As you may have noticed, over on the links from the Times, Bat-Girl is one of my top sites. For those of you who didn’t take a peek over there, Bat-Girl, AKA Anne Ursu maintained one of the best sports related sites out there. I say maintained, for those who don’t know, because Bat-Girl is calling it quits after giving readers three years of laughs.
An advantage B-G had over other bloggers was that she is an author, rather than merely a writer (or in my case, a talentless simpleton who drinks too much beer), which lent to her creativity and imagination with her site. She didn’t take the game seriously, but at the same time, she did. and as confusing as that may be, it lent her her voice.
The seriousness with which she lent the game, and more importantly, her site, was what eventually did her in. Well, that and her new baby. B-G spent a lot of time on her site, which she updated daily. It may not seem like it, but having worked here, at Is It Sports? and knowing personally the weather weenies at Victoria-Weather, I’ve gained a full appreciation of how long it takes to work on these sites. I can’t imagine doing what she did daily. It takes me, on average, an hour and a half, probably, to whip up a post here, and I only do it biweekly (if I’m lucky) and rather poorly (which is being generous). A day at V-W takes a combined 2 hours, or so. Now, add a child, and I have to say that B-G made the right decision, as much as it pains me and her fan base.
Now, I have to admit that being entertaining, while well and good, hasn’t been all B-G has meant to me personally. Steve and I started Is It Sports? before I heard of Bat-Girl, and she introduced me to the idea of blogging, which, compared to working with Geocities was a Godsend. More than that, after I started up the Times, I would estimate that 3/4ths of you even know who I am because of Bat-Girl. Then, a few months ago, Anne Ursu herself gave excellent advice and helped in the setting up of Victoria-Weather, lending financial, blogging and hyphen related advice. Of course, those dweebs are now down the hall jumping excitedly every time there is a thunderstorm in the Dakotas.
In any case, Bat-Girl’s most important message to bloggers everywhere was that we should have fun with what we do (Lord knows we don’t do this for the money. We can’t all work for Gawker) and make sure that your readers, whether they be the thousands Bat-Girl had or the dozens the Times has, entertained. Well, B-G can retire knowing that we were entertained, and that she will be missed.
(P.S. My proudest Bat-Girl achievement was being a finalist in one of her Haiku contests. Don’t pay any attention to the voting. )
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