He may comment on your blog, but only we have the interview
Thursday, October 18, 2007
A few weeks back, the paper of record wrote a story on the clever-est, wittiest writers on the Internet. Bloggers like Ufford and Leitch?
Please; they're yesterday's news. Per the New York Times, The Big Lead, RandBall...commenters are all the rage today. From that Times article, a glimpse into the life of one commenter:
DaShiv is in town and the celebration has not ceased. Strange women are opening their apartments to him. Three parties have been given in his honor. His beer mug has been constantly refilled.
I'll let you guess who in this picture is commenter DaShiv and who's the pretty lady welcoming him to town.
Anyway, the We Rite Goode team heard about all the hoopla, saw the groupies, read about the parties and got to thinking--screw this idiotic blog venture; how can we get in on this commenting thing? And who can teach us to become ace commenters?
The obvious answer: Jarrett Carter, the brains behind Scott Van Pelt Style. No one comments on We Rite Goode like he does...in part because, no one really comments.
So I found some time to catch up with Jarrett, who's the most energetic guy I've ever (virtually) met. Somehow, recently getting married, moving into a new house, and starting grad school isn't enough; he also writes SVPS (and three other blogs) in his spare time, and comments on everybody else's.
Hope you've got the printer warmed up: Commenting school is in session.
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We Rite Goode: The eternal question: Which came first--being a blogger or a commenter?
Jarrett Carter: Definitely being a commenter. I've only been blogging seriously for about two years, and my most popular blog is only in its fourth month. I've been leaving stupid remarks on sites for years.
If you remember, which sites did you first start commenting on? Was there a specific post or issue that got you to break the ice?
It started on a lot of message boards. I remember about 10 years ago, posting on www.shaq.com, which interestingly enough takes you to CBS Sportline's NBA section. (Which is just begging for a comment about Shaunie being shady on Shaq's assets)
Sites like allhiphop.com, boxden.com...Hip-hop related sites are a perfect breeding ground for fine tuning quality commenting, because you will get clowned quick for a lame comment. Like the whole point of the thread will shift over to destroying you. I think the first sports blog that really piqued my interest was TBL, which led me to Deadspin, which began this peculiar descent into trying to be the Redd Foxx of sports blogs.
The Redd Foxx of sports blogs? So should we expect a "Scott Van Pelt Style and Son" to rival "Blog Show" for basic cable domination sometime soon? You and wifey can't be moving that fast.
Even if you started with the better-known reads, it seems like you mix it up between the well-read (KSK, AA) and some of the lesser-known sites (Blogimore Ravens, We Rite Goode, [it's killing me, but there’s one random site where I was just astounded to see your name]). Which blogs do you regularly post at these days? Any that you think are particularly commenter-friendly ( i.e., the blog authors take time to respond, or other commenter conversation tends to be interesting)?
I generally try to comment on at least 25 blogs a day, for a couple of reasons. One, I generally try to outdo myself with every comment, because after all, it is free advertising. Two, there's no better feeling as a writer than having feedback on your work - positive or negative - and I enjoy contributing to that.
Blogs that have national and local interest, like Mister Irrelevant and the DC Sports Bog are usually targets for me, but also among my favorites is Larry Brown Sports, WRG, Juiced Sports Blog, Mind Rite Sports, Inside Charm City, Deuce of Davenport, 100 Percent Injury Rate, and Cousins of Ron Mexico. Cousins of Ron Mexico doesn't know it, but he is probably the funniest commenter out there, and I have a friendly competition with him to try and be the funniest on a given post.
You mention DC Sports Bog, a favorite of ours too. Any opinion on Dan Steinberg? It seems like he enjoys gently ribbing you sometimes.
For example, from Steinberg's post "Scott Van Pelt on Blogs":
When I spoke with Scott Van Pelt last week and mentioned that there was a blog named after him, he seemed unaware of Scott Van Pelt Style, despite the fact that its proprietor seems to have commented on every sports blog post authored within the past 60 days.
I think Steinz is one of the best, if not the best, sports blogger in the world. He has a reporting background, and you can see how down to Earth he is in his writing and what he chooses to write about. Athletes, fans and writers respect his style. It's my dream to carve out a niche like he has, and be as personally and professionally respected as he is.
He has zapped me a couple of times, and although I've satirically said in my comments that it hurts my feelings, I believe that he and I have an understanding that its all jokes, and its all love. Maybe I should holler at Jason La Canfora and school him on blogging etiquette, huh?
Hey, talk to JLC at your own risk--that dude scares me. True on Steinz, he's a quality writer who's shown this blog a lot of love, for some reason.
Not only are your comments clever, they can also be particularly insightful at the same time, no small task; any that you're particularly proud of?
I've had some that I may have gone to look at other comments, saw mine and laughed pretty hard. Now that you've reminded me of the KSK one, I guess that went over pretty well.
