With the announcement of the Dom 'O IndyCar
Bloggers, nee Pressdog shuttering his epic blog site at the end of 2014, I
immediately pondered if this signals something larger in the Blogosphere, and
more importantly, am I continuing to tread water in an ever filling bathtub? As
in is blogging about motorsports coming to an end?
Pressdog was the third significant IndyCar
"Word Butcher," a term loosely affixed to many of us 'Wayback in the
UOWWBA Dazes, when many of us participated in the brief realm of this virtual
'Vurd Botcherers society to pull the proverbial "Pin" upon blogging
last year.
As I'm thinking that the UOWWBA, for which
your humble No Fenders scribe Tomaso was
a "Card Carrying" Member of; Hya! Was in turn somewhat spawned off of
a pompous Open Wheel Racing Journalist named Jeff Olsen, who one of the then
leading lights 'O IndyCar blogging, My Name is IRL's Geoffrey Innuchi first
called out Mr. Olsen upon this subject, for which I jumped on the virtual
Bandwagon with my rant in;
For which the
aforementioned Jeff Innuchi so much more eloquently spoke about in his long
ceased and greatly missed My Name is IRL blog in;
As another authoritative blog site, More
Front Wing shut down earlier in the 2014 season, while IndyCar Advocate led the
charge in ceasing operation by announcing its closure in April, 2014.
As many blogs have come 'N gone over the last
8+ years I've been doing my thingy at No Fenders, as I can recall the following
GURR-REAT 'lil Blog sites going the way of the front engine Roadster, right Mr.
Olsen; Hooah!
Past IndyCar Blogs
My Name is IRL, Planet IRL, United Open Wheel Word
Butchers Association, Is it May Yet?, Full Throttle, Popoff Valve, JP's IndyCar
blog, The Other side, One Lap Down, More Front Wing, and IndyCar Advocate.
As the
aforementioned come to mind, while the
F1 side of the ladder hasn't been silent either, with a variety of Blog sites
going DARK, most notably Linksheaven, a former
F1 site I guest blogged for...
While The IndyCar Blogs denotes the following
20 "Active" bloggers, having simply copied down the list in order
written, for which Y'all can check out the website at;
Current IndyCar Blogs (11)
15 Days in May, Disciple of IndyCar Weblog, First
Super Speedway, For The Love Of Indy, IndyCar Minnesota, IndyCar Mom, (Multiple
Writers) IndyCar UK, (Multiple Writers) New Track Record, Oil Pressure, Open
Wheel America and Open Wheel World (Multiple Writers - Multiple Languages)
"New Guys" (9)
321 IndyCar, (Kids) Center of Pressure, Immortal
IndyCar, IndyCar Stats, Motorsports by Mitch, (Heavy IndyCar
with F1 Sprinkled in; Hmm? Sounds familiar, eh?) Next Gen Indy, Open Wheel Now, The Open Wheel and The Set Up Sheet.
Semi Active Bloggers
Amongst the somewhat lengthy list of Semi
Active Bloggers, I'm just naming the three that have graced the A-L-L Knowing
"Intrawoods" since No Fenders came Online 'Wayback in the fall of
'06; CRIKEYS! Those being: 16th & Georgetown, So Here's What I'm thinking
and The race gIRL
While I'd suggest that 15 Days in May should
be relegated to the Semi Active blogs section, although I'd enjoy more posts by
Mike and especially that fine 'Kuhnaidiun lass "Meesh" of S.H.W.I.T.
from Up North Eh! As thy Dom 'O IndyCar Bloggers Pressdog cheekily pointed out a zillion years ago;
Hya!
General Motorsports Bloggers
(Independent general motorsport
writers and teams who regularly post about IndyCar)
For reasons unknown, but Hey! It isn't my
site... This is the category Ye No Fenders 'BLOB, as 'Awntie Harriet christened
I-T many, many moons ago, section my blog's been relegated to; so why isn't
Motorsports with Mitch here too, eh? But I digress...
I began my own career as a vaunted
"Keyboard Warrior" from the lair of my Mum's basement, (Thanxs
for your Sediments, Ralph sheheen; Hya!) like Uhm?
isn't that where A-L-L of us 'Vurd Botcherers reside; Hooah! Over eight years
ago now, and have enjoyed many wonderful opportunities solely due to the
presence of No Fenders, including making new friends, meeting and interviewing
media & racing personalities, gaining admittance into the IMS Media Center,
having been on the radio and talk shows, and most recently helping me "wriggle"
my way into the cozy confines of that ultra BITCHIN' McLaren MP4-12C at McLaren
Scottsdale! which I scribbled 'bout in;
Alas, as I think I mentioned in my 8th B-Day announcement, I'll continue
on awhile longer, especially since my No. 1 Supporter, Mary Ellen, Tacoma
Bureau Chief and 'Offfical Chauffer & Chef of No Fenders fame reminds Mwah
from time-2-time, its "MY JOB!" As I'm afforded the luxury of doing
this as my "Day Gig..."
Although it now seems like a formality - that
the writing's on the wall, that my days are numbered, since there's literally
NO IndyCar blog sites remaining; 'Whale, at least that I find the time to
follow daily, with the exception of thee OLDEST IndyCar Blogger Geo Phillips
Oil Pressure...
Yet how many of those
first wave 'O Bloggers I rubbed shoulders with five-plus years ago at Mother
Speedway are still in operation? (The Answer's 2! As Erik Decker's Laughing
Stock definitely isn't a racing blog. Therefore 2/7 = 28.6% still alive...)
)
All of which makes me ponder who Kevin and
Cavin will have as guests upon their next Blogger Night, if there's such a
thingy? Especially since I haven't listened to them in nearly a year now, since
Yahoo became a piece 'O SHIT and I let my email account go "Tit's Up!" As Yahoo's gone the
way of Ben Bolby's Delta Wing! Alas, Yahoo's email service has become totally
user UN-friendly, overly graphically driven and NON Screen-reader compatible,
so Bully for Yuhs Yahoo; BARF!
Hence, I haven't signed up for another
nefarious Indy Fan "tracking" account since. Yeah, I know, I'll get
Blogmeister Miguel to sign me up this year...
meanwhile, most ironically, as Pressdog
reputedly begins his book writing career, the new rage over anybody being an
"Author," is now occurring over the explosion of Self-publishing and
the miniscule remunerations Amazon's offering its participating author's, which
immediately makes me think of how thee gOOgle Munster decimated the blogging
landscape by similar nefarious tactics!
Thus, I find the
Blogosphere in the same situation as Indy Cars; we need MORE IndyCar Bloggers,
while the sport itself needs more teams,
with both needing an infusion of "New Blood!"
Which doesn't mean
that we should overlook the current rosters of either, and as The IndyCar Blogs
website points out, please give everybody your consideration, me included...
Gratzi,
Tomaso
