Blogger Interview
I recently had a chance to interview Evan Brunell of Firebrand of the AL. Evan is the owner of Most Valuable Network. I am sure you have heard of it but if you haven't then you should check it out. You won't be disappointed. MVN is doing great and it keeps getting better and better. My questions are in bold and his responses are in normal font.
When and why did you decide to get into blogging?
Around December 30, 2003, I decided it was time to put my thoughts about
the Red Sox on paper. I had started seeing an explosion in blogs and I
thought that I should get into it because I knew I had a lot to offer.
Then my friend wanted to start up a Pirates blog, and we were going to
link each other. Then he was like "Hey ... why don't we get people to
write for every team?" I loved the idea because it would be a nice
network and I could learn more about each team because every year I find
myself sliding towards being more of a baseball fan than the Red Sox.
While I still swear 100% by the Red Sox, I wanted to become a baseball
connoisseur.
Did you ever think MVN and "Fireband of the AL" would get so popular?
I sure wanted it to, but I didn't think it would, nor even this fast.
And add in MVN just merged with All-Baseball, which should more than
double our hits, and we are well on our way towards our goal of
bankrupting ESPN! Here's a little secret I'll let out to you - we are
going to move Fire Brand of the American League and some other MVN
bloggers to All-Baseball and find replacements on MVN. Someone likened
it to Sports Illustrated - for example, All-Baseball is the star powered
lineup, while other writers work writing the body of the magazine, which
is MVN. That is not to say that MVN has lousy writers, we have all very
capable writers but for reasons unknown to anyone, people gravitate
towards a few and we want to maximize their exposure, therefore they
will move to all-baseball.com.
What do you enjoy most about blogging?
I'll answer first what I enjoy least - when nothing comes to mind! And
I'm the guy who makes myself blog at least every other day, so when I
can't figure something out, I go nuts until I figure out what to write.
As for my favorite part, it's when I write something and get good
reviews and comments and thoughts on it, it is very rewarding to see
that people read me and take me seriously.
What are your future plans for MVN?
As I said before, bankrupt ESPN.
Do you hope to eventually have every sport(out of the NBA,NHL, MLB and
NHL) covered at MVN?
Yes, and more. NASCAR, Poker, Boxing, Wrestling, even high school
sports! Everything!
Now let's move unto baseball. As a Red Sox fan, how was it to see the
Sox finally win the World Series?
I can't really describe it but what I can say is that I'll never feel
that same feeling again until I get married and then until I have kids.
It's one of those once-in-a-lifetime feelings. If you rooted for the Red
Sox to beat the Yankees and win it all although you weren't a Sox fan
(many people became Sox fans in the playoffs) then multiply it by 100
and that's how I felt. I didn't cry, but I will admit tears come to my
eyes ... and they still do!
Do you think the Sox will repeat this year?
I can't 100% know that but I will say this: they're better than last
year and last year they won the World Series.
Do you think the Sox/Yankees rivalry is stronger than ever now?
Yes, but not on the Red Sox side. Our feelings and anger have now been
tempered, but now it's the Yankees who have a chip on their shoulder.
Before I rarely heard offensive names for the Red Sox but they're all
over the place now - Red Sux, Blosox ... never heard it before. I love
it, it shows the Yankee fans are ticked off and now I love they're
getting a taste of what they looked down at all these years.
Now to the Tigers, with their new improvements, do you think they have
a shot at the Central this year?
Yes, I don't think they will win it, as a matter of fact I picked them
to finish fourth, but that's not reflective of their record, but of how
strong the AL Central is becoming. I think they, if everything goes
right and Minnesota falls which I think they are very liable to do, the
AL Central is wide open. Cleveland will eventually be the 1990s Braves
of the Central, winning the division for years to come, but they're not
there yet. Minnesota is slipping, and Chicago is so unpredictable. The
Tigers have the next three years to win it before Cleveland becomes the
big powerhouse. If they can win it in the next three years, or two in
the next three years, they'll have the fan interest and money to compete
with Cleveland.