It's usually the ones where i take it a totally different direction, and people actually follow it. [Yesterday] on TBL, they did a post on Paul Byrd and I think I wrote something about Larry Bird not being convinced.
Another one was a post they did on Jeff George last week, and I said something about Jeff Blake, and I think I included something about the Stone Cold Steve Austin entrance music.
I read Mister Irrelevant, and there was one stretch a few weeks ago where you seemed to be on comment-fire--in the span of 15 minutes, maybe five-six comments in a row, on one post after another. It felt like LeBron's 25-straight points versus the Pistons. Remember what was going through your mind back then? How often do you get on a roll like that?
When guys like the Mottrams say that was hilarious, or other commenters piggy back off of your stuff, it really makes you think about how practice and dedication pay off. I don't have any teammates to give credit to, but posts like the Serge Zwikker classic, some TBL posts that really are open to creativity on the keyboard, they really put me in a mindset to sign in and perform.
By Zwikker, I'll assume you mean the Brian Bersticker special, so, thanks.
But what if the post doesn't give you much to work with? Dan Steinberg and others talk about the "blank screen of death"--the pressure of having to come up with something. Is it like that with commenting too?
You always have to adjust on the fly. That's just sports period, whether you are playing, coaching, blogging or commenting. The blank stare happens every now and again, and sometimes you have to go with the obligatory, ___________ doesn't find this amusing, and insert a relative retired athlete or washed up actor.
Other times, you find you can make something out of nothing. Barry Sanders made a living on making spectacular plays out of busted ones; making people be in the right place to block when they originally got pancaked. So let's say there's a post on UVA not living up to expectations in the ACC. I don't know very many of their players this year, so I might be obliged to throw in a Tiki Barber, Matt Schaub, or Thomas Jones reference.
But if you dig a little deeper, there's a gold nugget in your heart somewhere with Herman Moore's name written in platinum.
On a related note, do you prefer to be the first commenter or join in the middle of a commenting thread?
It really doesn't matter to me; I just like to be in the fray. This kind of goes back to posts I'm most proud of, but one time I compared Kobe Bryant to the video game Contra, and the very next day, the guys did a post comparing the Contra villains to the New England Patriots. I jumped in the middle on that one, and it changed the complexion of that post, and the next one.
The guys at We Rite Goode think you're a top commenter--heck, you're our most faithful reader, to confess our bias--but rightfully or not, Ballhype doesn't recognize you as one of its top 20 (We know that they have some algorithm or something, based on number of comments you write on the site and feedback you get.)
Becoming a Ballhype top commenter--Is that something that interests you?
Not particularly. I know I comment a lot on blogs, but I wouldn't want to bloat stats for the sake of being known as a top blog on the network. I would hope people want to read my stuff because of the comments I make on their blogs, and I hope that my writing and content is good enough to keep them coming back.
You might say I'm and old school type of commenter; either comment legitimately and with meaning, or stay an ordinary reader.
Do you think you're the kind of person who comments on things, in general? Making observations about folks walking down the street, cracking jokes when watching TV, commenting on wifey's outfit, and so on?
With my family and friends, definitely. My wife is hilarious, and I get a lot of my sense of humor from my brother, father and friends. Something about growing up in the DC area I guess, so many folks around there are naturally hilarious.
I wouldn't dare clown my wife's outfit, though. That might make for a rather sad post on my marriage blog.
When it comes to the Carolina Panthers' wide receivers, do you have a horse in the ( Dwayne) Jarrett vs. (Drew) Carter competition to be no. 2? USA Today says Jarrett>Carter by week 8...
That's hilarious! That actually would be a great comment in itself. Kudos.
As an ace commenter, any comments on this interview? Did we give you enough to work with?
I thought this interview was excellent. I feel like I had an opportunity to really give an inside track on how to make other commenters look like bland losers, and make yourself look like the funniest person on the Internets.
Seriously, I had a lot of fun with this, and with reading WRG. I hope this interview doesn't cause you a drop in visitors this week.
The joke's on Jarrett--we have no visitors! Many thanks for his time and funnies this week.
posted by Doctor Dribbles @ 15:56,
4 Comments:
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At October 18, 2007 7:13 PM,
said...
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well, you have one reader at least. funny stuff.
BUT
never heard of this guy, though. if you wanted a famous commenter, the best are the kissing suzy kolber guys (unsilent majority, big daddy drew), and lieutenant winslow, few others at with leather/deadspin. -
At October 18, 2007 10:01 PM,
said...
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Might want to check this out, could be a good follow-up
http://mcbias.blogspot.com/2007/10/top-10-comment-sections-in-sports-blog.html -
At October 19, 2007 8:58 AM,
Jarrett Carter said...
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Thanks Steve,
Now I can change my screen name to Silent Minority. -
At October 20, 2007 12:20 AM,
Crucifictorious said...
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Jarrett Carter said...
Thanks Steve,
Now I can change my screen name to Silent Minority.
And that's why the guy gets profiled, folks.
