Oilogosphere

The Oilogosphere is the name collectively applied to blogs that cover the Edmonton Oilers ice hockey team. They are widely considered to be among the best and most popular hockey blogs on the internet, with The Globe and Mail sportswriter James Mirtle estimating in late 2007 that "five or six" of the best hockey blogs were members of the Oilogosphere. Many of its flagship blogs started in 2005, near the end of the 2004–05 NHL lockout (though Edmonton journalist Colby Cosh was making Oilers-related posts on his blog before that time). Observers have credited the Oilogosphere with providing greater depth and drawing the reader in more effectively than the mainstream media. Reviews of the Oilogosphere in the print media have generally been positive, with one reviewer praising it for its "smart, opinionated, ferocious and utterly entertaining commentary and analysis". The Oilogosphere averages 10,000 hits per day not counting people who visit the official Oilers site or read the sports stories online.

Current Members

Though the Oilogosphere has no clear borders, some of its more prominent current blogs include:

Original Six (that isn't actually six)

Edmonton Journal writer David Staples identified 7 blogs that started it off, that he jokingly referred to as the Original Six.

  • Lowetide (still current; see above)
  • MC79, named after Mudcrutch, focuses on in-depth statistical analysis and is written by Toronto lawyer Tyler Dellow, who also came up with the name Oilogosphere. Dellow is now an Assistant General Manager for the Carolina Hurricanes.
  • Irreverent Oiler Fans. Was one of the early stats focussed discussion and was home to much of the innovation on the Oilogosphere, the birth place of such revolutionary stats as Corsi plus-minus and ZoneStart. It was related to Ferrari’s useful Time On Ice site, which totalled up various stats on NHL players. Along with Gabe Desjardins’ Behind the Net,Time on Ice is a vital site for fans interested in advanced stats.
  • The Battle of Alberta focuses on the rivalry between the Oilers and the Calgary Flames, and includes contributors from both teams' fan bases. It was the original "Battle" blog, which went on to inspire others such as the Battle of California. Founding members of the Battle of Alberta were a mysterious writer who used the pseudonym(?) 'sacamano' for the Oilers and Matt Fenwick for the Flames. The site was known for a mixture of statistics and humerous commentary and was often the site of massive comment threads during games. Of note, Fenwick is who the hockey statistic Fenwick is named for.
  • Black Dog Hates Skunks. A memoir and hocky blog written by Pat McLean. It was the most 'literary' of the early blogs, and often had charming and heartfelt posts linking Pat's love of the Oilers with his own life and those around him.
  • Covered in Oil was written by David Berry, Chris Boutet, and Mike Winters, all alumni of the Gateway, the University of Alberta student newspaper, and focused on irreverent commentary and humour. In October 2008, Berry announced his departure, which he attributed to an incident in which he was ejected from the Oilers' press box (where he was working for a media organization) for liveblogging a game between the Oilers and the Colorado Avalanche, and with a general disillusionment with the Oilers organization and professional sports. Winters followed suit November 8, saying that blogging entailed "pretending to care about the team 30% more than I actually do". As of January 2009, no new posts had been added since November 17, 2008, and was being called "as good as gone" in Edmonton media. On August 20, 2009, Winters formally announced the blog's retirement.
  • Hot Oil was written by three female Oilers fans—Vancouverite Erin Loxam, Torontonian Alana Pentney, and Edmontonian Heather Smith—and focuses on the players' physical attractiveness. Writing under the slogan "Giggling is our biznaz and biznaz is good", the site hosted an annual "Hot off" in which readers vote on the most attractive Oiler (champions to date include Ethan Moreau in 2006, Ales Hemsky in 2007, and Lubomir Visnovsky in 2008).


Other Blogs of Note

  • Jeanshorts and Baggedmilk was a self professed "Place for Gentlemen," with contributors that use blue language to express their opinions regarding the Edmonton Oilers. Jeanshorts and baggedmilk cover a wide array of topics outside the Oilers, including "music you should know about" and celebrity news.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Staples, David (2007-11-19). "Oilogosphere proves fans are out there". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on 2008-04-19. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  2. 1 2 Zenko, Darren (2006-05-04). "Dispatch". Vue Weekly. Archived from the original on February 21, 2010. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  3. ↑ Staples, David (March 7, 2010). "Oilogosphere rules the Internet when it comes to Oilers commentary, at least according to Google". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on 10 March 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Young, Dave (January 1, 2009). "In the Box: In the Oilogosphere". Vue Weekly. Archived from the original on January 4, 2010. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
  5. ↑ Berry, David (October 17, 2008). "It Ends". Covered in Oil. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  6. ↑ Winters, Mike (November 8, 2008). "Goodbye to all that". Covered in Oil. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  7. ↑ Winters, Mike (August 20, 2009). "In a better place now..." Retrieved 2009-09-03.