere will categorically determine anything (popularity contests rarely do), but that’s not to say it’s a waste of time; it does at least offer a wide glimpse of the variety of fan sites out there. What’s stunning to me, actually, is how many quality blogs aren’t even in the running — this blogosphere experiment grows and improves by the week, it seems.
To vote for BTJ or BOC, please visit this direct link.
My Hard Drive Crashed.
So I do realize that the season is finally here and we can start watching Red Wings hockey tomorrow - finally!!
Unfortunately, my laptop’s hard drive crashed yesterday and my Internet access is limited. On top of that, I am having exploratory knee surgery (yes, that’s #10!) next Wednesday so when I do have Internet, I’m trying to get work done for classes. Basically, I’m apologizing for the lack of posts when there finally is a lot to write about, but between the laptop crashing and the amount of pain I’m in, I am having a hard time blogging right now.
Hopefully, I’ll have a laptop to consistently use by next week and I should definitely be able to blog while I’m recovering from surgery and just lying in bed. Until then, I’ll post when I can, but I can’t make any promises!
Sorry guys!
BTJ now on Twitter
With extra time on my hands, it’s my annual BTJ review. What has worked in the past year? What could be improved? What blog adjustments can be made? While mulling over those questions, I decided to finally join Twitter and start tweeting. You can find me under the username of BehindtheJersey so please feel free to find me and say hi. If you have a Twitter account, please let me know and I’d love to follow you! I’m obviously new to Twitter so it may take awhile for me to catch on, but I’m going to try. I will be tweeting about a variety of topics from the Red Wings to other sports news to what’s going on with me.
If you have any suggestions for ways that BTJ can improve over the next two weeks before I head back to school (outside of posting more because I already know that), please let me know. I always appreciate constructive criticism.
Have Questions for Alex Delvecchio?
Do you have a question that you’d love to ask Wings great Alex Delvecchio?
Ace, the blogger behind The Ace of Sports, will be interviewing Mr. Delvecchio next Monday and is looking for additional questions from interested readers.
If you have a question, be sure to stop by his blog and send him an email.
Kneed 4 Relief: A fundraising campaign
For my BTJ readers, you may have noticed a new development in the site’s design. In between the first and second posts, you will now find an advertisement for BetUS. They are an online sportsbook that lists hockey odds and lines among other things. Why am I mentioning this here? Well, BetUS has become our highest advertiser as of today and the proceeds from the BTJ ad sale are going towards something very close and dear to my heart.
About four months ago, I requested for approval for a medial meniscus transplant operation that I had hoped to have next summer. My insurance company denied my request arguing that the surgery was considered expiremental and they wouldn’t pay for it. I appealed two more times within BCBS and failed to overturn their denial. I then appealed to the Michigan board (an external review essentially). They too denied my request. So unless something miraculously changes, I have to raise $30,000 in the next 11 months so I can have a surgery I desperately need. As many of my readers know, I’ve had 9 knee surgeries and deal with chronic pain on a daily basis. I am not allowed to run, bike, swim, or even walk for exercise. I’m in constant pain and standing or walking for any length of time aggravates the knee. My surgeon, who is one of the first orthopedic surgeons to start performing this procedure over 21 years ago, believes that this surgery should reduce my pain by at least half of what it currently is. A reduction in pain by that much will hopefully prevent me from being in serious pain after shopping at the mall or standing at a UM football game. I will most likely never be able to run, but I would love to walk and stand without pain and maybe someday be able to swim or bike or use the elliptical with little pain.
Ok, so why am I telling you all of this? Well, I have started a fundraising campaign called Kneed 4 Relief to raise enough money to have my surgery by next summer. BetUS‘ advertising deal with BTJ gave the Kneed 4 Relief campaign a $500 start and is very much appreciated.
I am not someone who wants to ask for donations from my wonderful BTJ readers, but if anyone has even $5 that they could donate using the PayPal button below, I would be incredibly appreciative. I have created a page up top called Kneed 4 Relief and all of my donor supporters will be recognized there. If you have any questions about this campaign, my knee, the surgery, etc, I am more than happy to talk to you via email.
As this campaign rolls on, you will likely see more posts about it on BTJ. I hope to eventually put on an auction (whether it’s online or not still needs to be determined) where there should be numerous Red Wings items available so I will definitely make sure you all are aware of it when the plans have been cemented. I am also working on a blog just for the Kneed 4 Relief campaign, but it’s not ready just yet.
