First Order of Business

Here, I pay homage to the blogs that I read and have read for years now--my inspiration so to speak. These writers are great for different reasons, but in my humblest of opinions, they all deserve a spot in your RSS reader.

Ohio State Blogs

Our Honor Defend - I missed the boat on OHD's genesis, but holy shit do these guys (this guy?) do(es?) good work. Between their Better Know a Buckeye segment, which is probably the single greatest individual feature anywhere in the OSU canon (not just blogs, but everything... Dispatch and BSB be damned), and the Bucknut Youtube Explosion (55 videos and counting!!!), OHD wouldn't have to do anything else to remain a staple in my OSU blog rotation. The good news is, there's other material to read! P.S.: If you haven't read the BKAB on Terrelle Pryor, take 13 hours and read it. It's fantastic.

Around the Oval - Another one of my favorites, AtO offers thoughtful and solid analysis. Take their recent analysis of how OSU gets penalized as a prime example. As a former English Lit major and a current law student, I love when writers can compose lengthy diatribes that remain incisive, relevant, intelligently conceived, and most of all, entertaining. AtO is very readworthy.

Eleven Warriors - An all-around solid blog. 11W would play SS on the OSU blogosphere drunken softball team. As mentioned in the first post, I like to appreciate blogs for their strengths, and combine a dozen or more different sources into one uber-feed. 11W transcends categorization; it is just solid. News, commentary, analysis, discussion of other blog pieces, videos, and light humor. If you told me I could only read one OSU blog, it would probably have to be 11W; the breadth and depth of coverage is admirable to say the least. Not to mention, they probably have my favorite name of any OSU blog. P.S.: More youtube!

Buckeye Commentary - I'm not positive about this, but I believe BC is the first OSU blog I ever read. It seems like yesterday I was downloading Keith's 'Play of the Week' videos on Quicktime. (See: Robo's circus catch @ Minnesota in '07). Obviously, there's a youtube channel. I think it was the 2005 or 2006 season when I first saw these videos, and spending the time and effort capturing, ripping, encoding, and uploading those videos made me so happy.

Dotting the 'i' - Dotting the 'i' is one of those blogs that seems standard at first glance, but reaches into the darker corners of OSU athletics to find material generally untouched by the aforementioned blogs. DTI is keeping up with Othello Hunter, (apparently) allowed to attend Media Day, keeping track of Bucks in Beijing, and comprehends the value of reminisence.

Men of the Scarlet and Gray - The goal here is to bring the lols. Yeah, there's the standard news coverage, but MotSaG is more a 'personal' blog than strict, stuffy football. There are photoshops. Other sports and teams are covered as well!

Blogging the Buckeyes - From Ken Gordon and Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch, there is a good bit of meat posted to this blog. It's worth reading; the licensed member of the press has a unique perspective; however, it ranks below all of the fan blogs in my book. You can just tell you're reading the writing of older men, and that their motivations are more focused on getting a story than a more "pure" love of the game. Yeah, I know that makes no sense, but it's the feeling I get and I don't care.

Hoops & Scoops: an OSU Basketball Blog - Yeah, I'm mostly going to be posting about football here, but I'm still a basketball fan. I actually made it to the JV level before I quit in 10th grade! The Columbus Dispatch's Bob Baptist runs this blog, which I first noticed a few months ago. Considering the frequency of updates in the offseason, I'm looking forward to the in-season material.

Other College Football Blogs

Every Day Should Be Saturday - Widely considered to be the best.

ESPN Blog Network - Big Ten - Adam Rittenberg over at ESPN handles the Big Ten blogging duties. A one stop shop to keep up with the rest of the conference. Highly recommended.

mgoblog - Know thine enemy. The capstone of the maize & blue blog canon, mgoblog is everything that a blog should be. Even though their color scheme is hideous and terrible, no one needs to know. Use Google Reader for God's sake. Home of the BlogPoll in which I am far too tardy and unqualified to participate.

Varsity Blue - Another UM blog. Enough said. Their team-by-team Big Ten previews and conference-wide recruiting updates are worth reading.

Black Shoe Diaries - The only Penn State blog in my wheel house.

Black Heart Gold Pants - The only Iowa blog in my wheel house. Lots of comedy. See the latest J Leman saves the world series.

This is all I've got. Obviously, I like to read about this sort of crap, so if there's something that I'm not reading that I should be, let me know! Obviously I focus on Big Ten team-specific blogs and national blogs, but I'm open to anything! Especially now that I'm a contributor in the blogosphere, I am very willing to learn from some of the best

Cheers!