Amateurs blog for sport

As the UCLA football team struggled through last season en route to a 6-7 finish, former coach Karl Dorrell was feeling the heat from Bruin faithfuls. On Nov. 19, 2007, the first of a series of ads ran in the Daily Bruin calling for Dorrell’s ouster as head football coach. Sponsored by the fan Web site DumpDorrell.com, which has since ceased being written, the ad was funded by the donations of Bruin fans eager for a coaching change.

Karl Dorrell would be let go following a loss to USC on Dec. 1, 2007, and while the move cannot be attributed to just an advertisement, the occurrence may illustrate a growing trend in the world of collegiate sports: the influence of the Internet.

In this age of advancing technology in which athletes are ever more visible, the Internet provides the average fan an opportunity to publish his thoughts for the world to read. As collegiate sports expand in the public view ““ adding more scrutiny to recruiting wars, scandals and BCS controversies ““ more and more fan-sponsored sites are cropping up throughout the World Wide Web as forums for fan discussion.

“It’s sort of an online version of going down to the local bar to watch the game with other Bruins fans,” said the editors of BruinsNation.com, a popular UCLA blog, in an e-mail. “We write to connect with alums, students and fans of UCLA.”

Fan sites like BruinsNation or Guttylittlebruins.com have grown in popularity. These Web sites, however, are not just mere forums for argumentative speculation. Often they can be sources of news for Bruin fans across the country, despite the partisan nature of such sources.

“We believe that blogging, especially in a community-based setting such as BruinsNation, is actually more likely to be accurate than traditional media reporting,” argued the BruinsNation editors. “This is because the stories are posted and our readers have the instant ability to question our opinions, post countervailing facts and point out any possible factual inaccuracies.”

But many would argue that problems persist with such sites, especially with concerns over their partisan approach. Such bias, in the eyes of critics, invalidates these Web sites as sources of legitimate journalistic information. In addition, some fan sites have begun a trend toward a rigid consensus of opinion. Throughout the Bruin football team’s struggles in the fall, DumpDorrell and other sites were targets of criticism for their harsh depiction of Karl Dorrell.

Among collegiate fan sites in general, frank espousals of both opinion and criticism are also aimed at players themselves. In an interview with the Daily Bruin before UCLA’s matchup with Notre Dame last October, Bruin punter Aaron Perez addressed his approach to critical Internet boards and fan bloggers.

“My freshman year I used to read those things like they were science textbooks,” Perez said. “Now I realize those writers are all guys who know nothing about what I do. I don’t even care anymore; I think it’s funny sometimes. But I used to let them kill me.”

There is criticism from mainstream print journalists as well. While blogs or Internet boards may be a good source for any fan’s venting of frustrations, sites may also become bastions for complaints and cries for pink slips.

“In general, blogs or boards tend to foster negative attitudes,” said Bill Shaikin, a sportswriter at the Los Angeles Times. “Everyone is complaining about something. … Everyone wants somebody to get fired. I’m not sure if following sports can be as much fun this way.”

In response to such criticism, writers of these blogs or sites note that they intend to reach a very specific audience of readers.

“We are not neutral,” the BruinsNation editors said. “We are advocates for what we believe is in the best interest of UCLA Athletics.”

With the popularity of fan sites and the rapid growth of blogging, many established print newspapers have taken note, including the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News, both of which run a UCLA Athletics blog updated multiple times daily.

Despite concerns over bias, print journalists have taken note of the value of fan sites. Shaikin believes that blogs and fan sites have certain advantages that even the mainstream media may utilize.

“You don’t have to wonder what fans are thinking about particular subjects,” Shaikin said. “You can log on and find out.”

Sites like BruinsNation, DumpDorrell or GuttyLittleBruins also provide ideas for stories, as mainstream journalists are more able to tap into the psyche of a team’s fan base.

“I can’t think of every good idea, so I sometimes see an idea on a blog (or) board ““ “˜Hey, why is the team doing this?’ ““ and use my access to find out. Then I can write about it,” Shaikin said. “Fans on the Internet might find out something about the team I cover before I do … and link to it. If I don’t see the original story, I might see the link on a blog or message board and be able to follow up and check it out.”

So why do bloggers blog? Ultimately, online writers are drawn to the sense of community such forums provide.

It ties the writers, themselves often fans, to the rest of the fan base. They all delight in cheering and booing in unison, as if they were all members of the same fan fraternity.

“People are social creatures with the need to communicate with others,” said Professor Michael Suman, who lectures in communications studies at UCLA. “We no longer come together at many of the old social gathering places.”

So those places are being replaced by digital-age social gathering places, such as the World Wide Web, which allows hundreds, even thousands of people to coalesce into one.

“We still crave connection with others and still desire to be part of a community,” Suman said. “Now people are often achieving it indirectly through technology, such as the Net.

“Communication patterns, then, have changed. Face-to-face discussion was replaced by telegraphs, then telephones.

“Now much of that interpersonal aspect has vanished as these Internet fan sites become more popular.”

What then defines the so-called “blogosphere,” an ever-growing community of online consumers thirsting for up-to-the-minute news and opinion? And why have sports sites, blogs and message boards become so prevalent following the turn to the millennium? Simple answers are hard to come by.

“Sports are one of many areas that energize people,” Suman said. “People certainly do gain a sense of community and connection from the sports teams with which they identify. These associations have long been an important sense of identity for many people.”

As final scores roll in, the blogosphere buzzes on, connecting a community of fans as never before. Sports fan sites, in a strange way, form a type of literary democracy: a forum in which opinions are heard and challenged while news is provided to the community as a whole. As the sites boom in popularity and provide breaking news, it is clear that altering the landscape of collegiate and even professional sports has become as easy as a click of the mouse.