Like many of my fellow bloggers, I was disappointed this morning when I looked at the list of 16 finalists for the NGS contest. I'm sure that there were at least a few hundred bloggers that expected their name to be one of the few. We all wrote for different reasons. Some wrote to have their voice heard. Some wrote in an attempt to start a career in sports writing. Some wrote to be part of a sports community (and a great one, I might add). And others wrote simply because they love to write.
Any way you look at it, this contest was a great idea. I applaud FoxSports for inventing this concept. I said it before, but I do not envy the job that these judges had to complete. Imagine the reading they had to do in a short time, while managing to answer blogger questions and respond to comments. I read several blogs, but I'm sure I didn't even scratch the surface on the thousands of entries.
I will admit that I'm only familiar with a few of the finalists: Detpack, arabchickencurry, crookdnose, and The_Doc. For those 4 and the other 12, congratulations! I believe the true competition will start now. It's easy to write about the topic of your choice, but should be quite a challenge to write with an assigned topic. I look forward to seeing some great writing.
I realize there are some sore losers out there. In one of my blogs, I mentioned that sports is great because it displays a person's character in both winning and losing. While I can understand the disappointment, it doesn't make sense that people would be negative about the results. I don't think anyone in this contest had already quit their day job in order to be the "Next Great Sportswriter". At least I hope not.
To anyone that takes their writing seriously and didn't make the finals...KEEP WRITING! I started writing a long time ago...and I've always kept one rule in mind. WRITE FOR YOURSELF. It doesn't matter if your audience is one or one million...writing is a gift. I hope that none of you are too discouraged to forget that simple rule.
There were probably 100 or more that deserved a shot at being a finalist. To those people, I'm sorry. But keep your chin up, and above all else...KEEP WRITING!
I would like to thank everyone that recognized my blog, especially jbold1 & hillhubbo. Thanks to everyone for reading!
I agree with you completely. In fact, I just wrote an article on my blog along the same lines. I will continue writing for two reasons. First, I love to write. Second, I love sports. So, it only makes sense to keep writing. I'm glad to know there will be others who continue as well.
I heard about the Burnitz thing yesterday, and I am not surprised. The O's can't get anything right, because they are aren't interested in winning. And why would Ramirez come anyway? He'll be just like Miggy, wanting to go elsewhere after a while
Selected as a finalist in the 2nd "Next Great Sportswriter" contest, but I didn't bring enough cowbell to win it.
I am the self-appointe d chairman of the National Sarcasm Society. If you don't believe me, I guess I don't really care...
I enjoy reading anything that is well written...nov els, articles, whatever. I also enjoy writing for recreation. I believe that writers and athletes have the best jobs on the planet.
