Meet Andy Grabia, the blogger behind Yegball, a look at baseball in Edmonton, and a veteran of the original Oilogosphere, the community of hardcore hockey bloggers who helped change the way the game was written about in the early 2000s.
Andy explores his blogging history, all the way back to a personal blog called The Cosby Sweater that he started before I even knew what a blog was. Then we get into how the Oilogosphere emerged as people who commented on each other posts or sparred with each other in forums went on to create influential blogs of their own, including The Battle of Alberta, a blog Andy did with Matt Fenwick (after whom an advanced hockey stat is now named).
We also talk about why Andy stepped away from hockey blogging, how Twitter changed the landscape of the hockey blogosphere, and the pleasure he gets from diving deep into a subject, as he does with Yegball, a Tumblr that celebrates the present and past of baseball in Edmonton, and hopes for a future.
You can also listen on SoundCloud or subscribe in iTunes.
Here are some of the blogs that Andy mentioned:
You can find links to Andy’s other projects at andygrabia.ca and follow him on Twitter (if you dare) at @agrabia.
This episode is brought to you by the Ignite Edmonton Festival, the ultimate gathering for entrepreneurial teams, creative builders and change makers at the Shaw Conference Centre on Sept. 9 and 10. Subscribe to my newsletter for a special offer on your festival pass.
Musical credits:
- Beethoven’s Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 2 No. 1, played by Daniel Veesey, from freemusicarchive.com.
Seen and Heard in Edmonton 
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