I wonder who will move in?

I know exactly how he feels. When we started our O's coverage at Birds in the Belfry, the team was in their third consecutive year of losing...now, five years later, we too are finding it difficult to write about the ballclub...and our readership slowly drifts away as fans tire of year after year of incompetent stewardship and controversial ownership.

It's hard enough being a fan of a loser...it's even tougher owning a website dedicated to them and finding, as he said, 'new ways to say they suck.'

It's hard enough being a fan of a loser...it's even tougher owning a website dedicated to them and finding, as he said, 'new ways to say they suck.'

Call me weird -- and perhaps this is because I've been a Royals fan for all my life -- but I kind of like writing and discussing about the Royals, despite their lack of success. There's no intense pressure to win every game, and likewise, there's no intense pressure to come up with the hottest, latest news and spin. There are Red Sox and Yankees blogs who can write every single day about the latest lineup change, and while I'm sure they love it and their readers do, too, that just doesn't appeal to me. It's sort of like a small, dimly-lit cafe. It may not be what the rest of the league calls cool, but it's ours, and we like it. It's kind of like an inside joke between Royals fans.

I actually pity the older Royals fans, because they're used to World Series victories and competitive play. My dad can get really mad when the Royals lose (which happens all the time), but I see bright spots in the lineup or bullpen that he's not used to looking for and enjoying. It's not really a right or wrong thing, but that's the way we individually approach the game of baseball. But personally the way I look at it is only one MLB team of 30 is going to win the World Series, and they'll soon be forgotten. Why stress the success? Have a little fun and enjoy the small things.

[/weird rant]

To make that preceding rant even weirder, after writing it, I'm finally in the mood for some Royals blogging. It seems like I get burned out from blogging annually, and I hadn't recovered yet. Now, for whatever reason, I'm quite ready for the season to start. Odd.

Garth, the problem isn't that the Orioles are bad; the problem is that the Orioles are bad in uninteresting ways. I spent years arguing that they should give young players a chance instead of signing retreads. We can't even make that argument anymore, because they basically eviscerated their minor leagues over the past nine years. There's just nothing worth talking about. Ho-hum, we offered a gazillion dollars to a guy who had a good year 10 years ago and who is now 37. Yawn, we just gave a four-year deal to a utility infielder.

I feel you, definitely. The Royals' system is rich in elite talent and the payroll situation looks to be very bearable in the future. There are a lot of things to keep attention, certainly. I won't pretend to know about Baltimore's system, but it can't be easy to follow if it's that bad.

I didn't mean that people like Mr. Heeter or Baltimore fans were weak for being bored with their teams. Not at all. It's just that I feel that, for whatever reason, I kind of like blogging about the Royals, probably for unorthodox reasons.

all-baseball.com hemorrhages yet another solid blog…

I miss the good days of all-baseball, back when they had more than four active blogs.

All-baseball used to be the only place I'd go to read baseball blogs.

I first came across all-baseball when Will Carroll still had a blog there. After he left, I kept coming back because I was hoping that the Baltimore Chop would stay afloat (it didn't), and I really enjoyed three other blogs: Vince Galloro's White Sox blog, Ducksnorts, and the Nats blog. I would also pop into K-Conf once a while. too.

Galloro moved to a White Sox-only site, I don't know why Ducksnorts left.

As of today, only Oleanders and Morning Glories remains from the blogs I listed above. OMG is definitely good enough to keep me coming back, but I don't read Galloro and Ducksnorts anymore, just b/c it's not as convenient.

It was great when they were all housed at all-baseball.

#2, #5:

I tried out blogging the O's a couple years ago. Belfry Bob was actually kind enough to link my site, in fact. I didn't even last the summer. It is really hard to regularly post content about the Orioles. For one post, I was reduced to "analyzing" Jim Hunter's horrible performance caling a certain game. So I guess I shouldn't get disappointed when O's blogs falter or die.

However, have you guys seen some of the recent Pirates' threads around here? It's pretty good reading, it's interesting, sometimes even compelling (to the extent that baseball talk can be). I don't know if any of the Pirate Primates have blogs, but if they did, I'd read them, just based on their posts at BTF.

I read those Pirates threads and wonder why the Orioles threads aren't that good. Are the Orioles' follies really less interesting that those of the Pirates? It seems that Pirate fans around here are pretty sure that their team is at least as bad as Baltimore, but they still generate interesting content.

Why is it impossible to generate interesting content abut the O's?

Are the Orioles' follies really less interesting that those of the Pirates

Yes. With the exception of the 4-32 end to '02, they've been more bland than bad the past nine seasons, although they've been plenty bad. It's been such a boring and generally hopeless experience that it's actually hard to describe. I relate to what you're saying. You can watch a game, take in a week, review a month . . . the O's have gotten nowhere, and the only thing you can say is "Man, Jim Hunter is sure a tool."

