Athletes Blogs for Many Different Reasons

Posted on October 15, 2006

The International Herald Tribune (IHT) has an article about blogging athletes and sports stars. One of the issues the article discusses was the blog ban imposed on athletes by the International Olympic Committee during the Winter Olympics. Fortunately, it wasn't enforced -- several athletes at the Winter Olympics had blogs.

The article says athletes blog for different reason. Some, like Barry Bonds, want access to the public without having to deal with the media.

The answers are varied. Some athletes, weary of dealing with the traditional media (imagine that), crave unfiltered access to their public. The baseball slugger Barry Bonds has been in this category for some time, and although his reality television show - another form of direct contact with an audience - did not endure during his latest allegation-filled season, his blog continues on his eponymous Web site.

An athlete's blog also conveyed what it is like for a pitcher to eliminate the Yankees in the playoffs. Detroit Tigers pitcher Nate Robertson blogged on mlbplayers.com after the Tigers defeated the Yankees. He wrote, "That's what it's all about, man. I can't really explain the feeling to be able to go out there in that situation and get the job done."

The IHT says some athletes also blog for money. The article says Brazil's soccer star Ronaldinho was paid to post at msn.com during the World Cup. Another reason athletes blog is to help promote a sport that could use more attention -- such as an extreme sport or relatively unknown outdoor or water sport.

Some athletes want any kind of access to their public. This includes those whose sports have yet to break into the mainstream, such as the reigning kite- surfing World Cup champion, Kristin Boese of Germany, whose travelogue of a blog appears on mountainzone.com, despite the fact that mountains do not have much to do with kite surfing.

Kristin Boese's blog can be found on mountainzone.com. Mountainzone.com also runs blogs for several other athletes. Wet Dawg also maintains a few blogs for athletes.

One interesting sports star blog concept mentioned in the article is Andy Roddick's Club Roddick which charges a subscription of $29.95 for access to exclusive blogs and content. Roddick isn't trying to make money from his blog -- the money goes to his charitable foundation, the Andy Roddick Foundation. Andy Roddick also has a blog on his site that is free to read.

Also coming soon according to the IHT is a group of NHL bloggers that will mimic the NBA's Blog Squad concept on the National Hockey League's website at NHL.com.