Meet the Blogger – Beer League Hero

Today I bring you the blogger that perhaps is the furthest in actual distance away from the Oilers (Taipei). Beer League Hero, you know it’s funny, I don’t actually know his real name. That doesn’t matter though, we’ve had plenty of conversations about the Oilers and hockey in general in fact I think the two of us have re-built the Oilers roster more than team management.

Beer as I call him, is a great guy and with the time difference and that fact that I work night shifts occasionally it is good to have someone awake at that time to discuss the things that are important in life, like the Oilers.

Let’s meet the man who calls himself Beer League Hero;

When did you start writing about hockey? What got you into it?

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As a young lad, I actually did some reporting for Hockey’s Future way back in 2000. I volunteered to cover a now defunct international hockey tournament in my hometown of Camrose, AB called, The Viking Cup. I started my blog in 2012 after a couple years of commenting on sites such as HockeyBuzz and Oilogosphere. Actually, Oilogosphere was the site that really convinced me that I could have a blog of my own because of the amount of interaction between the readers and writers. I liked that feeling of interacting with my audience.

The other thing that made it easy to get into blogging was the fact that my team was so bad and so easy to complain about. Not only that but I’m a draft geek and love covering prospects, so writing about draft and trade speculation came naturally with the Oilers.

Are there any writers that you look up to? If so, who are they and why?

When I started discovering blogs I came across HockeyBuzz and automatically started reading the gentleman that covered the Oilers, Richard Cloutier. I liked his style of writing at the time because it was engaging and created a lot of reaction.

Nowadays I find myself glued to everything Allan Mitchell (Lowetide) writes because he makes it easy for blockheads like myself to understand things like analytics and understanding the whole picture by way of historical reference. Mr.Mitchell should just write a book to be honest. He’s got tons of old stories to tell and each one you hear is better than the last. Not only that but he’s introduced us to Oilogosphere Icon Dennis King. God bless those two men! The world is a better place with them around.

Others I’d recommend are Greg Wyshynski (Puck Daddy), Elliotte Friedman, and Justin Bourne.

If you could give any advice to people interested in getting into writing about sports…what would it be?

What can I say that hasn’t already been said by the amazing writers you’ve already covered? I’ll try.

The way I did it was I dabbled a bit on Oilogosphere.com. Looking back now, that site was my set of blogging training wheels. I contributed a post whenever I felt the urge until I felt comfortable enough to venture out on my own.

Read as many hockey blogs as you can to get a feeling of what kind of voice you might have and where it might fit in.

Write what you have a passion for. If you love talking about roster speculation then base your blog on that. If you’re a draft geek like myself, dive in head first and let the world know what you think. If you write from the heart your readers will be able to feel that but if you try to force something out and post up some fluff, your audience will eat you alive. Besides, it’s a helluva lot more fun and way easier to write about something you truly love and can’t wait to share with the world.

Do you specialize in types of writing (analytical, post/pre game blogs, prospects, opinion pieces…all of the above)?

I can’t say I specialize in any specific type of writing. I tend to steer away from pre/post game for the most part because I don’t feel that I’m versed enough in hockey theory and strategy to present my readership the necessary information that would conclude in an interesting post.

I lean more towards opinion, prospects and roster speculations. I find those topics come a lot easier to me when blogging and they result in a bit more reader interaction. But every so often the Oilers’ coach will do something obtuse and I’ll vent my feelings upon the world in blog form.

At the moment, I’m reading the first Hockey Abstract by Rob Vollman as I’d like to be able to expand my toolbox a bit and bring a bit more to the table. I’m never going to be the guy that sits down and watches every game and counts all the zone entries or keeps track of what type of shot was taken where while who was on the ice for how long. I simply don’t have the time or attention span. There are people out there that live for that type of work and I’m very thankful for them. Moneyball is one of my favorite books and movies and the rebel inside me loves to see an underdog take the unconventional route to victory.

Do you have a favorite article that you’ve written or one that got a lot of positive feedback or criticism? Tell me a bit about it.

I wrote an article a while back that got both positive and negative attention. It was a reaction piece to a blog written by a very prominent Oilers blogger. I didn’t appreciate his word usage and they way he used his position to take potshots at Oilers fans. Well needless to say he didn’t want to buy the soup I was selling and in return wrote a retort to my article.

Was it a good idea? Depends on who you ask I guess.

What sites do you currently write for? Favorite team(s)?

I am currently writing for Frozeninoil.com which is part of the Hometown Hockey family and of course my own blog, Beer League Heroes.

I love the Oilers, they’ll always be the team I’m married to. But I do have a couple of gumars on the side. I’ve been a fan of the Penguins since ’90 when Lemieux put 4 up on the Campbell’s conference in Pittsburgh and I’ve always had a thing for the Leafs. I attribute the Leafs thing to Bob Cole, Harry Neale, and Wendell Clark.

Where can we find you on social media? Twitter/Facebook etc

Folks can follow me on Twitter @beerleagueheroe, on my Facebook page. It’s hockey 24/7 on those two fronts but every now and then you might catch a glimpse of what life is like in Taipei for a foreigner, his family, and his hockey team.

There you have it folks, pretty grounded guy. You have to admire a guy living so far away that manages to never miss a beat when it comes to the Oilers. I really suggest you read what he has to say, and if you see him out and about on the twitters or the facebook then say hello, he’ll be more than happy to discuss anything hockey related with you.

Thanks for Reading.