(A note I would like to point out is that right after I did this interview, I found out that MVN is going to join forces with All Baseball. All Baseball, a huge site, is somewhat like MVN but it just covers baseball. Wow, those two combined will do some damage.)
When and why did you decide to get into blogging?
Around December 30, 2003, I decided it was time to put my thoughts about
the Red Sox on paper. I had started seeing an explosion in blogs and I
thought that I should get into it because I knew I had a lot to offer.
Then my friend wanted to start up a Pirates blog, and we were going to
link each other. Then he was like "Hey ... why don't we get people to
write for every team?" I loved the idea because it would be a nice
network and I could learn more about each team because every year I find
myself sliding towards being more of a baseball fan than the Red Sox.
While I still swear 100% by the Red Sox, I wanted to become a baseball
connoisseur.
Did you ever think MVN and "Fireband of the AL" would get so popular?
I sure wanted it to, but I didn't think it would, nor even this fast.
And add in MVN just merged with All-Baseball, which should more than
double our hits, and we are well on our way towards our goal of
bankrupting ESPN! Here's a little secret I'll let out to you - we are
going to move Fire Brand of the American League and some other MVN
bloggers to All-Baseball and find replacements on MVN. Someone likened
it to Sports Illustrated - for example, All-Baseball is the star powered
lineup, while other writers work writing the body of the magazine, which
is MVN. That is not to say that MVN has lousy writers, we have all very
capable writers but for reasons unknown to anyone, people gravitate
towards a few and we want to maximize their exposure, therefore they
will move to all-baseball.com.
What do you enjoy most about blogging?
I'll answer first what I enjoy least - when nothing comes to mind! And
I'm the guy who makes myself blog at least every other day, so when I
can't figure something out, I go nuts until I figure out what to write.
As for my favorite part, it's when I write something and get good
reviews and comments and thoughts on it, it is very rewarding to see
that people read me and take me seriously.
What are your future plans for MVN?
As I said before, bankrupt ESPN.
Do you hope to eventually have every sport(out of the NBA,NHL, MLB and
NHL) covered at MVN?
Yes, and more. NASCAR, Poker, Boxing, Wrestling, even high school
sports! Everything!
Now let's move unto baseball. As a Red Sox fan, how was it to see the
Sox finally win the World Series?
I can't really describe it but what I can say is that I'll never feel
that same feeling again until I get married and then until I have kids.
It's one of those once-in-a-lifetime feelings. If you rooted for the Red
Sox to beat the Yankees and win it all although you weren't a Sox fan
(many people became Sox fans in the playoffs) then multiply it by 100
and that's how I felt. I didn't cry, but I will admit tears come to my
eyes ... and they still do!
Do you think the Sox will repeat this year?
I can't 100% know that but I will say this: they're better than last
year and last year they won the World Series.
Do you think the Sox/Yankees rivalry is stronger than ever now?
Yes, but not on the Red Sox side. Our feelings and anger have now been
tempered, but now it's the Yankees who have a chip on their shoulder.
Before I rarely heard offensive names for the Red Sox but they're all
over the place now - Red Sux, Blosox ... never heard it before. I love
it, it shows the Yankee fans are ticked off and now I love they're
getting a taste of what they looked down at all these years.
Now to the Tigers, with their new improvements, do you think they have
a shot at the Central this year?
Yes, I don't think they will win it, as a matter of fact I picked them
to finish fourth, but that's not reflective of their record, but of how
strong the AL Central is becoming. I think they, if everything goes
right and Minnesota falls which I think they are very liable to do, the
AL Central is wide open. Cleveland will eventually be the 1990s Braves
of the Central, winning the division for years to come, but they're not
there yet. Minnesota is slipping, and Chicago is so unpredictable. The
Tigers have the next three years to win it before Cleveland becomes the
big powerhouse. If they can win it in the next three years, or two in
the next three years, they'll have the fan interest and money to compete
with Cleveland.
(A note I would like to point out is that right after I did this interview, I found out that MVN is going to join forces with All Baseball. All Baseball, a huge site, is somewhat like MVN but it just covers baseball. Wow, those two combined will do some damage.)
posted by Dan at
9:36 AM
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