posted by Robyn74
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But HHR isn’t the only place you’ll find this blog’s team spirit. In an effort to bring sports bloggers together HHR Founder Don has taken on a new project this year—“Blogs With Balls.” On June 13 he will be bringing some of the biggest names in sports media together in NYC for a one of a kind event. The list of speakers is impressive. Gary Vaynerchuk, Jim Bankoff (SB Nation), A.J. Daulerio (Deadspin), Bethlehem Shoals (FreeDarko), Dan Steinberg (D.C. Sports Bog), Michael Tunison (Kissing Suzy Kolber) and Pete Vlastelica (Yard Barker) are just a few of the big names scheduled to appear.
BallHype: How did HHR get started? What was the inspiration behind it?
Don: Much like any other sports blog, I'd imagine...two friends (one a Philly sports fan the other a NY sports fan) looking for a platform to vent.
BallHype: What was your original goal when you started this blog? Have you achieved it? Has it changed?
Don: Having lived in DC, most of our friends—and subsequently our only readers—could care little about Philly/NY sports. A handful more started contributing and now we have about 10 total writers with a more diverse set of sports and geographical perspectives. Our only real goal per se was to put out quality work and let the product speak for itself. I think we've done that and created a good following.
One thing we try not to do is recycle stories that can be seen everywhere else, and, as such, try to bring a unique perspective to events. Our editors generally shoot down well-publicized happenings. If you are looking for recaps or breaking news, you probably wont find it at HHR.
Ultimately, I'd love for this to be a full time gig, but that hasn't happened just yet.
BallHype: What do you think separates your site from other sports blogs? What are your specialties?
Don: We try to remember that the subjects we are covering are people with families who just so happen to be in the public eye. We try not to be overly negative (unless, of course, they bring that about themselves). We also try to curb our language and you won't find half-naked women. We try to stick strictly to sports.
I think our specialty is finding tangent relationships in everyday life and sports. Be it politics, entertainment or business. When we can tie non-sports news stories to athletics, our audience can better relate and it distinguished our site from others.
BallHype: What kinds of stories get the best reaction among your readers and why?
Don: This is something that always perplexes us. We could write well thought out pieces that get very little play, but a "Top XX" list or an obscure reference usually gets the most attention. Such is the nature of the medium.
BallHype: What are your favorite kinds of stories to write and why?
Don: Collaborative ones in which the entire staff contributes. Generally they will be the aforementioned "Top XX" stories, so they get the most attention, but also is just truly enjoyable internally to get all of our personalities working together.
BallHype: Your site covers all sports, but what is your personal favorite?
Don: Being from the Northeast, and having the bias that accompanies it, depending on the season it would be baseball or pro football.
BallHype: What is the best experience that has come out of having this blog?
Don: I think the forthcoming Blogs With Balls conference. We feel that the great group of panelists we were able to put together in one room, shows the respect we have among our peers.
BallHype: Give us some background on how this event came about, why you’re doing it and what you hope people will get out of it?
Don: One of the event's co-founders (who is the founder and editor of Trjoan Wire) and I attended an Internet conference a few months back. While interesting, it had very little relevance to sports blogging. Following the event, we noted that if something similar existed centered around sports blogging, it'd be a great resource for others like us—mid-sized blogs looking to share best practices, expand our brands and learn from more-accomplished counterparts. After some research, nothing out there seemed to fit the bill.
We then realized that in the rapidly changing face of sports media, specifically in a post-sports blog world, there were various other interests that are and/or soon would be merging, including sports, media, technology and advertising.
Our focus then became threefold:
• Facilitate best-practice discussions for the sports blogging community;
• Educate companies and advertisers on how to best utilize online sports opinion influencers and how to best interact with their readers; and
• Provide insight and strategy for athletes, teams, leagues and their representatives who are looking to tap into the emerging mediums.
BallHype: If you had to pick your single favorite athlete or team (or both), who would it be and why?
Don: Long before the likes of Michael Vick, Vince Young or Tim Tebow, I grew up wanting to be a quarterback in the mold of Randall Cunningham, and before changing positions in high school proudly wore the #12.
BallHype: Overall what do you hope your readers get out of their experience when they come to your site?
Don: To be entertained enough to want to come back, tell friends and interact with writers and fellow readers.
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sharapovasthigh HHR is one of my favorite sites on the web. Like Don said, they don't really recycle stories, they bring unique material that I really enjoy reading. I particularly love the interviews they do, you won't find that on many sports blogs, and if you do, you won't find any that are handled better. They are very professional, yet incredibly entertaining. I don't know if there's a sports blog I admire more than these guys and hopefully Blogs with Balls will help get them much more recognition and respect, as they absolutely deserve it. -
EthanJaynes HHR is one of the best blogs period. I guess it just needs to get picked up by Gawker to get the pub. Great interview. "Blogs With Balls" will go down as the starting point to heights of HHRMedia.
I have that much faith in these guys. Great work, and great work ethic! They are also very nice.
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paneech1472 I read what Hugging Harold Reynolds writes daily and I am always entertained. This site has unlimited potential and the people running it are knowledgable and helpful to less experienced bloggers such as myself.
I first read the blog because the name intrigued me. But be sure to note that many sites with clever names do not deliver like HHR has for as long as I have been reading blogs.
Great choice of a site to feature!
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Hugging Harold Reynolds Just wanted to thank each of you for the kind words. It really goes a long way to hear such support by other great guys/sites. -
Detroit4lyfe I've been reading HHR for quite some time, and recently due to blogging myself, I started reaching out to great blogs like them asking for advice etc. It's always comforting to know that the people behind the scenes are just as quality as the work. Rehashing what ST said, their material is always fresh and entertaining. When I first found out about "Blogs with Balls" months ago I had no idea it was being run by HHR. It wasn't long before I learned that it was and I wasn't surprised to hear that in the least. An amazing event planned by an amazing blog. I wish I could make it this year, but look forward to participating in the future.
I agree wholeheartedly with Paneech, great site to feature Ball Hype.
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mookie HHR is always considered by me to be one of the top blogs on the net - full stop.
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ryphilli Love HHR. Great site with excellent writing and certainly one of the top blogs on the web.
Can't wait for Blogs with Balls, I'll be there representing Rumors and Rants.
HHR Featured in BallHype Profile Series
Hugging Harold Reynolds —
HHR was recently featured as part of the BallHype Profile Series. You can check it out here: BallHype Profile on "Hugging Harold Reynolds" Hype it up if you like it! Follow us on Twitter @HHReynolds or Click Here to get HHR in your inbox. Have You Gotten Your BlogsWithBalls Tickets Yet? ...
