Website: www.sportingnews.com/blog/TheSportingBlog

Interview With: Chris Mottram

When did you get started in the blogging business and how did it happen?

I was first introduced to sports blogging when I started at AOL as in intern for their first sports radio show the summer of ’04. They had recently launched AOL Journals, and by “journals” they really meant “blogs.” My brother, Jamie Mottram, had started Mr. Irrelevant about that same time, so he encouraged me to start a blog of my own. At the time, I had never heard the word “blog” before, but I knew I loved writing, and it was an outlet, so I started Show Me Your Blog (later called Saved By the Blog). I never imaged starting that blog would lead me to the point where I could make a profession out of it.

When did you start Saved By the Blog and when did you move over to Mr. Irrelevant?

I suppose the previous response takes care of the first part of this question. Jamie and I joined forces at Mr. Irrelevant last summer. We were both at the point where we had decent sized audiences, and were posting everyday, so it just seemed like a natural fit to join forces (and start actually turning a profit). Plus, we both wanted to get off of AOL Journals (let’s just say it’s not the best blogging product around), so we re-launched using Wordpress. For the record (and I’m not getting paid to say this): We love Wordpress. It’s highly recommended.

When did you start with Sporting News?

I started at SportingNews.com in October of ‘07. I guess that thoroughly answers your question in the least interesting – yet most direct – way possible.

How did Sporting News contact you or did you contact them?

While I was still at AOL last summer, I was contacted by Shawn Schrager who was already in Charlotte working for SportingNews.com as their Director of Programming and Product Development. We had previously worked together at AOL on “Sports Bloggers Live,” which was a blogger-driven pod/webcast hosted by my brother and me. SN was looking for someone to take charge of their blog content. I was lucky enough to be that someone.

Was there any negotiation with Sporting News or did they basically offer you the job and you said “I’ll take it”?

There were some negotiations. I demanded one million dollars. They offered $7.50/hour. We settled on an amount somewhere in between.

Does a Sporting News editor monitor your content or do they just let you do it on your own?

I do it on my own, but I can feel them watching my every move. Not that I’m paranoid or anything.

Did they give you any strict rules like what you can link to or what you can show?

I don’t think I can post anything that includes the words “f@#$, shit, coc$ or balls.” Other than that, I’m free to link to any sites as long as it’s not porn or whatever. Although if it’s something basic – like an AP story – I’m encouraged to use the SportingNews.com URL instead of, say, linking to ESPN.com.

Is Sporting News giving you a marketing budget?  If so, what kinds of marketing are you doing?

The only marketing I’ve done involves me begging other sites for links.

It looks like you have a few different writers from around the blogosphere, are they just paid per article?

I’m not at liberty to say what our pay structure is. Get me drunk and I’d probably tell you though.

Any advice for a young sports blogger trying to get started?

I was asked a similar question in an interview I did with The Big Picture. The best advice I could give is just post often. And don’t be lame. Or boring. Or think you’re smarter than the average sports fan, ‘cause you’re not. Take it easy on anything resembling “analysis.” Leave that to the idiots on ESPN.

In the end though, I think there are just certain people who understand what sort of content makes for a good sports blog. I realized this the other day when someone complimented me (I think) by saying – and this is the exact quote — “Yo man, I’m seriously not trying to kiss your ass or anything, but you Mottrams do a fantastic job of blogging. It’s not rocket science to find interesting shit (I do think you have to have an eye for it) but how come so many people fu&$ing suck at blogging?” To which I responded, “Sadly, the talent God gave me was blogging.”

Any bold predictions for the future of sports on the internet?

Less words, more moving pictures.

Is it tough being the younger brother of Jamie Mottram?

Yeah, it’s a real bummer. I have a white collar job that I happen to love, health care, all my limbs and digits, and a 47-inch HDTV waiting for me at home. Life is horrible.

STN’s Take:

If you’re a sports blog reader and not anti-establishment, you should be reading the Sporting Blog on a daily basis.  They have a great collection of writers over there to keep you entertained.  It is great to see someone like Chris work his way up the ladder to the position he is in today.  I think it gives all sports bloggers hope out there and shows that internships with media organizations are the way to go.

We do have a few suggestions for the Sporting Blog.  The first is that they should still have a blog roll.  We know its probably Sporting News not allowing it but we think it would give much more validity to the blog.  How can Chris go out and ask for links when he can’t give any back.  Is it really going to hurt Sporting News that much to have a few outgoing links on their blog?  The answer is No.  The second suggestion would be to work WordPress in as the Sporting News Blogging Platform.   Chris already loves Wordpress so we think he would agree.  There are too many benefits to pass up.  The New York Times and CNN do it so no newspaper has any excuse.