NEWSLETTER
Warning: This post is entirely meta. So, if you’re looking for a post involving actual Chicago Cubs-specific content, you may want to skip this one.
There’ve been quite a few ripples in the Cublogoverse over the past few months, most of which have gone unreported by yours truly. Sorry about that. I’d always intended on doing so, but things have a way of playing out in ways completely unrelated to what you intended. So it was with this feature.
That said, there is some relatively big news happening today in the Cublogoverse that I couldn’t forget to mention. Several of what I consider to be the best Cubs blogs out there – Another Cubs Blog, And Counting, Tales from Aisle 424 – have consolidated to form a superblog: Obstructed View. The component blogs will essentially cease to exist (at least in the form of active Cubs blogs), and you’ll have to get your fill at the new digs. It’s definitely worth checking out.
It’s always a delicate enterprise, discussing other Cubs blogs. We are, at bottom, competitors. No one really likes to say that, of course, because most of us are friendly and share mutual respect. But the Cubs’ corner of the Internet is a profoundly crowded space, and we’re all competing for you. Your eyes. Your return visit. Your trust and belief that *this* is the best place for you to get your Cubs news, rumors, analysis, and (usually) shared misery. Sure, it’s entirely possible that you will frequent many Cubs blogs – but hell if I want to be the guy that tips you off to what might be a better place to spend your time.
So, if you look closely, and read between lines that none of us want to write, you’ll see that Cubs blogs tend to cluster together in groups among which they share the love – and in favor of which they eschew all others. I try to send out my love equally and in all directions (among quality sites, at least), but lately, “equal” has meant “none for anyone.”
I’d like to believe that failing has been mostly a product of time – there are, after all, only so many articles I can find time to write. But if I’m being completely honest, I’m sure at least some part of it is driven by that “competition” thing. I’ve made no secret that this site has grown at an impressive pace (I’m nothing if not modest). What was once a fun side project is now a kind of job. A job in which I now feel two responsibilities: (1) providing the best possible content to the thousands of you that come here every day (see how I just tooted my own horn again? Like I said: modest); and (2) doing everything I can to ensure that the thousands of you that come here every day keep coming here every day. Because of the second one, I feel the unkind urge to hoard.
And that’s not cool.
If I truly believe that BN exists to provide you with valuable content, then I should conclude two things: (1) you’ll come back, even if you discover another great Cubs site; and (2) I should alert you to other great Cubs sites if I feel like they provide valuable content.
That is all one long way of saying: check out Obstructed View. Based on the component blogs, I have no doubt that OV will provide you with valuable content. As a Cubs fan, myself, I know it will provide me with valuable content.
But, um, like, please come back, ok?
