As mentioned earlier, I'll be running profiles of each member of my blogroll throughout the month of July. Here's the first batch:
Blog: Aaron’s Baseball Blog
Blogger: Aaron Gleeman
Location: Minnesota
Have I Met Him? Yes
Why He’s On the ‘Roll: He’s one of America’s best-known baseball bloggers, gets published all over the place- and he’s still an undergraduate. On top of that, his baseball rooting interests are impeccable.
Best. Post. Ever.: I could go with any of his well-reasoned and well-argued posts for the Twins or against Joe Morgan, but none were as enjoyable as this, his discovery that a Twins-loving blogger/stripper had mentioned him favorably.
Blog: Alarming News aka Spot On
Blogger: Karol
Location: New York/ Atlanta
Have I Met Her? No
Why She’s On the ‘Roll: One of those “Republican political operatives” you’ve heard so much about, Karol blogs the pro-Bush spin in a hilarious and entertaining way; she’s also got a stable of commenters who always contribute lively debate. Karol’s now down in Georgia, working to elect Herman Cain to the Senate; she e-mails to say he would be “a real Republican in the Senate,” to take the seat of another such “real Republican,” Zell Miller.
Best. Post. Ever.: A rip-roaring anti-Ted Rall rant.
Blog: The American Mind
Blogger: Sean Hackbarth
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Have I Met Him? No
Why He’s On the ‘Roll: A great design, and humorous looks at politics, sports, and other subjects. It’s good enough that I can forgive Sean’s Packers fandom. Almost.
Best. Post. Ever.: The original anti-Howard Dean “Duck Hunt,” which later evolved into “John Kerry’s House of Ketchup,” which drew a disapproving Instapundit link.
Blog: AndrewSullivan.com
Blogger: Andrew Sullivan
Location: Washington, DC/ Provincetown, Mass.
Have I Met Him? Yes, twice.
Why He’s On the ‘Roll: The first blog I ever read, and the gold standard of political blogs to this day, AS.com is the ship that launched a thousand other blogs, mine included. The only place on the internet where you’ll find praise of Ronald Reagan, bashing of John Ashcroft, and worship of Madonna.
Best. Post. Ever.: I could go with any of his 9/11, Iraq, or gay marriage posts, but let’s get real: none of them compare with “Big Gay Al is Not a Leftist.”
Blog: Ari Goes Down
Blogger: Ari
Location: New York
Have I Met Her? Once, briefly
Why She’s On the ‘Roll: Funny and occasionally touching tales from a Manhattan Jewish single gal.
Best. Post. Ever.: This one, a wistful story about the passing of her family dog. Or the one below, where she “outs” an ever-present troll who has, I think, not been heard from since.
Blog: ArmchairGM.com
Blogger: Dan Lewis
Location: New York
Have I Met Him? No
Why He’s On the ‘Roll: He may not post much anymore, but Pro Football Prospectus writer Dan came up with some great stuff when he ran the blog from Dlewis.Net, most notably his discovery of the “Chunky Soup Curse”- every NFL player who had an endorsement deal with Chunky Soup in 2002 suffered a major injury that year.
Best. Post. Ever.: A meta-post in which he grades a mock draft that ran in the Sporting News.