INTERVIEW: THE BIG LEAD

By mhblatt • August 27, 2007

Jason Whitlock: The Big Lead’s Big Break.

Mitchell Blatt

From Whitlock to Scoop Jackson, Vick to the Couch Slouch… Oh, and Then There’s Colin Cowherd: That Prick Who Tried To Shut Them Down

The Big Lead is one of the most popular sports blogs on the web, bringing in excess of 250,000 visitors a month. It was started in 2006 by a former sportswriter and two of his friends. Along with providing three to five daily posts, they also have interviewed many sportswriters and columnists including Jason Whitlock, Mike Wilbon, and Dan LeBatard. Last Thursday, The Big Lead’s author, who wishes to remain anonymous, took the other side of the microphone (actually computer) to answer a few of my questions.

Juiced Sports: You are the former journalist?
The Big Lead: Yes.

JSB: Can you give any info about what your job was and why you left it?
TBL: I was a sportswriter and I was bored. I wasn’t really looking forward to a life of low pay, bad hours, and spending all my waking hours caring about sports. Sports are fun, a great escape, and I’m a huge fan. But 24/7? I’d kill myself.

JSB: How long did you do that for?
TBL: After college, for a few years.

JSB: Why did you decide to start the blog?
TBL: I felt like i could use my sports writing background, along with my interest in sports, and run a blog that would be fun for all.

JSB: What was most important for you in terms of getting readers?
TBL:The Whitlock story put us on the map and then it kind of snowballed when we reported on things like Harold Reynolds’ firing, Sean Salisbury’s suspension, etc.

JSB: How did you land all those media interviews having spent just a few years in journalism?
TBL: Well for starters, we got lucky. We just emailed guys like Norman Chad and TJ Simers, and they responded.

JSB: When you interviewed them, did you do so with the intent of getting publicity, or was that an added benefit?
TBL: Had nothing to do with publicity. I really like Norman Chad, and I really like TJ Simers. I enjoy reading about their thoughts on journalism and sports and figured readers might, too

JSB: Remember when Colin Cowherd got your site shut down for two days? Do you know why he chose your site?
TBL: Still have no clue. But just to clear that up, we never heard from him personally and prior to him ‘blowing us up’ we never had really discussed him.

JSB: Did Cowherd’s stunt improve your popularity in the long term?
TBL: Good question. The monday after the incident, the ESPN Ombudsman - who’s quite good - wrote a big article on it that was on the front page of ESPN.com, and that gave us more traffic than we had ever received. I think it opened up a lot of eyes to our site. Of course, all those people - something like 55,000 unique readers - aren’t going to keep coming back unless they like it. A small portion seemed to like what they read, and kept coming back.

JSB: You ever going to interview Scoop Jackson?
TBL: No, he hates us. He’d never talk to us.

JSB: Did you name your site The Big Lead because of your interest in journalism?
TBL: Nope. It was the only URL we could come up with on short notice. We spent about 24 hours on it, and just went with it. In hindsight, we should have chosen a catchy one-word title. You know, the Nick Denton blog model.

JSB: Alright, enough about your blog. Let’s get to the issues of the day…
When vick gets out of jail, do you think he should be allowed back into the NFL?
TBL: Sure, why not? Jamal Lewis did time. He’s back in the league. That’s like asking if anyone who has been to jail should ever be allowed to have a job again.

JSB: Well there’s a lot of people who think that the NFL should punish him independently after.
TBL: Nah. Jail is enough punishment.

JSB: What do you think of preseason football polls? Do you think they are unfair like the guy who wrote in the most recent SI?
TBL: Completely bogus … That’s why we did one! It’s all based on prestige, what each team did last year, and who is returning the most starters. For the life of me - and I’ve followed the sport for probably 15 years - I can’t think of a preseason # 1 that finished the prior season outside of the top 20.

JSB: Well, the main premace of the article in sports illustrated was that the poll is unfair because it gives USC an advantage over every other team. Your thoughts?
TBL: To an extent, yes. USC will start at one and basically have to lose for anyone to have a chance … BUT even if there were no preseason rankings, eventually, the number of unbeaten teams would dwindle by week 8, USC would be No. 1 anyway.

JSB: Speaking of college football, why didn’t you give Florida much love in your preason rankings?
TBL: They lost a lot. USC didn’t lose as much. Can Tebow throw? I mean we know he can jump-throw, but can he fall back in the pocket and throw a 10-yard out? a crossing pattern? Brian brohm he’s not, that’s for sure.

JSB: I see that they lost a lot on defense, but they’re returning half their offense, including all the WRs. While Tebow isn’t a sure thing, he was the top passing prospect coming out of high school.
TBL: Yes, he had a spectacular HS career, but between losing your QB and quality defensive players, you’re going to slip.

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