The 2006 College Football Blog Award Nominees

By Jake Bertalotto Dec 22, 2006, 11:41pm PST

The BlogPoll, a college football poll compiled by the Blogosphere's College Football Bloggers, known to some as a very distracting and interesting feature that I have successfully ignored and regret doing so this past football season, has found a way to hop through yet another hoop on it's way to greatness.

*Breath.*

Spearheaded by Joel at Rocky Top Talk (The Idea Man) and Brian Cook of MGoBlog, (The Guy that can set things like this up in order to tabulate such a stockpile of ballots), it's time to vote for the 2006 Blog Awards, yet another effort to flaunt that the College Sports Blogosphere is better than ESPN, any day of the week.

Since I chose to procrastinate on this post, what you see below is most of my nominations. Not every single award I voted on is discussed here, due to time restraints of my ever-inflicting holiday break schedule. Sarcasm. Really, 1) my votes are due by tonight, and 2) it's already late. So here you go:

The Dr. Z Award

FOR: Cogent, interesting analysis.
CRITERIA: Emphasis placed on statistical manipulation, well researched pieces that reveal something new, and/or solid argumentative pieces that function as the authoritative last word on a subject.

MGoBlog Duh. Brian at MGoBlog is one of the most thorough bloggers you're ever going to come across. Prior to games, he posts some of the most outrageously brilliant game previews I've ever read, and then after the game, practically breaks down the game snap by snap. Prepare to see this blog again and again as you scroll down the page.

Burnt Orange Nation Brian is one of those bloggers that is never bored. Texas is a frickin powerhouse, or at least Top-25 team, in almost every sport you can think of. Football, yep. Basketball, yep. Baseball, yep. Softball, yep. Volleyball, yep. Cheerleaders? Ohh yeah. Not to mention the community he's built up, along with the connections he's made with a large handful of columnists and prominent sports figures across America.

Sunday Morning Quarterback MGoBlog and SMQ are two blogs you could pencil in for every award on this list, but this is where they belong for sure. SMQ offers content that is second to none, and I agree with Brian: some of the most loquacious writing around.

DawgSports Not for the faint of heart. Beware, Kyle's site can make you dizzy with prodigious, astonishing adjective usage as well as an abundance of links, but is well worth the visit. He's a lawyer. You can tell by just reading his blog.

The Trev Alberts Quits to do Construction Award

FOR: comic relief; overall hilarity.
CRITERIA: The funniest college football blog.

Every Day Should be Saturday
Duh.

The M Zone
Fought Colin Cowherd of ESPNRadio, And won.

The Sports Fans Don't Cry Award

FOR: The blog that has suffered through its chosen team's dismal season with the
most dignity.
CRITERIA: Continued engagement in the face of crippling, misery-inducing defeat. A stiff-upper lip and sane reaction to everything crumbling to dust.

Bruins Nation I would be shocked to find another human being who wanted Kyle Dorrell fired as much as Nestor at Bruins Nation. But oh man, it must of felt good to beat USC. Us Beaver fans do somewhat know the feeling....

Orange 44 A no brainer.

The Keith Jackson Circa 1995 Award

FOR: The blog with the most consistently expressive and excellent writing.
CRITERIA: Mechanical competency, yes, but the ability to turn a devastatingly funny phrase or write something compelling is probably more important. This isn't an award for copy editing; it's an award for kickin' prose.

DawgSports and Sunday Morning Quarterback

Already Mentioned both of these blogs above. Again, they both belong in this category as well.

The Brady Quinn Award

FOR: The prettiest blog, the best layout and design.
CRITERIA: An aesthetic appeal, whether from a stylish banner, a pleasing layout, or an eye-catching incorporation of blog technology.

Rocky Top Talk Oooh. Aaah. Flash.

Michigan Sports Center Best Looking Blogger.com blog I've ever seen.

The New Blog on the Block Award

FOR: The best new college football blog.
CRITERIA: Must have launched sometime after last year's national championship game. Transitioning to a new blog or affiliating with a network mid-stream doesn't count.

Conquest Chronicles Jim hasn't been around that long, and already his blog appears to be headed for the top.

Can't think of anyone else....

The LOL, MSM Award

FOR: The blog best keeping tabs on the man and calling out all of the injustices
in the college football world.
CRITERIA: Consistently ahead-of-the-curve on controversial issues in college football

The Wizard of Odds No doubt.

The Best Community Interaction Award

FOR: The blog with the best community interaction.
CRITERIA: A regular solicitation of input from readers and utilization of reader-produced content.

Burnt Orange Nation First off, there's PB. Then there's AW. And THEN, you get the occasional appearance of the hilarious 54b. And that's just the beginning.

Every Day Should be Saturday Whenever you can write a post that gets over 1200 and is still being commented on 13 months after it is written, something is going right.

Post of the Year

Brian: Eleven Swans

Orson on Appalachian: They're Hot Hot Hot

Blogger Championship Series (The Other BCS)

My picks for the best from each respective BCS conference. Notre Dame is clumped into the Big East.

Big East/ Notre Dame - Rakes of Mallow

ACC - Eagle in Atlanta

SEC - DawgSports

Big 12 - Corn Nation

Pac 10 - (tie) Conquest Chronicles and Bruins Nation

Big 10 - MGoBlog

General (definite tie) Sunday Morning Quarterback and Every Day Should Be Saturday