When the Nats arrived, I planned on rooting for both. But, while I don't wish the O's any specific harm, I barely follow them anymore. The Nats may suck, but at least it's a new and sometimes interesting suck.

I don't know if any of the Pirate Primates have blogs, but if they did, I'd read them, just based on their posts at BTF.

If HW blogged the Brewers, I think I'd buy them collected in hardback.

Bill's been writing about the Royals for almost 10 years. I don't care how much you love your team, that's a long time. And then you see some sort of crap like your local newspaper picks up some blogger who's been a Braves fan for 15 years, but wants to see how "the other side lives" and decides to follow the Royals?

Maybe I'm biased, but the Royals are a really interesting bad team. I'd take them over the O's and the Pirates any day of the week.

And then you see some sort of crap like your local newspaper picks up some blogger who's been a Braves fan for 15 years, but wants to see how "the other side lives" and decides to follow the Royals?

What are you referring to? Does the KC Star finally have a blogger? That would be sweet.

I actually pity the older Royals fans, because they're used to World Series victories and competitive play.
It is difficult to fathom the depths to which this franchise has fallen. The Royals were a breath of fresh air compared to the A's. They had a decent run for about 20 years ('73-'94), then poof.

I miss the good days of all-baseball

Me too.

The other problem with the Orioles, espescially in contrast to the Pirates, is that they're forever trapped in the Yankees/Redsox/85 win Toronto/rapidly improving (maybe this year?) Devil Rays division of death.

With a competent GM the pirates could theoretically challenge for the division in a year or two with a bit of luck. The orioles allow for no such possibility.

Wow. I didn't expect the founder to agree!

So what happened to the good days of all-baseball, Mr. Ruzich? Why did they go away?

I wouldn't expect anyone to know these answers better than you do, sir.

The Nats may suck, but at least it's a new and sometimes interesting suck.

New? Yes, but for how long before familiarity breeds contempt?

The Natosphere is seriously talking about the prospects of watching a sub-70 win season over the next year (or maybe two). One Nats blogger (Harper?) wrote about how some fans would rather see the Nats spend a just a little more money so they look forward to a 75-win 2007 season, instead of sacrificing next year in the name of the FO's "Plan" for the future.

60-70 wins? That's some serious suck. I think it's fair to say that O's fans can reasonably expect a ~75-win season (so-close-yet-so-far, just like always) next year, and 70 wins is almost certain. Is a 65-win Nats season really more compelling than a 75-win O's season? I don't see how, unless you just love the color red.

This is not a knock on the Nats. I like the Nats. I was really pulling for them in 2005. I definitely plan on using my company's tickets to go see the Nats in 2007, 65 wins or not. (In fact, the worse they suck, the more games I'll probably get to attend.) If I lived in DC, I would probably pay (something) to go see that Nats. But 65 wins is now the new "interesting?"

Really?

Well, it's a long boring story, but the gist of it is that the first batch of writers (Belth, Weisman, Lederer, et al) left the site after a protracted disagreement between them and me over ownership of the site. That burned me out pretty bad and I was considering just shutting it down but then MVN approached me and I ended up selling the site to them.

19:

Thanks for the explanation, I appreciate your candor. I'm glad to know that you got something from MVN. Did Geoff leave b/c MVN charges bloggers for space?

I wish MVN would at least remove the links to the dead blogs.

As far as I know, no.

I know Evan & Dave and the MVN guys are planning to make a lot of changes over the off-season.

I should have asked this: does MVN charge bloggers for space? Do they plan to?

As far as I know, no. I can tell you they never charged Cub Reporter for space and I'm pretty sure they never charged any of the other A-Bers (or I probably would have heard about it).

I write Royals Authority on MVN and don't think I'm talking out of school when I confirm what Christian says about big changes coming to MVN. Unfortunately, they are top secret. The only thing I know is that cumbersome mostvaluablenetwork.com address will change to mvn.com. I expect the new site to roll out after Jan 1.

And Oriole, they don't charge for space. I imagine the reason the "dead" blogs are still around is due to the impending redesign.

I like your site, CB.

A bad baseball team can actually be pretty interesting to follow. Remember that Bill James grew up rabidly following the KC A's (my dad still wears an A's cap). Like many things, it can be easier to figure out how a system is supposed to work when it's broken than when it's working as expected. If your enjoyment is intimately tied in with winning the pennant, then I can see how following the Royals would start to consist of finding new ways to say "they suck." For me, it's more like the Royals are my hook into baseball in general -- the team I know most intimately, because I've been following them forever. For me, following the Yankees or the Red Sox might be more gratifying, but it wouldn't necessarily be more interesting.