Website: www.cantstopthebleeding.com

Interview With: Gerard Cosloy

When did you start Can’t Stop the Bleeding?

The Autumn of 2003.

What made you start it?

I’d read that David Pinto needed more money so he wouldn’t have to send his children to one of those ghastly public schools. I nearly cried the first time someone told me about it. Anyhow, I figured that if I started a semi-popular sports blog and managed to elbow my way into the BlogAds system via a David Pinto referral, I’d be doing my part to make sure the Pinto family crest wasn’t sullied by any riff raff.

I was also looking forward to using the words “riff raff” as often as possible.

What is your background?

I’m not gonna list my c.v. here. There’s a slightly inaccurate Wikipedia entry if anyone gives a shit. I’ve done this & that in terms of journalism, broadcasting and some medium-profile stuff in the music world. But none of it is particularly relevant to CSTB.

CSTB’s other contributors have a rather varied history in journalism, print and otherwise, but again, if anyone wants to connect the dots they are welcome to do so. I’m very grateful that anyone writes for CSTB for free when they’re paid to do so elsewhere.

Do you blog for fun or are you trying to make it a career? What is your goal with this blog?

I’ve got a career unrelated to CSTB. It’s fair to say the blog is a labor of love (or hate, depending on what we’re writing about).

I don’t think there’s a specific goal. The exchange of ideas, the running dialogue, is of greater interest to me than any greater plan for the blog. I’m a firm believer that if we’re doing something that cannot be found in dozen of other places as well if not better, everything will fall into place. And if we’re not considered appreciably more entertaining than another blog, I can live with that, too.

What was your tipping point?

I have no idea. I’m not sure that’s happened yet. Over time, people have found CSTB, sometimes through links on other sites, on other occasions because I’ve left a browser in the Apple Store on the CSTB URL. I guess that would qualify as marketing, right?

What put you on the map?

Probably all the jpegs of starlets and models. And Tom Sizemore googling himself.

What type of blogging software do you use?

Wordpress.

What ad network(s) do you use?

Yardbarker, BlogAds and Google.

How much money do you make off your site monthly?

Not nearly enough. Especially when you consider some of the YB advertisers have more money than God, use slave labor to manufacture their shoddy products, etc. Seriously, f$$$ you Washington Mutual.

If you could get something for free to help you out with your blog, what would it be? (Ex: design, marketing, ad optimization, etc)

I’m ok with my own primitive design skills, and I’m not so keen on marketing. At least not with CSTB in mind. I wouldn’t mind having a few more writers, preferably those conversant with the sports I rarely cover, but when it’s so easy for a writer (established or not) to start their own blog, I can’t be too upset about it.

What are some of your favorite blogs and what are some of your least favorite blogs?

favorites: Fitted Sweats, Wizznutzz, Detailed Twang, Boing Boing, No Mas, Yard Work, Radosh, The Feed (when he was publishing regularly), Bugs & Cranks, True Hoop,The Offside, Baseball Think Factory, Rebuilding Year, WFMU’s Beware Of The Blog.

least faves : I think we can file this under “who f@@#ing cares”. I’ve mentioned the above sites in the hopes someone will take a peak who isn’t already reading ‘em. But there’s little purpose in my making a list of the blogs I dislike. The ones I really can’t stand, I’m not reading very often. In which case, I’m not really qualified to comment.

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

Not really. I see no reason why the current formula of tits=hits, pseudonymous commentary and heavy petting of Will Leitch’s baloney pony can’t continue for another few years at least. Whether or not I’m providing any sort of alternative is for others to judge. I guess it’s safe to say I don’t really spend much time thinking about “the future of sports on the internet”. I suppose there will be some kind of technological innovation that will enable me to watch a baseball game on the laptop whilst reading a telex mistakenly sent by a man in Tokyo who dialed the wrong number. But I don’t wanna get anyone’s hope up with this mad scientist shit. We all saw what happened on “The Island Of Dr. Moreau”.

It pretty much ended Fairuza Balk’s career.

STN’s Take:

As you can see if you love sarcasm and sports, Can’t Stop the Bleeding should be on your list of websites to visit daily. You can tell that Gerard has a passion for comedic writing and the traffic his site brings in proves that. He would of made our list of STN’s top 25 Blogs for December, but we didn’t know about Can’t Stop the Bleeding. We are sure he will make it next month.

Gerard says he is pretty happy with his primitive design skills though we think its time for a redesign or at least a new header image. He should put out an APB on his site for a designer to help him do a header image. I am sure there is someone out there that as some design skills that reads his blog. Gerard is also the second guy that has said Yardbarker Ads aren’t doing so well for him and it will be interesting to see if that is a continuing trend.