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Navigating the Astros Blogosphere
The internet is a wonderful thing. How did we get by for so many years without it? Whatever you may be into- you can learn about, keep tabs on it, or laugh at it courtesy of the web. Hopefully you are into the Astros. If not, you may have taken the wrong exit off the information super-highway. Here at Climbing Tal’s Hill our mission is to provide quality and timely year-round infotainment for Astros fans around the globe. The site is run by Astros fans, for Astros fans. There are plenty of Astros sites out there, and not all of them can make that very important claim. Take a look at our blogroll near the bottom of the right sidebar. There you will find links to a number of our brethren within the Astros blogosphere. Each of these dozen or so sites provides its own unique brand of Astros coverage. Some are big and some are small. Some have a particular style and some have no style at all. Click the “continue reading” button to read my take on a few of those sites.
Astros.com
The official site of the Houston Astros is the corporate giant of Astros blogs and a subsidiary of mlb.com
. It is probably the first place most Astros fans go for news about the team. Brian McTaggart is their featured writer. McTaggart is an employee of the team and is forced to spew propaganda while toeing the company line. He’s quick to point out the silver lining and will never say anything negative about the powers that be, no matter how bad the situation. If you are looking for official press release type coverage that must meet the approval of the team, then look no further.
Alyson’s Footnotes
Astros director of social media
Alyson Footer brings us frequent team updates at her esthetically pleasing site. There are plenty of pictures and the information provided is both timely and accurate. Footer is also employed by the team, which of course limits what she can do. On the plus side- she has plenty of resources. To me this site seems to be geared more towards a younger facebooky, twittery type demographic.
Astros Daily
I stumbled across this by Astros fans, for Astros fans site a few years ago. It is, to my knowledge, one of the oldest such sites. At least it’s the first one I ever read. The site provides daily updates on the team, as its name would suggest. One thing I like about the site is the fact that they provide tons of links to Astros-based articles from every corner of the web. But I’m not sure if they actually read the articles before linking them. Some of the articles linked are informative, but others are a little sloppy. However, the writers on staff are knowledgeable and committed. This combination makes Astros Daily a major player in the overall Astros Blogosphere. They have a tremendous following and also offer users the ability to post chatter in their message board style forums.
Astros County
Another blog run by Astros fans, Astros County provides frequent team updates
on a year-round basis. Their love for the Astros is evident in their dedicated and thought provoking posts. The County is a small site but has a tremendous following. I’m not sure, but I think it may be run by a single individual.
The Houston Sports Counterplot
This is a site that provides an us against the world style coverage of all Houston sports teams. I have had some back and forth banter on Twitter with Andy, the sites lead writer. Andy is a never say die Hou
ston sports fan who blends a wonderful sense of humor into his informative articles. Andy posts less frequently than some of the bigger blogs, but the work is always top notch. The site has a small but growing audience. If you are a fan of the Astros, Rockets, Texans, or Cougars give it a look.
Farmstros
A great site for info on the Astros minor league system, Farmstros recently celebrated its fifth birthday.
The posts are both frequent and thorough.
The Crawfish Boxes
This is SB Nation’s Astros site. It’s huge and has plenty of writers and followers. The site is quite handsome and features lots of bells and whistles. They run a live boxscore during games and also have a feature allowing fans some posting ability. The ammount of features are seemingly endless and too many to discuss here. Check it out.
Astros Locker
This is one of the smallest of sites and is probably a solo effort. The posts are short and to the point and pretty much stick to
the stats. If you only have a couple of minutes to find out who won last night’s game, this could be the site for you.
Foamer Night
Another small site, this one has style and substance. At Foamer Night Ted Walker eloquently shares his view of the goings on between the foul lines. Walker conveys his love for the Astros and the game of baseball without getting bogged down in statistics.
Astros 290
A pair of writers provide detailed game summaries and offer up a good amount of related content at Astros 290. Sometimes I find the posts to be a bit lengthy, but the quality is there. This site
is tied to the ESPN family of sports blogs.
What the Heck, Bobby?
A small site at blogspot, What the Heck, Bobby? shows extreme dedication to covering the Astros minor league system.
The posts are frequent and vary greatly in length.
Those are a few of the sites I frequent in the vast Astros Blogoshere. Currently I am flying solo here at CTH and looking for crew members. If you are tired of toiling in anonymity at a small site or on your own and interested in coming aboard click here to apply.