The Voice of "Bottom of the Barrel" Sports Blog

Disclaimer: Although DylanBotB is not a sports psychologist, his blog often discusses, with statistical reference, what separates the most mentally tough athletes from the rest.

Dylan Murphy, better known as “DylanBotB,” writes a sports blog aptly named “Bottom of the Barrel.” This title is synonymous with the style of its content, described self-deprecatingly as “bad sports journalism.” Simply, the blog’s purpose is to “criticize and make fun of sports personalities, events and issues, mostly using run-on sentences and marginally correct grammar.” However, BotB (if I may be so inclined) is selling himself short. Although he describes his style as one of a lazy frat boy, too lethargic to correct his grammar or bother to fix run-on sentences, the voice that appears in his post is not so. Rarely are grammatical errors made, and despite the occasional run-on sentence, his prose is easy to read. Is it possible that BotB is selling himself short in order to attract a wider audience? It appears that his goal is simply to attract readers to his blog, as he even offers a Twitter feed of content - “Need your bad journalism and useless sports commentary in 140 characters or less?” What BotB either fails to recognize, or intentionally chooses to ignore, is that his sports commentary is more compelling than much of what is available by professional sports journalist. Sports journalism is simply a means for one to express their opinions on performance, and if it’s graded on their ability to justify their opinion with statistical reference then BotB isn’t such a “bad sports journalist.”

Aphrodisiac Oyters (Photo Cred)

His post, “Clutch Players in the Playoffs,” (05/11/11) opens with the question, “did you know that oysters are aphrodisiacs?” Although this question may seem trivial, it works as a very accurate metaphor for what ensues. He continues to discuss that although you may not have known that oysters were aphrodisiacs, the question may not have surprised you because of the feeling that oysters give you; the same “know-it-when-you-see-it” sensation that is felt while witnessing athletes with the strongest mental toughness. He continues the metaphor while discussing athletes of different tiers of mental toughness, “A grilled chicken sandwich, of sorts. It’s going to be good, maybe great, but it’s not going to unequivocally bewilder and amaze your taste buds.” What’s fascinating about this post is that it proves the disingenuousness of BotB’s self-description. The metaphor of comparing taste to a feeling that an athlete summons is imaginative and the diction is equally impressive, yet he maintains his “bad journalism” stance by opening the post with the subject of aphrodisiacs. BotB is talented at disguising his inner genius.

Dirk with his Championship

To further the point, the post continues by comparing stats of the top closers in the league but not revealing which stats belong to whom. In doing so, the reader is enticed to guess who they think matches with which stats and BotB gains more credibility by backing his opinion with statistical evidence. Perhaps by chance, the conclusion that BotB determines from his analysis of the statistics is the unlikely, but ultimately true, conclusion that the Mavericks would win the championship in 2011 because of the clutch abilities of their star player, Dirk Nowitski.

Dirk as Sisyphus? (Photo Cred)

The post, “On Dirk...” offers even more insights into the mastery of sports journalism that BotB is seemingly trying to cover up. Not only does he convince the reader that the unlikely Mavericks would win the championship (despite 3:1 odds, he was right), but his voice continues to impress. He compares Dirk to “a modern day Sisyphus,” the loyalty to his seemingly failing team being his boulder – how does he expect to invoke this kind of voice in his 140-word Twitter feed? To cover up this educated voice, he mentions that Lebron “didn’t give a shit” about team loyalty, again, perhaps in an attempt to appear more accessible to the average reader.

I really like the voice that BotB conveys, however, I worry that he is dumbing it down so as to not seem as scholarly as he may be. His arguments are sound, concise, full of impressive rhetoric, and yet he still refers to his work as “bad journalism” and “useless commentary.” In no attempt to judge this strategy, I would love for his perceptive voice not to be marred by these futile attempts to sound less educated.  I personally think that he would gain more traction with professional sites if he simply gave up the “bad journalism” act. And yet, maybe that’s not his goal.

If you ever get the chance to read this DylanBotB; kudos for the most perceptive voice I have yet to witness in the field of sports journalism.