For more background on the CFB Awards, go to Rocky Top Talk. One programming note: in an earlier post I told you nominations were open to everyone and that you could leave your nominations in the comments. That was incorrect. Anyone can make nominations by using this nomination gizmo thing. So do that and if you felt gratious enough to nominate your humble blogger for anything I would be extremely, well, humbled. Anyway, here are some blogs/posts I will be nominating.
The Dr. Z Award for interesting analysis.
Everyone is giving SMQ all the love here, and rightfully so. So I'm going to go off the beaten path and nominate Mark May Be Wrong. Week after week these guys hold the so-called "experts" to task breaking down their picks with their Suck-o-Meter that breaks down their picks and records. Plus they offer posts like their Preseason Crap Shoot Part I, Part II, and Part III. Great reading for any college football junkie.
The Trev Alberts Quits to Do Construction Award (Funniest Blog)
No other blog makes me choke back giggles at work like Fire Mark May. He must be seeing a therapist with all of those alter egos. Every day I check FMM to see who the fictional guest blogger du jour is. Most days it's this award's namesake, Trev Alberts, trying to recapture the glory of his ESPN analyst days by breaking down the big games each week while subtly letting us know how far he has fallen from grace. Other days he is ESPN's Jim Rome. Or he is Broderick West Quinnsington III creating diabolical plans to destroy the BCS. Other days he plays a robot breaking down the BCS computers and trying to explain their logic to the rest of us idiots. Every day is a funny post that will make you snort.
Sports Fans Don't Cry Award (blog that best kept its grace in the face of a losing season)
Here's one I guarantee nobody has heard of: Temple Football Forever. The title of the blog says it all. Living in the Philly area and knowing there are a lot of former Penn State alums on the coaching staff, I follow Temple football as a casual fan and check in on this blog from time to time. A self professed "Temple fanatic", Mike Gibson has maintained a positive attitude and upbeat analysis of the debacle known as Temple football all season. He was rewarded this year when his beloved Owls finally won their first game since the Eisenhower administration and you could sense the relief in his tone.
The Keith Jackson Circa 1995 Award for best writing and prose.
Everyone is giving SMQ and EDSBS the love here, so I'm going to nominate Ron Bellamy's Underachieving All-Stars. Excellent all around writing and a joy to read even if you're not a Michigan fan. He compliments his excellent analysis with an emotional touch that every college football fan can relate to.
The Brady Quinn Award given to the best looking blog.
I've always liked the look of Buckeye Commentary. A very simple and classy banner. It's not cluttered with advertisements and self promoting crap. Posts are complimented with nice charts and pictures that illustrate but don't dominate the content.
The Best Community Interaction Award given to the blog with the most interactive and knowledgeable readership.
Everyone is recognizing the big boys here. I'm going to say another big but lesser known blog, Bruins Nation. Their readers take an active role in creating diaries that lead to elaborate discussions. Their team, UCLA, lives in the southern California shadow of USC often putting them on the second or third page in the sports section of their home town. So Bruins Nation has become a cult form of media for Bruins fans to discuss the Bruins without having to sift through the Trojan bias.
The Tyrone Protho and His Amazing Catch Award for the best single post of the year.
I've been trying to avoid the big bloggers for these awards. Not that I don't like them, it's just that they are getting plenty of love in these awards and I want to draw some attention to the smaller blogs. However, for this award I have to go with Brian's Eleven Swans post the afternoon before the Michigan-Ohio State game. The buildup for that game started weeks ahead of time and grew each day. You could tell in Brian's writing there was nothing more he wanted on earth than to win that game. Every college football fan has been there. The tragic death of Bo Schembechler earlier that day added an emotional element to the game that was previously not there. The Eleven Swans post perfectly captured the hype, the desire, and the emotion of the moment. I'm not a Michigan fan and I was nearly moved to tear. After reading that post I remember thinking that is what I hope to someday capture on BSD.
The Chris Berman Antimatter Award for the best catch phrase used with frequency.
I'm not sure who coined it, but I believe EDSBS coined the phrase [name redacted] to identify Ron Zook. The phrase has caught on to the point google probably doesn't even recognize Ron Zook anymore.
The Old Faithful Award for the best recurring feature in a blog.
I know I'm getting into nominating all the big boys like I said I wasn't going to do, but I have to nominated Brian for the Blogpoll. I'm sure I'm not the only one refreshing my browser every Wednesday afternoon to see the new blogpoll for that week. Who isn't dying to see who wins the Coulter/Krugman or the Straight Bangin' award? Who doesn't dread seeing their name listed under the "Wack Ballot" section or worse yet, identified as "Mr. Bold" for having the most ridiculous ballot of the week.
I'm also going to nominate the aforementioned Mark May Be Wrong for their weekly Suck-o-Meter Awards given to the professional talking heads for their weekly picks.
The That's Not Really Real Award for the best photoshop or counterfeit gag of the year.
Hands down, the funniest fictional thing I read this season was Fire Mark May's "I Hate Your Favorite Team" post. In it, he plays a misfit from your school's instate rival who has devoted his loser life to becoming an NCAA referee so he can ruin your team. Funny funny stuff.
That's all I have for now. I'm still thinking over some other awards like the You Talkin' To Me, New Blog on the Block, LOL MSM, and the Podcast Award. I don't listen to podcasts, so I'll probably leave that blank. Don't forget the nominations are open to everyone, so go to Brian's nomination gizmo and nominate your favorite blogs/posts.
I also need to come up with three of my favorite posts for the I Want to Talk About Me Free For All. I was thinking of the following three.
The Land Grant Trophy - Dumbest Trophy Ever
Our weekly Blue and White Roundtables with Run Up The Score and The Nittany Line are nice weekly features worthy of recognition.
I also liked my Soul Searching post directed to Penn State fans hitting the panic button in a rebuilding year.
Please let me know if you can think of any particularly favorite posts you've read on BSD. And please take part in this great event to promote the best of the blogosphere.