Monday's FTB: A blog about the Leafs

There was an ideological argument in the comments recently (I know, such a shock) and it was basically about how there isn't the right kind of prose in sportswriting anymore. With a side of advance stats bashing. Feels vs truth, that sort of stuff, and then I read something today that isn't elegant prose, ain't nothing like that stuff you read in english lit, but is something else entirely and much more rare and endangered: actual blogging.

There isn't much of it anymore. Blogs became independent journalism sites in the pursuit of some kind of credibility in order to surf the Google algorithm wave and get those tasty pageviews – their only source of revenue, the ads everyone blocked. Google has actually moved on and just wants to put content on their own page, and their thumb is on the scale so hard now that chasing pageviews isn't just more lucrative done with disinformation, and AI created articles, it's necessary.

Meanwhile independent actually means independent of editorial control, lawyers, accountants actual salaries commensurate with time spent, and all those other messy things that modern "corporate" media companies have. Nothing worse than a job with an HR department and a pension, right?

While there are five or so Leafs "blogs" that pump out AI written stories built around a tweet, there are also some who have turned into journalism sites where someone hustles, hustles, always be hustlin' to write stories super fast that look exactly like what TSN does now where they pump out a story with a Tweet wrapped in 150 words (this used to be a Google minimum and some people think it still is). Interestingly, the one guy better at that than, er, someone I know well, quit the writing game altogether. And I know why, because the amount of time spent hooked into social media and not living your life meant there was no time to ever think about hockey. Which you actually might like to do if you really like the game.

No one much blogs. When PPP was floated free like a tiny bit of flotsam tossed off the Titanic – a slightly tatty seat cushion or a raft made out of a broken table – I decided immediately that this was not going to be monetized by ads if I could help it, and therefore it was going to be a blog. And a commenting community, it's always been a hybrid. There are a few out there, mostly on Substack, and mostly esoteric. There's a few very old sites that are mostly chasing gambling sponsors now, the new way to sell your soul. Why doesn't Google have a gambling company? That's kind of an obvious fit for them, isn't it?

This is a lot of buildup for what is just a gently fun pairing of an article and a blog based off of it, but it's what struck me as I was having fun reading the blog and figuring a lot of people here would be into the concept – the hybrid coming together, oooh, I found something you'll like!. Access and then expertise. That's a journalism shot with a blog chaser where the whole is greater than the sum.

NHL superstar poll: Rule changes, Texas expansion, fan culture at ESPN

It is very tempting to create an "I have your priors" list of all the people on the McKenna should play with Matthews hobbyhorse for when they do play together and the inevitable pivot happens to articles about how they shouldn't. Leon Draisaitl nods in agreement.

The above is actually a blog post about the idea, and despite the "Should" headline which I hate, it actually is what the rumination is about in this case not a gotcha lure.

I've seen some teams already sending players down to the AHL, and there have been a couple on waivers for assignment as well. With the Leafs only having one more set of games on Wednesday, they could start shifting off the AHL/ECHL group three at any time.

The best blog I've read lately is this:

Not for you if you think numbers remove all the good stuff from hockey. For you if you want to understand the actual game, not just the emotions you feel about the game. Courtesy of Hardev, via Micah McCurdy. I started with the discussion about weird changes in xG vs results and came away thinking more clearly about viewing each season more in isolation. I believe the data collection changes have profoundly affected both "advanced" stats, "analytics" and even traditional metrics, notably Save %.

Blogs are thing people have thought about or researched or care about or are trying to sell you, pick the good ones!

From The Branches