When it comes to sports commentary, Houston is loaded. We have four sports talk stations, a full-time Houston sports TV channel, and great fan sites for almost every team.
We've also got a lot of great blogs.
But which ones are the best?
We put together a panel of local sports fans and media personalities to put together the list of the 10 best sports blogs in Houston. We got a good mix of ages and interests. Hopefully it provides a good cross section of sports fans in Houston and what they want. The criteria used:
- Insight
- Humor
- Frequency of posts
- Originality
- News value
Disclaimer 1: In the interest of fairness, Examiner pages, including this one, were not eligible.
Alan Burge and David Hartnett would be very high on the list, but the point here wasn't to be self-serving. To that end, my blog Freddy's World was also ineligible (Although it is not a true sports blog).
Also, we would be remiss to mention the late Thomas Eric Hilton, who did a great job.
We listed all of the blogs that got votes, and there was a tie for 10th. The panel involved 10 people and votes were compiled in a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 order.
Then we sent it to the BCS for clarification.
With all that in mind, here we go:
1) SportsJustice. Richard Justice isn't just a columnist; he is a multimedia personality. His blog isn't just one of the best in the city, it's one of the best in the country. He updates it constantly, gets insider news no one else can get, tries to keep it entertaining. More than anyone in the city, he evokes a response. The blog is informative, clever and sarcastic. He is the authority on baseball in the city, and one of the best baseball writers in the country. He links to interesting and relevant commentary and provides a unique perspective.
2) The Z Report. Lance Zierlein's blog is entertaining, informative and does a great job of using off the wall videos and props. His sports knowledge is terrific, especially on football -- and his takes on non-sports topics are hilarious.
3) TexansChick. Stephanie Stradley's blog is called a "Fan blog," but it has evolved well beyond that. Stradley hits on hot topics, gives great insight and detail, and has evolved the blog into a an exellent source of team news.
4) UH Cougars with Michael Murphy. This one doesn't get the traffic of some of the other blogs, but it has become THE source for UH athletics. Murphy's interaction with the readers is terrific; he is caustic, intelligent and funny. He is also not afraid to take chances.
5) The King, Jerome Solomon. One of the funniest, most clever people in Houston. Has great insight and knowledge, and his takes are usually spot-on. Has a chance to be the biggest star in Houston at some point.
THE NEXT FIVE
6) Crawfish Boxes. Very good stuff on the Astros; several contributors keep this one updated, and they do a nice job of keeping it current. It's more straight news than entertainment, but it's very well done.
7) John McClain's NFL blog. The local legend is a pioneer in journalism. McClain was the first multimedia star in Houston and in many ways redefined how things are done in the city.
8) Dgdb&d -- A Texans blog. This one is for the younger crowd, but it's very funny. (And they aren't big fans of Richard Justice). More of a traditional rant and rave fan blog.
9) The Sports Kolache, Sean Pendergast. Sean is the funniest man in Houston and one of the most talented. His blog is clever, funny, and entertaining as hell. Would solidly be in the top five, but it hasn't been updated in forever.
10) Monsters of the Midday. A fun combination of sports, photos and hot women. What more could you want?
10-tie) Pardon the Raheel Ramzanali. Raheel is one of the funniest dudes you will meet. His blog is heavy on videos from his radio career, but the writing is funny, too, when he does it.
HONORABLE MENTION (ALSO RECEIVED VOTES):
- NBA with Jonathan Feigen
- Battle Red blog
- Charlie Pallilo's Pallilog
- Tag's Plays with Brian McTaggart
- Ted DeLuca/KTRH
- Astros/MLB with Jesus Ortiz
- Anna-Megan's FanZone
- Courtside with Fran Blinebury
So there you have it. Who did we miss? Share your favorites.
The best fan sites are next. Chances are ClutchFans will make an appearance. (In the radio business, we call that a tease).
Comments
Good thing you didn't rank the worst. You would be No. 1 on that list.
Keith Weiland of inthebullseye.com is a noteable omission. He was one of the masterminds of the old houstonprofootball.com site and is one of the best writers around. When it comes to the Texans, he's one of the more astute and insightful guys you will find out there. He just doesn't write enough these days...
Blogs are supposed to be anti-mainstream. Way to completely miss the point.
The Dream Shake should be at least nominated.
Astros County does a great job with Astros' commentary and insight. It's not as statistic-oriented as the Crawfish Boxes, and is pretty funny, too.
What a sad state of affairs when the "best blog" in Houston recently had a post lamenting the loss of Brad Ausmus. Yeah he's definitely the real baseball authority in Houston.
Thanks for the love from the boys @ the CFB...I'm not sure we warrant it, but we'll take it. We'll work on the humor because we thought we're funny at least once or twice a week—we'll work on that.
I also want to lament the absence of the Dream Shake.
This list is terrible. You might as well give the Chronicle blogs their own list. And if you did that, Feigen would be at the top. He's the best NBA guy they've got.
Forgot the Dream Shake. That one was voted by Yahoo! as one of the best in the NBA.
