Selling out, redux

I am an antichrist
I am an anarchist
Don't know what I want but
I know how to get it
I wanna destroy the passer by cos I

I wanna be Anarchy!

OK, not quite Anarchy in the Blogging World, but I thought that would be an appropriate intro to how the first post sounded. It usually takes me talking to someone to really get my thoughts straight. Usually, that ends up being my wife. This is something that has bothered me before and I think I unfairly started a rant at Bubba's expense, although he was not the subject of my ire.

Anyway, the whole blogging in the press box debate is an interesting subject to me. The first question you have to ask yourself is what role does the media fulfill? The media exists primarily (in theory) to inform and analyze - Who, what, where, when, why, and how? This is backed up by some legitimizing structure to give said media some sort of accountability and entertainment to keep people reading or watching.

Bloggers can inform, analyze, and entertain. Sometimes all at the same time. Many strive for legitimacy, but really only the ones who have some level of accountability are taken seriously. Bloggers often hide behind pseudonyms, but until they are out in the open with who they are and open themselves up to scrutiny, they won't really get the respect they think they deserve.

"But who are you, Chris?" you might ask. Or maybe not - you probably don't care. That would be a good question if I was trying to put myself into that group. I don't hide who I am, but I don't put myself out in the spotlight either. In order to get to the level where you are gaining legitimacy, it takes a little exposure in more than one sense of the word.

So the root cause of my annoyance is in that delineation - bloggers who wish to stay anonymous, but wish to be treated as full-on members of the media at large. I'm not singling anyone out here or accusing anyone of doing this specifically - let's take this as pure speculation. If you want to be legit, that comes with all of the baggage - good and bad.

If someone wants to blog for a living and he, she, they, or it wants to latch on to some sugar daddy sponsor in order to pay the bills, more power to you. I sincerely wish you luck in your endeavors. Get your blog seen in as many places by as many people as possible. Get it published in a newspaper, even if it's only a link from the online version. Sell yourself. If you want to turn blogging into a media gig, it'll take a lot of effort - effort that I know I don't have the time or energy for.

I'm sure many others are in the same boat. I have a full time job and two kids - this is pure hobby. I do it because I love hockey and want other people to love hockey. I can happily break down the Hurricanes recent dismantling in Tampa or the close loss my C-league team was handed two weeks back.

For me, someone offering to give me press credentials would be interesting, maybe even cool, but not especially useful to either myself or the Hurricanes. I have better seats and I can cheer or not cheer when I want to. If I suddenly lost my job and decided to try sports writing as a career, maybe I'd change my mind. Maybe not.

I still don't know if this made any sense to anyone. I'll have to read it over again in a day or two with fresh eyes. I hope I've made it a little more clear.