The Sports Column: Written By Fans, For Fans

Fans don’t just read about sports at The Sports Column; they write about sports. Since July 2012, 300+ authors have published 6500+ articles, with 500,000+ views over the past five years.

Sports stories are in print everywhere. And a good share of the content is accessible at low or no cost.

Courtesy: ParkLibrary.Web.UNC.edu

Where does The Sports Column fit into the mix?

TSC is an open-access, equal-opportunity site. That means anybody can write about anything in sports. Fans write and submit. TSC edits and posts. It’s as simple as that.

–Some fans have journalism backgrounds. Many others don’t.

–Some fans are aspiring writers. Many others aren’t.

–Some fans write about their favorite teams and players. Others write broadly.

–Some fans report on games. Others write sports commentary or pen human interest stories.

–Some fans are young. Others have been around for a lot longer.

–Some fans live in the U.S. Others live in various places worldwide.

But amid this diversity, all writers share a common trait: they’re everyday people who enjoy writing about sports. And TSC’s very existence depends on them. That’s because our content is what fans write.

Courtesy: karenfranklin.com

We don’t make assignments.

There aren’t any publishing deadlines.

Day after day, month after month, TSC is nothing more or less than what fans send us.

We never know who will write, what they’ll write about, or what they’ll say, which makes TSC entirely unpredictable. One day, there might be two articles about the NBA, and then there may be none for days on end. TSC, you see, is entirely unscripted. It’s the emergent creation of fans.

That’s a monstrous reversal from conventional sports sites where somebody’s in charge, and there’s a framework, structure, and routine. None of that exists in our world of (let’s call it) fans-writing.

Our job is straightforward: to enable your writing and make it public. How so? We publish every responsibly written article, period. End of story.

Brett Dickinson, founder and developer of The Sports Column

How did this all come about? It’s the brainchild of Brett Dickinson. He created and developed an open site that allows everybody to write.

Wouldn’t it be great if we had more of that approach in today’s world? Today’s society has become hyper-professionalized, with hierarchies and bosses with power and control. Brett wanted none of that, so he created something that’s just the opposite.

Free. Open. For everybody. With almost no restrictions.

There’s a larger storyline here, too. Northwestern’s John McKnight writes about what he sees as an emergent feature of today’s society. He calls it The 4^th Sector, which complements society’s other three sectors—government, corporate, and nonprofit. The 4th Sector happens when people join together voluntarily to “do their thing.” That’s precisely what TSC does.

Courtesy: elc-uum.blogspot.com

What’s next for TSC? TSC will last as long as it’s meant to. Continuity depends on writers who write, readers who read, and staff who take the time to publish your work. But there’s no tomorrow unless you do your thing. If you do, then we’ll do ours.

So … write.