Big problems with this list. The best chron.com blog is left off the list: Brawl Sports Blog
There are some good blogs on that list, and I think Lance Z's should have been number one. I do wish The Dream Shake (my site) had a nomination, but that's okay we've only been around about a year and a half.
While I like McLain, there is absolutely no reason for it to be on this list. It's not a blog in the "traditional sense" if there is such a thing.
And while Raheel and Pendergast's blogs are more bloggy in nature, Monsters of the Midday is just tossed together haphazardly in my opinion.
Nice call on DGDB&D, those guys get it and run a great site, as do the Battle Red and Crawfish Boxes writers.
Feigan runs the best "writer for the chron" blog out there though, it's insightful and not full of himself.
What about rocketsonly.com!!!! You clearly didn't expand your search beyond mainstream media. What a sad representation.
Seriously? www.RocketsOnly.com was not even an honorable mention? Some of the best Rockets commentary is on that site -- It is the single biggest reason I consider myself a ROF for life!!! GET RED!!!
I can see there were no true Rockets fans on the evaluation panel, b/c if there were, you would see rocketsonly.com in the top 10.
I can see there were no true Rockets fans on the evaluation panel, b/c if there were, you would see rocketsonly.com in the top 10.
I get my best rockets poooorn at rocketsonly.com
Real ROFFERS frequent www.RocketsOnly.com.
I sometimes browse it using two computers, for at least 20 minutes a pop!
You left off the dreamshake as well as rocketsonly.com
Richard Justice is a boner. If you have him at number #1, that means you have the worst blog in Houston.
I consider myself a big Rockets fan and for infotainment, Im visiting RocketsOnly.com. Its not only Smart and Funny, but the analysis is dead on. Keep up the good work RocketsOnlyFan and Thurogood Rockets Fan
I like clutchfans too. But for Rox news I'm going to the fresh takes at RocketsOnly.com Its refreshing to hear a point of view without an agenda except the agenda of winning.
I Been Rofing since I was 15 and and it aint getin any easier baby thats why I go to rocketsonly.com for a little relief after a game like last night.
ROF Till I Die
I'm not mad... just disappointed.
Terrible. What kind of douche-tastic list would be missing rocketsonly.com?
Also - I don't understand the distinction between Houston "fan sites" and Houston sports blogs.
??????????( www.RocketsOnly.com)????????????10????????????????. ROF for RIFE!
Your site does not support Chinese characters -- that is not nice. You know a rot of chinese fans exisiting for www.RocketsOnly.com. Make happen soon. Thanks you.
Woman... woe-man... whoooa-man. She was a thief, you gotta believe, she stole my heart and my cat. Betty, Judy, Josie and those hot Pussycats... they make me horny, Saturday morny... girls of cartoo-ins will leave me in ruins... I want to to be Betty's Barney. Hey Jane... get me off this crazy thing... called love.
Sometimes when no one is around, I log onto to rocketsonly.com and tug one off.
Ok - keep it classy San Diego
I just went to RocketsOnly.com based on all these posts. My plan was to dig up some material and then crush the two guys who keep posting on here, but I actually liked the site. Solid analysis, analogies that don't try too hard and a some keen wit. Keep up the good work.
When I'm not kickin' it on meatspin.com I'm ballin' on rocketsonly.com
PLAYA!!!!!!!!
Yeah, www.RocketsOnly.com is a pretty solid site -- I am very keen on the way the bloggers parallel the trials and tribulations of the Rockets with seemingly real life stories. Nicely done.
Like I said in the intro, I didn't vote. Of the omissions, I actually like The Dream Shake quite a bit and it would make my top 10 over a couple near the bottom.
And yes, the definition of a Fan Site vs. a blog is subjective. I think of a fan site as Astrosdaily.com or Clutchfans, which has forums as well as news and blogs.
And I think Rocketsonly.com has some good stuff, too.
As to Brawl Sports, I thought it was easy top three when Steve Sievert did it. It's not where it was yet, though.
Keep 'em coming. Great stuff guys.
Thanks for the compliment Fred, it is much appreciated. At the very least, you got a good discussion going. And Dave "put you on notice" on our site, so I guess that's something!
Richard Justice the best? Your list loses credibility instantly with him number one. He isn't polarizing. He's a hack. Some stuff he writes doesn't meet any standard of journalism. He is a mouth piece and shill for UT. He sings praises to the second string quarterback of the Titans. He bashes the Texans for firing his buddies and uses no verifiable sources in his alleged quotes.
He's a hack and the DGDB&D got it right with there Justice photo essay.
You left out the Texans Fan Blog on Chron.com
Thomas Hilton's blog LIVES~ JLR took over the blog and did a really good job with it. They update more than anyone on the chronicle, and unlike the other fan blog JLR will actually respond to the fans with out having to refer to some quote someone made somewhere, he knows football. Thier draft coverage has been top notch!
Sad effort on your part.
Blog provides quality amount of information!!!
Blog provides great amount of information on concerts, sports & theatrical events in Houston, Which is good!!!
There's plenty of sports opportunities in Houston but I'd say that the Astros are the most likely to get me into the grandstands when they're playing. The sports bleachers of an Astros game is filled with tons of excitement.
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