By By Greg Katski
Staff Writer
Lately, I’ve been thinking of ways to use the Daily News’ new-and-improved, user-friendly Web site to the readership’s advantage.
The thing that’s always turned me on to online reporting as opposed to print is the warp-speed at which news can be delivered. True, this desire to report the news first, to break the story, get the scoop, can lead to reckless reporting and factual errors, but the ease at which it can be delivered to the masses should not be under-estimated.
That’s why I like the idea of “blogging,” and now even “tweeting,” so much. And, I think “blogging” serves well in the sports world for a number of reasons: in-game, play-by-play analysis, thoughtful observances and invested reader-to-writer conversations.
So now the question I’ve been bouncing around in my head is — what kind of response will a blog get from the Daily News’ readership?
Ideally, if I do start a blog, it will be readily available on the Daily News’ free Web site, www.wdnweb.com, and will cover a range of topics, from area high school sports, to ECU and beyond. And, it will give you, the audience, a chance to “Sound Off” to me as much as you want about each blog entry. And I know how much you like to “Sound Off.”
Actually, for maybe the first time in the history of the Daily News, I’m asking you to please “Sound Off” and give me your feedback and suggestions.
If you don’t know what a blog is, it’s a forum for someone to post their feelings and thoughts on whatever, but I would obviously gear mine towards my audience. And I feel like I’m qualified enough to ramble about ECU football and what Coach Holtz said after today’s practice, or what to expect from the Pam Pack basketball team this season. After all, I’m an ECU alum with two years under my belt as the school paper’s sports editor, and I’ve been working at the Daily News for almost two years and feel like I’m starting to know the area pretty well.
If you couldn’t already tell, I’m a big blog fan. I read Baltimore Sun writer Peter Schmuck’s sports blog religiously, sometimes at work (shhhhhhh!). What he provides in his blog, cleverly called “The Schmuck Stops Here,” is more than I could ever get out of a run-of-the-mill Orioles recap. I love it because even though I can’t watch most O’s games, which upsets me as a lifelong fan, I can get almost just as much out of his in-game entries. And some of them are hilarious to boot. Now, I can’t promise the same humor as the “Schmuckster,” but I will be wholly invested in the forum if you are, too.
Finally, if this is going to happen, I need a catchy blog name — maybe a play on my last name, Katski. It could be a homage to Peter Schmuck.
I’m giving you the call, so come up with something clever, and please keep it appropriate for the children. And remember to “Sound Off” about me all you want.