Meet The Blogger – Rob Soria

It’s meet the blogger time again and today we have none other than Rob Soria from Oil Drop and Hometown Hockey. Rob is a frequent guest on the Lowdown with Lowetide on TSN 1260 here in Edmonton and does a lot of writing about the Oilers. His articles are often fun to read and whether you agree with his point of view or not his pieces are often well laid out and conversation stirring.

So let’s meet the blogger;

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

In all honesty, I decided to start my Oil Drop Blog in the summer of 2011 after my dog was rushed in for an emergency hernia surgery. I had thrown around the idea in my head of starting my own blog before but never really acted on it but after taking a handful of days off of work to be with my dog, I thought what the hell…let’s give this a shot!!!

I had always been one to listen to, read and watch anything Oilers related since I was little kid and would occasional call local talk shows to get some frustrations off my chest when it came to some of the Oil’s fan base and the Orange and Blue on a whole. My love for the game and this team runs deep and once I started writing, the words just kept coming.

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

From a sports writer standpoint, I would have to say Michael Farber. Being a big Montreal Expos fan growing up I tried reading as much of his stuff as I could and always did my best to read his editorial pieces on the Expos…be them in the Montreal Gazette or Sports Illustrated. His attention to detail and ability to bring out the human side of a story has always appealed to me as a reader and it still does to this day.

As far as local scribes go, Jim Matheson was the guy I would always read as a youngster but I also logged more than a number hours looking over the works of Robin Brownlee, Dick Chubey, Terry Jones and Mark Spector over the years.

As far as the Oilogosphere goes, I try and frequent as many sites as possible with Lowetide’s site being a daily pit stop.

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

If you really want to take a crack at it, be prepared to give up a lot of your spare time and try to make every piece you write better than the last. Also, if you are going into this to make money…give your head a shake because it won’t happen. In my mind, it should be something you want to do but more importantly something you truly love doing.

Since I started my blog back in 2011, I have posted over 1,100 pieces on all platforms. That works out to roughly a story a day for three straight years. I take great pride in my work and absolutely love doing it but it is not easy. Most bloggers have full-time jobs, myself included, which makes for many a sleepless night in order to get your pieces up in a timely manner.

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

My main focus and preference has always been on writing historical and current day opinion pieces but I have also done post-game blogs from day one…though I plan on tweaking my approach to those for the coming 2014-15. With that said, in case you haven’t noticed, I tend to be one who likes to get his point of view out there and debate things with as many people as possible. My stance on things can and have rubbed some people the wrong way but for me, that is the beauty in all of this.

Agreeing on everything would be such a bore and who doesn’t love telling you I told you so from time to time. When it comes to covering sports, there is nothing worse than a writer who doesn’t really have an opinion one way or another. If you are unwilling to let your point of view be known, what is the point of even doing this? In my opinion, you either put it out there or don’t bother coming out.

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.

No real favourites but I always get my share of feedback…both negative and positive. When it comes to opinion pieces, at least in my mind, you should be trying to challenge and engage your readers to think about whatever it is you wrote. Obviously when it comes to the Oilers, everyone is frustrated with how things have played out over the last number of years and because of that, things can become rather touchy when it comes to much of the fan base.

As an example, there are those out there who feel this team will be greatly improved in 2014-15 because of the additions Craig MacTavish made during the off-season and while I have no doubt they will help, this team still has a ton of holes to plug up in this ship. It starts from the goal out and this group is still nowhere good enough.

It’s not exactly a popular opinion to have in this neck of the woods, since the vast majority of fans are ready to hand over the” keys to the car” to one Ben Scrivens and this “greatly” improved blueline, but I am not. That sort of topic can certainly make for heated discussions and at times idiotic responses from some but for the most part, the conversation is usually entertaining and at times, it even makes me rethink my own position.

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

My favourite sports teams have always been the Oilers and Expos, though the New York Yankees have always been my favourite American League squad of mine. I watch and follow almost every sport but when it comes to writing, my focus is on the Oil and tennis with a bit of baseball and soccer mixed in for good measure.

While I have kept my original blog up and running to this day, it is more or less used as a storage hub for all my content. All my hockey posts continue to be featured over at HometownHockey,ca (formerly known as OurHometown.ca) under my Oil Drop banner and am currently working with a former cohort of yours in Jeremy Thompson with hopes of growing the Frozen In Oil brand over at HH.

I have also started to write on a regular basis for VAVEL USA of late covering men’s tennis, with a little bit of Eugenie Bouchard mixed in for all us Canadian’s, and have absolutely loved doing it.

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

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oil-Drop/326215300776431?ref=hl

https://twitter.com/Oil_Drop

Thanks Rob for taking part in this series, I almost couldn’t post this interview once I learned that he is a fan on the damned New York Yankees, if there is one team in sports I absolutely hate they are that team. Besides that though Rob is a highly reccommended writer, him and I don’t always agree but like he said above if everyone agreed what would be the point? Rob is always willing to have a good friendly debate on social media, you can find us conversing frequently during the season on the twitter.

Thanks for Reading.