Blog, age 2, takes bigger baby steps

WELCOME TO THE birthday party for my 2-year-old. I want all loyal Guesspert readers to know you’re invited to peek at it any time day or night, especially if I’m changing it at 3 in the morning.

Yes, it was on July 5, 2006, that I posted my first entry on The Guesspert Web log (or “blog”).

If you like, you can refer to it by its give name: http://thestatecom.typepad.com/guesspert/

Or, if you’re not the hunt-and-peck typing type, here are the two easiest ways to get there: Plug “Guesspert blog” into a search engine, or go to my archive of columns at thestate.com/guesspert, and click on the link to it there.

Looking at the readership statistics, I am proud to report that we get more than 15,000 page views per day.

Oh, wait a minute. Geez, I read the stats wrong. That’s 15,000 page views TOTAL in two years.

To put that in perspective, my evil twin brother Orville has sent more than 15,000 e-mail scams per month in the past two years. For a guy who’s never been to Nigeria, he sure sends out a lot of e-mails claiming he’s in charge of unclaimed bank accounts at First National Nigerian.

OK, part of the reason for the paucity of Guesspert blog page views is my fault. It’s not as though I offer you inside information or locker room gossip on your favorite teams (I have not been allowed in any locker rooms since 1997, when I thought it was OK to shower after a game with the players too).

Also, looking at my track record, it appears as though in 2007 I failed to update the Web log (or “blog”) at all during the following months: February, April, May, June, July and December. No new news means no new hits. Being asleep at the switch likely cost me dozens of your page views.

But now the Guesspert blog is a fully armed and operational battle station. I’m holding up my end of the bargain in frequently dispensing dope information about fantasy football, college football, “Saturday Night Live” sports sketches, and other pop culture chestnuts of the day.

But here’s what really steams my green beans: It’s whenever I read mailbag columns by a national sports columnist and see missives signed, “Sports Fan, Columbia, S.C.”

Hey, I’m glad there are people around town who can come up with clever one-liners that can make the cut of the hundreds of letters sent to those writers. But if you’ve really got something you want off your chest, tell it to me! I guarantee it will get published in print or on the blog! If there is a line with no waiting, this is it!

Here’s the deal: If you’ve had a letter printed in, say, a Norman Chad Couch Slouch column or Bill Simmons Sports Guy mailbag page, I will interview you and present a detailed profile on a sports topic near and dear to your heart in a future Guesspert column.

Now if you’ll excuse me, even though the Guesspert blog isn’t the type of 2-year-old who needs a bottle, its daddy sure could use one right about now.

ORVILLE’S LAST WORD

“For his Blogday present, I bought Greg a T-shirt that says, ‘More people have read this shirt than have read my blog.’”

If you haven’t caught the hint by now, read the Guesspert blog via thestate.com/guesspert. “Hardy Vision” appears weekly on CBSSports.com