Fan Blogs

Big Ten fans love to follow their school's teams on the Web. So we set out to interview the passionate voices behind your Big Ten blogs.

Q&A: MGOBLOG.COM

How did you come up with the name for your blog? It just seemed natural. I really didn't think of any other names. I just wanted to keep it short and keep it easy to spell. It was more of an internet consideration than anything else. When was the blog created? Right before the Rose Bowl against Texas, so like December of 2004. I think when I started the blog, I looked around for other regularly updated college football blogs and I think I found only two. What made you want to create a blog? I had always wanted to write something, and I had done some writing in college. I tried a few things and they didn't really work out, and then it sort of occurred to me that whenever I talked about Michigan football to my friends I'd talk for 15 minutes and their eyes were glazed over. I thought this might be something I know more about than the average person, and that turned out to be correct. How many hours a day do you devote to the blog? That's a tough question because I'm on the internet all the time. How much of the time I'm actually spending on the blog itself, that kind of gets lost. If you're talking in terms of office time, it would probably be 12 hours. But in terms of actual time spent on research and everything else, it's bigger than that. I spend a lot of time of the blog. How many people contribute to the blog? There's just me and then I have a recruiting correspondent and a couple of regular diarists who also help out. But they're not sanctioned or anything like that. What is the best part of the job? When something happens that deeply affects the family you're a part of and you sort of step up to the plate and write that is appreciated, that's a feeling that I don't think a lot of people get in their jobs.

BigTenNetwork.com editor Brent Yarina phoned the well-respected Brian Cook, the creator of MGoBlog.com, to get his thoughts on his popular Michigan blog. Cook, 29, graduated from Michigan with a degree in computer engineering.

BigTenNetwork.com: You're kind of a pioneer in the college blogosphere, so tell me why you decided to do this before it became popular?

MGoBlog.com: I always felt that the mainstream media did a very good job telling you what happened, but I didn't think it covered the how or why. It didn't make much sense to me. I wanted to know what was going on, more and more, and I wanted to know what that meant for the future. I always wanted a better idea of what's going to happen, and I thought it was something people would also latch on to.

BigTenNetwork.com: Judging from your name recognition, it seems like that has been the case, huh?

MGoBlog.com: Yeah, at this point, as far as blogs go, I'm pretty sure I have the number one college blog of its variety.

BigTenNetwork.com: Wow, that's impressive. What does that mean to you?

MGoBlog.com: It's a validation of my approach and my skills as a writer. It's great. I never thought I would be in this position four years ago when I started this.

BigTenNetwork.com: I assume having a storied team like Michigan football doesn't hurt matters, either?

MGoBlog.com: No, I mean, there's no coincidence that I'm possibly one of the first people to be doing this full time. Michigan has a highly spirited, educated fan base that is internet savvy. There are a lot of Michigan lawyers and lawyers are always reading things online because they are bored as [heck]. There are just a lot of Michigan people who like football but don't like the stereotypes of mainstream media.

BigTenNework.com: You also provide a great deal of in-depth game analysis - did you play football in high school?

MGoBlog.com: No, I didn't do anything. I have this thing called Upon Further Review. Look back at some of my early posts, and in one of them from a game against Northwestern, I wrote, "That's a real funny blocking scheme." Then somebody said that's a trap block [laugh]. I had no idea, but I know what a trap block is now. If you look at those early things, they're very rough. I'm still not at a level where I'm an expert, but my perspective has always been that I'm just going to put stuff out there and if I'm wrong, people will tell me, I'll correct it, and it will add to my knowledge.

BigTenNetwork.com: So were you responsible for funding the blog upfront?

MGoBlog.com: There was no money upfront. I started it for free on Blogger. Eventually, I got some share hosting that cost like $10 a month and I got a URL that cost $10 a year. That was the cost of this. I did have the good fortune of my brother being an IT specialist. Virtually anyone who has a blog that isn't gigantic, they can get away with $10 shared hosting 99 percent of the time.

BigTenNetwork.com: It seems like every blogger I talk to knows your name and admires your work. How does that make you feel?

MGoBlog.com: It's good. I mean, when there are no costs to start something, you should do everything you can to be the best. The traffic numbers basically say it, and I'm very happy about that. It's a great spot to be in, and it's very validating.

BigTenNetwork.com: What is the main thing that makes your blog so much more successful than the others?

MGoBlog.com: There's three major facets. The blog intends to be a hub for information. There's posts every day that link out to everything of note and there's sidebar stuff. If there's something happening in the world of Michigan sports, you should be able to find it there in one place. Unlike in newspapers or on Rivals or Scout or anything like that, I take a completely different view of content. If it's content that's out there, I will judge how interesting it seems and based on how interesting it is, I will give it the attention I think it deserves. Second, which I discussed earlier, there's nothing close to this anywhere else. Third, you can get the sports writer to talk about something and it could be worthwhile and could be emotional, but it's not us [the fans].

BigTenNetwork.com: What's your approach for the blog come Saturday game days?

MGoBlog.com: I really try to hold a couple things sacred. On Saturday, I get up, I go to my tailgate and I go to the game. I may come home and post something small, but I leave the column for Monday. I do that for a lot of reasons. As a fan, sometimes you're sad, and if I wrote something right then after the game, I'd be embarrassed by it by Monday. I mean, I get emotional about these things. It also prevents me from looking at going to the game as a job. It kind of is, right? But I don't want it to seem like that. That's the slippery slope. You see a lot of mainstream writers not even viewing the game as fun any more. I don't ever want that to happen to me.

BigTenNetwork.com: What kind of affect, if any, did last year's football season have on traffic?

MGoBlog.com: This year there was hardly an increase during football season. But as soon as football stopped, the traffic went up like 50 percent. I think what happened there is I was attracting more users but they weren't coming as much because there wasn't all that much to be excited about.

BigTenNetwork.com: Really?! I would have thought a program-worst year would result in more traffic, just as a result of people venting.

MGoBlog.com: There are certain places like that, but my blog has always advocated patience and rejected internet anger. I'm emotional and I'm a fan, so sometimes it gets the best of me, but I've never been big into that kind of stuff.

BigTenNetwork.com: You're obviously a die-hard football fan, but what's your other favorite sport to blog about?

MGoBlog.com: Hockey. Yost is a really fantastic experience. There are only about 6,000 seats and they're always jammed pack. The place gets really crazy. College hockey also feels like a community. If you go to the Frozen Four, which I have a couple of times, you will see people in hats and shirts of probably two-thirds of the college hockey teams out there.

BigTenNetwork.com: With all the success of your blog, do you ever have the ESPNs of the world seeking your services?
 
MGoBlog.com: There's been some feelers here and there, but it's the difference between being an employee and being my own boss. There was a point in which it was going to be tough, and I don't think I could swing this if I had kids or anything like that, but the way traffic is going and revenue is going, I've been through all the tough spots. So for me to give up something I love and that is unique and well positioned to be an independent success - and that sounds pretentious - it would have to be a very compelling offer.

• Features
• Shop
• Superfans

©2007-2009 Big Ten Network - All Rights Reserved. Portions ©2009 by STATS LLC and Associated Press.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.