You Suck!

Since we've been networking on Facebook we get loads of emails every day and most of them are relativity cohesive (which is a relief in a world where everyone under 21 seems to abbreviate (abb) too much).
However, every so often we get a real corker. My favourite is one that we get most days, which goes something like this...

'Wots a blogger?'

That's it. No, 'Dear Sir' or 'I've seen you're looking for...'. Just a single line, normally spelt incorrectly and oblivious to what blogger actually is. They are even funnier when they say...

'Dunno what a blogger is but im up 4 it...'

Sometimes I wonder whether people have put too much thought into these emails. It's like writing to the United Nations and saying...

'Dunno wot a General Secreterry is but sure i culd do the job ;-) '

I'm sure Ban Ki-Moon didn't write an email like this when he applied for the GS job (does one apply, or is it given by default?). Anyway, it's no surprise that we normally dump these requests to become a Daily Sport blogger. Luckily just a frequent a requests from people who are really funny and just never get chance to be published.

I got an email yesterday from a guy that writes a blog called 'This Boy's Story'. It's novel of sorts, nothing that we could use, but I like the way he gives the reader a video to watch whilst they're reading. Here's one of his entries with a Billy Bragg song:

http://thisboysstory.blogspot.com/2008_07_27_archive.html

So he's going to write about his favourite news stories of the day and give Daily Sport readers a video to listen to at the same time. It's like Jan Leeming presenting MTV...

Headshots

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Girl Editors

Just had one of the more bizarre meetings (and there have been many) associated with launching the website...

One of the most interesting aspects of launching www.dailysport.com is the level of freedom we have to be able to create whatever we want.

There are no templates to work to, no targets to hit, and no website to copy. So it's just us and our imaginations. Sometimes that can leave me freewheeling, unable to decide exactly what to do. A bit like when you're faced with 17 different brands of Pesto in the supermarket and all you really want is a Lidl own brand.

Website creativity can be like that - but luckily we have one restriction - time. So we have 7 weeks to launch it, so decisions are made fast and once we're up and running we can reflect on whether they were actually good ones or not. Time will tell I guess.

Anyway, for the time being we have our 'Girl Editor' meeting, where Verena & I decide what roles our chosen girls will take. Some of them Verena knows well and it's easy; some she doesn't and it's a little more difficult to pin titles down.

But we drink some tea, eat a Digestive or two and decide on the following:

Verena Twigg: Top Bitch

Eve Lavelle: Pole-Dancing Editor

Gema Lauren: Agony Aunt

Carly Wightman: Sex Tips Editor

Aaliyha Johnson: Kick-Boxing Editor

Danielle Amatyakul: Mud Wrestling Editor

Dani Thompson: Footy Editor

A couple of the girls (Joanna & Nikki) have slightly controversial titles, so we'll e-mail them before we put anything in print (or should I say, in Blog). 

I get an e-mail from Ian our web programmer and he says the Blogs templates are nearly ready. By next week our new bloggers will be able to start writing in preparation for the launch!!!...

Modified Cars

The more I look into the modded car scene, the more I realise how diverse it is. The Daily Mail will have people think it's about smoking tabs and driving round car parks in tatty old bangers - where in reality it's a much bigger and wealthier hobby.

People seem to spend £1000s on cars that are already great; there's modified Audi TTs and M3s, there's vibrant Lexuses (what's the plural of Lexus? Lexi?) and Mercedes C-Classes. And there's Pink Mini Coopers too. Now drive THAT around Southend on a Saturday night!

I write to the guys at www.modifiedcars.com and we talk a bit about what the Daily Sport online will be, and what we can do for each other.

They seem more passionate about the scene than anyone I've spoken too so far, so we're going to work together on a blog for our site.

This is EXACTLY the point where unmoderated self-publishing comes into it's own. In a traditional newspaper environment, we may talk a writer through the points we want to cover, then edit the copy when it comes in and cut it to fit.

With they guys at Modifiedcars.com, we can just let them write what they want, when they want.... 

Astraoids

Got an e-mail from somebody who loves Vauxhall Astra MkIIIs and wants to write about them. I did my usual Wikipedia search and found out more about the Mark 3 Astra than I ever thought was possible.

Turns out this car has a LOT of friends - and seems to be a favourite amongst modders (just as my brother said about insurance probably).

This ubiquitous model ran from 1991 to 2002 and according to Wikipedia 'was an evolution of the Mark II, rather than a redesign'. But that's all boring stuff really, what people want to know is what happens to them now.

So I contact the Chairman of the MKIII Owners Club, and he's going to sort out writing a blog for us! So this is where the modded car blogs start. I thought it would be a Saxo or a Corsa. What do I know?!

So, off to find other owners clubs now....

Petrol Head

It seems to be pretty easy to find girls that want to be Daily Sport Online Babes - Facebook is full of 'em! It's a bit like Britain's Got Talent, only with tits instead of singing (although some would argue there's a lot of tits on Britain's Got Talent!)...

Blokes seem to be a bit different thought - they might want to write about cars and beer and getting pissed, but they're not very 'out there' talking about it on the web. Or they don't seem to be. Maybe the alleged Death of the British Pub is not true at all, and they're all down the Plumbers Arms in Wigan debating whether a Vauxhall Corsa SRi is faster than a Saxo GTi. Or something. Maybe they're just not doing it on Facebook.

I'm trying to think of what cars blokes want to read about. I get the feeling that it's not just the usual Jeremy Clarkson aspirational stuff, where he bangs on and on about Ferraris - but more about modified cars, you know, driving round Tesco car parks at 3am pissed on White Diamond, or racing people at traffic lights when there's only a few feet or tarmac in front of you. (This happens on Deansgate regularly).

It's funny because only yesterday I was having a discussion with my brother about why people spend £10000 on modifying a Vauxhall Corsa when they could buy a 1998 Porsche Boxster. He says it's about competition and creativity. Oh, and the insurance is cheap too. 

So here's a list of cars I think lads should blog about...

1. Citroen Saxo

2. Fiat Punto

3. Renault Clio

4. Anything with the word 'Cossie' in it

5. Errr... that's it.

Jon on the paper is obsessed with his 1973 Ford Capri - so maybe that's a path to take. But in the meantime I need to go to WHSmiths and buy one of those magazines with pictures of lime green Ford Fiestas on the front. Max Power'll do...