Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament Selection Show

Greg Gumbel: Welcome to 3rd Annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament. I'm Greg Gumbel. For something special this year, your host of this tournament, Sean of Sean’s Ramblings, hired us to present the 32 blogs competing for the title of best Pittsburgh sports blog. I’m amazed that this low-budget blogger was able to raise enough money to hire us. As always, I’m joined today by Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis. Welcome gentlemen. Before we release the bracket, what are your thoughts on the tournament?



Clark Kellogg: I'm excited to be here, Greg. This is a wide-open tournament. With the rule that a blog that has previously won the tournament is ineligible to participate, that means no PensBlog and no Bucs Dugout. Any of the 32 blogs in this tournament can win.

Seth Davis: It has truly been a great year in the Pittsburgh sports blog community. So many sports stories from Steelers’ run to the Super Bowl to the University of Pittsburgh's football coaching situation. The Penguins continue to be one of the best teams in the NHL, and the John Russell era for the Pirates is over. So many great blogs. I’m really excited Greg.

Greg: If you’re not familiar with the rules, I encourage you to click on this link for more information. I should also mention that this tournament is for entertainment only. The tournament was designed to highlight some of the great Pittsburgh sports blogs and to encourage collaboration between bloggers. We have four divisions based on great Pittsburgh athletes from the past. Let’s look at the top seeds. We begin with the Johnny Ray division where the number #1 seed is (dramatic pause) Mondesi’s House. Mondesi’s House has been around since June 2006 and discusses all Pittsburgh sports.

Clark: No surprise here. Mondesi’s House has been one of the best Pittsburgh sports blogs for some time.

Greg: In the John Cullen division, the top seed is Empty Netters. Seth writes about the Penguins on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette web site and may be best known as the originator of the Jersey Foul.

Seth: This was a remarkable year for Empty Netters. There was a scare that the blog’s future was in jeopardy, and the blog’s fans came out in full support of the author. A well-deserved #1 seed.

Greg: Let’s move to the Carlton Haselrig division. Your top seed is Behind the Steel Curtain.

Clark: Behind the Steel Curtain is probably the most respected Steelers blog out there. Multiple authors, great posts; they have it all.

Greg: And finally, the top seed in the Jerome Lane division is Steelers Depot. A second Steelers-related blog to earn a #1 seed.

Seth: I’m a little surprised about this selection. I figured a Pittsburgh Pirates blog or another blog that discusses all Pittsburgh sports would earn the fourth top seed. Not a bad pick but there are others just as deserving.

Greg: Let’s take a look at the complete 32-blog bracket. Apparently, Sean’s Ramblings spent all of his money on us and not on graphics.



Greg: The first round match-ups in the Johnny Ray and John Cullen divisions will run on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first round for the Carlton Haselrig and Jerome Lane divisions will take place on Thursday and Friday. Let's discuss some of these match-ups.

(Via phone) Billy Packer: Greg, this bracket is a disaster. How can you have a Pittsburgh sports blog tournament without The Pensblog?



Greg: Billy, The Pensblog won in the first year of this tournament and are not eligible. We said this at the beginning of this post. By the way, how did you get this number?

Billy: Where is Duke? How are they not here? What’s with all of these small market blogs? What’s a blog anyway? (Phone disconnected.)

Greg: Um, always nice to hear from Billy Packer.

Seth: Greg, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just got a call from my bank. Apparently, the check Sean sent me bounced.

Clark: My check too, Seth. I just stayed on since Sean and I both have degrees from Ohio State.

Greg: I’m out of here. What kind of dumb idea is a Pittsburgh sports blog tournament?

Seth: At least the logo is cool.



(Thanks to Cotter for making the logo.)