Meet the Blogger – Matt Henderson

Jackie Dawson recently did a series called “Ladies of the League” where she interviewed a few of the most influential female hockey bloggers in the NHL, there are many more great female writers out there but I thought the series was a good insight into what female bloggers have to deal with to become distinguished in the field. It’s kind of sad really, if you missed the articles Jackie profiled Kady Hobbins, Ashley March, Jen LC and Laura from Habs Eyes on the Prize.

Anyway that article got me to thinking, why not profile some of our favorite Oilers bloggers. Hell, maybe there’s one or two you haven’t read yet, doubtful because the Oilers Blogosphere is stocked full of some of the best hockey bloggers out there.

We at the Oilers Rig compiled a list of some of our favorites and today we start the series by profiling Matt Henderson from Hockeybuzz.com.

Here is my interview with Matt.

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

I started writing about hockey on message boards while I was in University, mainly to kill time and vent frustration. I was a frequent commenter on sites like OilersNation.com for a long time. I think I liked arguing with people, to be honest. As I look back on it I was probably compelled to write about hockey because I was dissatisfied with what other people were writing. I think a lot of bloggers start out writing because what they could read from conventional outlets just isn’t satisfying. That’s definitely why I started my own blog in the fall of 2012. It was just a free WordPress account I made using the Archaeologuy name I had used on other message boards. It was the beginning of the last Lockout and I was absolutely bored out of my skull. I needed another source to vent my ramblings so I just did it. I knew that only a handful of people would ever see it, but it was fun. After a while other people started asking me to write on their sites and, as luck had it, HockeyBuzz was looking for an Oilers writer in the fall of 2013 and I won the job.

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

Oh yeah, there are a few writers I really admire or look up to. The first one that comes to mind is Jonathan Willis. He produces incredibly high quality content and he is absolutely prolific. I struggle sometimes coming up with 4-5 posts a week for HockeyBuzz but he’s doing 3-4 pieces a week for 2 or 3 different outlets each. I think it’s incredible. If you aren’t in awe of that then there’s something wrong with you.

I also really enjoy what Lowetide does, plus I owe him for a great deal of whatever success I’ve enjoyed. When only 50-100 people a month were reading my personal blog he was one of the 50 and asked me to join him on his radio program for an interview. It was a thrill and one of those things on my resume that, I think, helped me take the next step. In his writing he has a mix of subtle humor and critical intelligence that makes him easy to read even when he takes on subjects like “Advanced Stats” that turn a lot of people away. It isn’t easy to make CorsiRel seem normal and have people accept it. Plus he’s just a generally nice person.

For MSM guys you can’t go wrong with Elliotte Friedman. I shouldn’t have to explain why, but if there were more journalists like him we would be getting the coverage we constantly complain that we aren’t. His 30 Thoughts are must reads.

There are lots of writers out there I’m not mentioning but my list is filled with Oilers specific names because that’s what I like to read about.
If you could give advice to people interested in getting into writing about sports…what would it be?

If you want to write about sports then write about sports. There is literally nothing holding you back. You can sign up for a WordPress account in minutes and have a medium to publish your work right away. Nobody will read it except you and some friends at first but that’s fine. Hopefully if you want to write about sports it’s because you have a passion for it. I missed writing so much more than I realized when my Academic career ended and I only found that out after I started my personal blog.

More advice, I’ve found that people will read you if your posts are somewhere between 500-1000 words. Too short and I can guarantee you are missing good info, too long and you run the risk of readers losing interest. So if you are writing really long pieces, you better be an extremely compelling writer or have something really interesting to say. Expressing your thoughts in a timely manner is a skill that will come in handy.

Last thing, if you’re just starting out and someone asks you to write for them on their site, do it. It’s a great way to meet other writers and pick their brains about things. I was asked to write for a site that doesn’t even exist anymore but it helped me find my voice, plus working on someone else’s deadlines and guidelines is good experience.
Do you specialize in types of writing (analytical, post/pre game blogs, prospects, opinion pieces…all of the above)?

I don’t think I specialize in analytics but I bring them up pretty frequently. If I was smart I would have gotten knee deep in CorsiRel from the beginning because those guys are getting hired by NHL teams left, right, and center these days.

I guess I do a lot of pre-game blogs in the season. Before I started blogging those were the ones I always read so it seemed natural for me to do them, plus that’s at least 82 posts a year covered. I try to infuse as much observation and opinion into them as I can because blogs that are just raw info are boring and you can get that anywhere. I never do post-game blogs unless something really interesting happened because as a reader I skip those. I watched the game, what do I need a recap for? And as an Oilers fan why would you want to be depressed twice? Overall I just try to lace my opinion in everything I write.

Do you have a favorite article that you’ve written or one that got a lot of positive feedback or criticism?

I wrote an article for the 25^th anniversary of Gretzky’s sale to the Kings that got a lot of views on Twitter and Yahoo Sports linked back to it too. It was halfway between an article and a short story so it was kind of weird and different. I really liked that one. The site I published it on is dead now though. Luckily I have the original Word document saved. I feel pretty proud of that piece because it was so different and new.

For criticism, I wrote a very tongue in cheek piece about Canada around the Olympics and the sarcasm was missed by a few people who promptly told me to kill myself. Thus is the life of a blogger, I guess.
What sites do you currently work for? Favorite team?

Team is easy, it’s the Oilers. I grew up with them and I’m an Edmonton kid at heart. You can find me writing for HockeyBuzz.com primarily as their Oilers blogger. I have freelanced at a couple other places and am always interested in other opportunities, but HB is my home until they get sick of me.

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

The best place to reach me is on Twitter @Archaeologuy. I think I have an Instagram account, but I don’t know why.

Thanks Matt. Since Matt joined Hockeybuzz him and I have had numerous hockey and non hockey related conversations, he’s always a pleasure and I find he mixes humour and knowledge of the game perfectly. I never miss an @Archaeologuy post and you shouldn’t either.

Matt is just one of the many great bloggers we are going to be featuring on the site in the near future, I hope you enjoyed there is more to come.

Thanks for Reading.