Since the voting is scheduled to commence tomorrow for The 2007 College Football Blogger Awards, it is appropriate for me to divulge to you, the reading public, how I intend to cast my ballot for the various honors which are up for grabs. As always, your comments are most welcome.
Other than the conference-specific categories (which I will save for last), the first four sets of nominees to be announced were those named by MGoBlog's Brian Cook; namely, those up for Best National Blog, People's Champ, Funniest Blog, and Best YouTube. These are my choices:
This was a tough category to call. I argued last year that Every Day Should Be Saturday was a national college football weblog written by an S.E.C. fan rather than an S.E.C. weblog. FanBlogs and The Wizard of Odds are treasure troves of information regarding events throughout the sport, and, for all my constructive criticisms of it, The FanHouse is a fine outfit peopled by many talented bloggers.
In the end, though, I had to give the nod to Jonathan Tu of 82 Sluggo Win. The dude went on an epic tour of college football stadiums that included getting arrested in Texas and living to tell about it. My one regret was that (even though we have been lumped together by Stewart Mandel) Jonathan's and my paths never crossed during his journey; if they had, I might have gotten this sort of paean written about me, too.
O.K., probably not, but a guy can dream . . . and, in the meantime, I can't bring myself to vote against a fellow who wrote this hilarious (and profane, so be forewarned) piece on Mark Richt.
Here, the decision was much easier. While all of the entrants are deserving nominees, the nature of the category---in a non-B.C.S. world, which blog would the people choose?---makes the choice abundantly clear.
At the pinnacle of the test pilot pyramid in Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff stood Chuck Yeager, and, at the apex of the ziggurat that is the college football blogosphere, there stands alone the next president of the United States of America, Orson H. Swindle.
(O.K., so his middle initial isn't really "H.," since it's an assumed name, but, in the context of the foregoing sentence, it seemed to fit, so I went with it. Also, since there's a real Orson Swindle, who could sue the faux Orson Swindle any day now, the addition of the "H." could keep Spencer Hall from being taken to court by John McCain's roommate at the Hanoi Hilton. Plus, I'm a huge fan of the superfluous initial, so there you have it.)
With Orson disqualified---I know; I don't like the rule, either, but it is the rule---I have to go with my good friend, Hey Jenny Slater's Doug Gillett. He may occasionally get sappy about how he has hope for the future and yadda yadda yadda, but, when he's being the snide, cynical, sarcastic Doug we know and love, he's the funniest guy on the web . . . unless, you know, you're a Scientologist.
Honorable mention in this category goes to Black Heart Gold Pants. While I give the edge to Doug, I can't really quarrel with anyone who opts for Oops Pow Surprise and Jebus.
The only reason I'm not in the running for this is that I never had to make good on my promise to film myself crankin' dat Soulja Boy. That being the case, I have to recognize Jar Jar Binks's appearance on "Soul Train" as the worthiest potential recipient of the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
I'll let you know my choices in the next round of categories tomorrow, but, for now, feel free to offer your feedback in the comments below. It's not too late for you to change my mind with a sufficiently persuasive case for one of the other contenders.
Go 'Dawgs!