Thanks again to BetUS and to the BTJ readers for being understanding about why I decided to insert an advertisement in between the first two blog posts.
Taking a Breather
As you may have noticed from the less frequent posting, I have been taking a bit of a breather after the free agency excitement and before the start of next season. I plan on posting more than I have in the past week, but until I leave Chicago on August 11th updates most likely won’t be daily.
I’m trying to get the most out of my internship in Chicago for the remaining weeks of my PR internship here so between our final project and the many things to see and do, I’ve been staying busy. Just the past three days, I have volunteered at the AVP Tour this weekend and the Chicago 2016 Bid Dinner yesterday.
Me with a friend before the woman’s final on Sunday. The final consisted of the two teams that will represent the US in beach volleyball next month in Beijing. Kerri Walsh & Misty May, the 2004 gold medalists, won in three games. It was May’s 100th open win, which is a huge accomplishment. Following the match, they signed autographs and took photos with the fans so I got a nice souvenir out of the deal as well. On Saturday, I shagged balls for nine hours for both mens’ and womens’ matches during the day.
Photo courtesy of Crain’s Chicago Business.
Just last night, I volunteered for the Chicago 2016 bid dinner at Millennium Park in which they raised $12 million toward their Olympic bid efforts. I was a hospitality volunteer so I got to hang out in the VIP tent during dinner with the who’s who of Chicago including the mayor and supposedly some Chicago pro athletes (but I’m afraid I didn’t recognize them as they walked past me). None of the athletes were hockey players, which probably explains my lack of knowledge. After the dinner, they attended the nice ceremony with music and a reflection of Jesse Owens that culminated with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the 200+ volunteers carrying the flags of the representative countries. I enjoyed the experience and it was great hearing not only how excited the mayor was (this Olympic bid is his baby, his hopeful legacy to the city of Chicago) but how much the volunteers wanted to see their city get the bid.
Guest Lecturer at Barry Melrose Rocks
Kevin @ Barry Melrose Rocks had me on as a guest lecturer on his wonderful blog. You can read the fun email interview here. I talk about how this Cup win was different as an intern, which captain is better (Lidstrom or Cap’n Crunch), what superpower I’d want, and what lyrics would describe my feelings after hearing about the Hossa signing to name a few.
The summer is a boring time in Hockeyville. You know this. To try and keep our sanity, various folks from around the internet will stop by to share their thoughts on hockey, their favorite team, of course, whatever random crap we can come up with. Our first contestant is Christy Hammond creator of the Red Wings blog, Behind the Jersey. Christy can also be found at Winging It in Motown and is arguably the most well known female writer in blog land.
I’d like to thank Kevin for letting me start off what should be a fun blog series this offseason. His blog is one of the first ones I read every morning and even though I hate Barry Melrose (gasp), Kevin’s wit and love for the mullet man make it a worthwhile read.
Pete compares self to Robert Lang
Pete @ yzerman is god blogs for the first time in 20 days, which leads him to describe himself as the Robert Lang of Red Wings bloggers.
Me? I’m doing my best Robert Lang impresison. Productive at times, occasional hot streaks, but cold all too often, and a total disappearing act in the playoffs.
He went on to compare his fellow Wings bloggers to Red Wings players:
- IwoCPO @ Abel to Yzerman = Brendan Shanahan
- Matt Saler @ On the Wings = Nicklas Lidstrom
- Dave @ Gorilla Crouch = Niklas Kronwall
While I certainly agree with all of those comparisons (with the Lang similarity being the most amusing), I don’t really agree with Pete’s comparison of me, but I do appreciate the nice compliment.
Christy (A) at BTJ could be Datsyuk or Zetterberg - her work gets national attention, and is probably the star blogger of the Wings’ community. Her prose is magnificent, and her fanship undoubtable.
BTJ is now on Facebook
Apparently, you can make Facebook pages now allowing individuals to become “fans” of music groups, companies, non-profits, etc. After seeing Billfer at Detroit Tigers Weblog make a Facebook page for his blog, I decided to follow his act and create one for BTJ.
So if you have an account with Facebook and would like to be a fan of BTJ, just follow this link and click on the button that says something like become a fan.