An Introduction to the Top 12 Blog
This is an idea I’ve been sitting on for a while but I just haven’t found the right combination of free time/energy to introduce it until now. It’s pretty simple: I’ll be coming up with and explaining (probably to excess) my own lists of the top 12 in different categories. We all love lists. I love reading them, so I figured I’d probably enjoy creating them as well. It’s a top 10 list blog, only my lists will be top 12 lists.
My blog entries have always either followed a strict routine (the power rankings, betting lines, etc) or have been posted quite irregularly (a random Braves prospect blog here or a random Falcons blog there). I thought this was a good idea for a new type of post that would have variety but would also be issued on a somewhat regular basis.
I’ve always had trouble creating content that didn’t revolve around certain events or dates on the schedule. The Top 12 Blog should be something I can post year round. Hopefully, this will help me come up with material to post on the Horse Collar during the “dry spells” in the sporting calendar.
I have to admit that one of the reasons I’m excited for the Top 12 Blog is that it will give me a chance to infuse some non-sports stuff into the Horse Collar. That may raise alarm bells with some of you imaginary readers, as keeping the conversation focused on the action “on the field” has always been a key tenant of the Collar. But don’t worry. I’m not going to start discussing the hot button issues of the day in sports. The non-sports portion of the Top 12 Blog will just be another way for us to escape all the op-ed bullshit. A few lists concerning music/TV/movies/literature/comedy/history/etc won’t kill us.
I’m thinking that the Top 12 Blog will be a bit more non-imaginary-reader-friendly than the majority of my posts on the HC. In other words, someone might stumble across one of the lists and find it interesting. Not that a net surfer (has that term been used in the last decade?) who came across an in depth week-to-week review of every team featured in my CFB power rankings in 2011 wouldn’t also find that interesting. But let’s face it, Imaginary Readership: unless that hypothetical net surfer is one of us, they probably won’t care what my best week was picking moneyline upsets in CFB this season.
My hope would be that some of these lists might entice a few comments from readers out in cyberspace. My wish would be that someone would passionately disagree with some part of one of my lists and would offer up his or her opinion on the matter. My dream would be that a full-fledged discussion would arise in the comment section of one of the lists. My manic delusion would be that the experience would lead some of the interested readers to peruse the archives and come back to check out future lists.
Alas, the rational part of me knows that the lists will most likely be consumed by you, the faithful imaginary reader.
One thing to keep in mind is that these lists will tend to be fairly specific for time/logistics reasons. If I try and come up with “The Top 12 NBA Games of All-time,” I’ll end up taking 3 months worth of notes and never get a complete sentence out on the blog. Plus, I don’t have the resources to determine “The Top 12 Opening Day Games in MLB History.” So the lists will be more along the lines of “The Top 12 NFL Quarterbacks of the last 20 Years.”
In addition, my lists will often concern Georgia/Atlanta sports. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. An emphasis on Atlanta/Georgia sports has always been a facet of the Horse Collar. It’s also the area that I’m most interested in and most well versed in.
Let me warn the imaginary reader beforehand that some of my lists will be based largely on opinion rather than on objectivity. Again, this may seem to be at odds with the usual way that things are done around here. Don’t worry. I plan on doing plenty of lists that will be based purely on the best statistical data and hard evidence available. However, I don’t want to limit the Top 12 Blog to being only about those sorts of lists. I’d also like to cover topics such as “The Top 12 Most Annoying Sports Clichés.” That type of thing simply can’t be done with stats and records.
Using opinion rather than data and stats is especially necessary for the non-sports issues. I don’t really want to come up with a list of “The Top 12 Action Movies of the 1980’s,” by using things like box office data and merchandise sales. I’d rather just give you my 12 favorite action movies of the 80’s, and I assume a hypothetical (read: imaginary) reader of the Horse Collar would prefer that option as well.
And just to be sure, any of the lists based in part or solely on my opinion will be clearly marked as such. When I’m making a serious attempt to rank games or players or events or whatever I’ll usually define it as a list of the “greatest” or “best” or “worst” such and such. If it’s more of a fun/personal list, I’ll almost always use an adjective that will present it as such (“favorite” will always be a strong hint that it’s going to be opinion based).
So, why 12? Why not The Top 10 Blog or the Top 15 Blog? Well, 12 has always been kind of a magical number for me. No, I’m not kidding or trying to be ironic or something. 5 and 12 have always been special numbers for me. I want these lists to be fairly long so, “Five is right out!” (That was for the 15% of you imaginary readers who are Python fans).
I know that the number 12 is an important number in everyday life (12 months of the year; 12 hours in each half of the day; 12 inches in a foot or my unit; etc) and throughout history (I don’t feel like giving the examples), but I don’t really think that’s why 12 is important to me. It just always has been.
I’ve always grouped things into twelves. When I was a kid I used to daydream out entire baseball careers for myself and many of my stats would be factors of 12. I would daydream out future seasons of my favorite teams and I would usually go 12 years into the future.
Should I stop now? Ha ha. Just know, imaginary readers, that I’ve always assumed you to be of a number much greater than 12.
Okay…so, I guess that wraps up the intro. Hmmm. I was planning on making it a habit of directing potential readers back to this intro blog for an explanation of how the lists work. That may not be the best thing to do after all.
But no, I wrote this fucking thing so I’m going to put it to use in the way it was originally intended. I’m not wasting over an hour on another “introduction” piece that I just end up keeping saved in my documents. I’m going to fucking post this one. Nobody reads this thing anyway.
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