Home > Top Stories > CCH Interviews: Viva El Birdos' Larry Borowsky
Updated Tuesday, September 4, 2007 @ 8:20am by Cardinal70
Cardinal70: Should I do this in lower-case to make you feel more comfortable? Talk a little about your distinctive style and the reasoning behind it.
Larry Borowsky: I'll go with the house rules ---- initial caps it is. (Plus, this way I can prove I know how to use them.) I explained the origin of the all-lowercase style in a post back in May:
"when i began blogging, i used the lowercase letters as a device to enforce a cap upon my effort; i didn't want to fall into the trap of laboring over my words, as i tend to do when writing in more formal venues. i just wanted the thoughts to flow right through the fingertips, as unedited and unshaped as possible. that's still the spirit in which i write these posts, although i'll admit that --- since i know people actually read this stuff --- i occasionally will go to the trouble of frilling up the prose, trying to fashion it into pretty little bows and ribbons. not often, but sometimes i just can't help myself.
in any case, the lowercase still serves its original function --- to remind myself that the writing i do here ain't supposed to be art, and it ain't supposed to be labor; it's an outlet and a release, a vent for surplus mental energy. moreover, the shtick has worked for two years now, so it's too late to change it.".
C70: You blog from your home in Colorado. Where does the love of the Cardinals come from?
LB: I grew up in Ladue, in a houseful of boys (one of 3 brothers). My dad, who grew up in Arkansas, is a lifelong Cardinal fan, and he started taking us to games at an early age. I saw my first game in 1968, filled out my first scorecard in 1969, and have been watching ever since.
C70: What got you started blogging? Did you start at SportsNation or were there earlier incarnations of VEB?
LB: My first blog was on blogspot and was called "Curveblog." I launched it in the winter of 2005 because I wanted to get a foot in the door in the blogosphere, as a showcase for my writing. Baseball was something I could write about without much effort, something that was enjoyable. The fact that the Cardinals were coming off their first World Series appearance in 17 years was a plus. That was an interesting team.
C70: You have permanent "guest bloggers" on certain days of the week. How has that worked for you? Was it tough giving up the keys to the car, so to speak?
LB: Erik Manning writes on Sundays and Jerry Schirmer (Valatan) writes on Wednesdays. I'm enormously grateful for their contributions to the blog. I think it's good to have more than one voice in the main column, and I need to get away from it a couple days a week to avoid total burnout. I trust both of those guys 100 percent, so no concerns about yielding control. Erik has gone on to launch his own site, Future Redbirds, which focuses on the minor leagues and has become very popular in its own right (and deservedly so). (Note: CCH will have an interview with Erik coming in the near future.)
C70: Was there one specific point or instance where you first said, "Wow, people are really reading this?"
LB: Will Leitch of Deadspin was an early reader and supporter, and that made a huge difference --- he sent a lot of readers my way during the 2005 season. During that off-season, when the Cardinals were chasing pitchers (first AJ Burnett, later Javy Vazquez), I got a couple of inside tips and the site actually broke a little news. At about the same time, Bernie Miklasz gave a nod to the site in the Post-Dispatch. Both of those things pushed the readership to a whole new level.
C70: What was it like the first time you saw VEB referred to in more traditional journalism?
LB: In the summer of 2005, the Riverfront Times recognized VEB in its "Best of St. Louis" issue. I'm pretty sure that was the first time it happened. Prior to that, Will Leitch had linked to the site.
C70: Bernie M. says he reads the blog. You were part of ESPN's " Face of the Franchise". VEB was listed in a SI poll for best Cardinal blog. You've written for the Wall Street Journal. Does being "big time" bring added pressure? Has it changed anything about how you write?
LB: The nice thing about the blogosphere is that the notion of "big-time" doesn't carry much sway. There's an implied equivalence between the blogger(s) and the members of the community ---- we're all just fans with opinions. One of VEB's main attractions is that it offers a wide range of opinions and sources of information. People don't only come there to read what I have to say, they come to read each other as well. In fact, there are some who don't care what I say at all; they just want to interact with other fans in the diaries and the comment threads. There's a lot of good material in there. Another nice thing is that when I come to St. Louis, I can still walk around Busch Stadium unrecognized. And here in Denver, half the people I do business with and socialize with don't even realize I'm a blogger at all. So I don't feel big-time.
C70: When do you do most of your writing? How long do you usually spend? How do you come up with the daily topics and angles? Does it have much effect on your "real life" to write on this schedule?
LB: I do my best writing and thinking in the morning, so I get up early and do my morning post before my kids wake up --- usually takes me a couple of hours, from 5 to 7 a.m. I always keep an eye on the site throughout the day and, if my schedule permits, I'll participate in the discussion(s). I'll take 10-minute breaks in my workday to surf around other baseball sites looking for ideas / links / information. In the end, I'm probably spending 20 hours a week on the blog.
C70: Are there any blogs--Cardinal or otherwise--that you make an effort to read on a regular basis?
LB: I check all the Cardinal blogs on my blogroll at least periodically --- daily, in some cases. Sites like the Hardball Times, Baseball Analysts, Deadspin, Baseball Primer, etc. are daily reads. I also read a lot of old-fashioned print stuff ---- both local papers, the New York Times, Time / Newsweek. And I generally am reading a book of some sort; right now I'm halfway through To the White Sea by James Dickey.
C70: From the commentors on your blog and other personal observations, how would you describe Cardinal Nation?
LB: The term "loyal" comes immediately to mind. And by "loyal," I don't mean uncritical, naive loyalty --- although certainly there is a segment of the fan base where never is heard a discouraging word. I think the bulk of the fans are pretty independent-minded --- we don't always like what the manager does, who the GM brings in, or what decisions the ownership makes ---- but we always care. We always have the team in our thoughts and we always wish it success, even if we disagree about the means to achieve it. To me, that's loyalty.
The other term I would use is "proud." I think Midwesterners in general take pride in their communities and in certain heartland values. In St. Louis, we tend to project many of those cherished Midwestern values onto the team and its players. When the team succeeds (as it so often does), it tends to reinforce our belief that those values have merit --- and that's important, because the values seem to take a beating in so many other realms (politics, entertainment, the economy, etc etc). I have seen this value-projection carried to unhealthy lengths sometimes ---- in the end it's still just a game, and it shouldn't be taken too seriously. There also is a certain degree of self-deception involved; not every Cardinal player is a nice guy with a good work ethic and a clean conscience. But as mass manias go, the infatuation with a baseball team strikes me as pretty innocuous. I'm a happy member of the cult.
C70: Thanks so much for your time, Larry, and we look forward to many more years of great reading at VEB.
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