Star Tech

Time To Get Your Kicks, Soccer Fans

Every Wednesday, I have the pleasure of reviewing a site for my weekly Blog Cabin column which appears in all three editions (Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane) of mX newspaper. This segment appeared in yesterday’s paper.

``Would you please review my blog, Nearpost’’ - Email received from Eamonn Flanagan, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.

Q: Where do you find a good soccer blog? A: At the back of the ``Net''. There is definitely a ``woo-hoo'' factor to this Canberra blog. It is creatively presented and the high-rotation editorial mix embraces several timely news flashes alongside interviews, special columns, viewpoints, interesting photo selection and subtle touches of refreshing humour.

To wit: The end-of-week snippets are called ``Friday Short Shorts.'' And there's the story of Pete, a competitor in Canberra's Church League. After two all-in brawls, there are some hefty bans imposed and Pete's tongue-in-cheek comment is: ``It's God's way of telling us we're too old and should know better.''

Then there's the yarn about the Cardinals, an under-10 side accustomed to heavy losses, whose players and coaches are ecstatic with a 2-2 draw. Another gem is the tongue-in-cheek narration of how Ian Shaw, Capital Football's technical director, nearly (yep, nearly) played against the late George Best.

It's a gutsy effort, ramping up a soccer blog in a country whose citizens were only recently galvanised by the late nights and early mornings of the 2006 World Cup. But that's the beauty of blogging. If the folks in your own city or state or country aren't reading your blog, there's a whole world out there that could be. Nothing speaks to the global sports community like soccer.
This is a site with personality. It is a stirling example of the fact that a good blogger simply needs a clear focus. Eamonn Flanagan, who presents this site, said that two months ago he didn't even know what a blog was.

The editorial mix belies the fact that it's a newbie blog. All it needs is slightly tighter editing.If you missed the kick-off, log on now to keep track of the score. When it comes to judgement, I’m not sitting on defence.