5 minutes with : Jon Pyle

Earlier I showed you the little interview I did with one of my favorite bloggers, Mac Thomason of the Braves Journal, and now I bring you Jon Pyle. Pyle is one of the writers over at the Pyle of List and he's usually the one doing the "interviews", but today we're turning the table.

The facts..

Name : Jon Pyle
Age : 24
Occupation : Region Manager
City : Los Angeles, CA.
Teams : USC Trojans, Clippers, Newcastle United, still working on the baseball team


I see that you always ask the people you interview for a list, so yes, give me a list.

Top 3 Will Ferrell Sketches
1. Old Prospector Dress Sketch
2. VH-1 Storytellers, Neil Diamond
3. Air Supply- "Thanksgiving Time"


So, you just wake up one morning and decide to start Pyle of List? How does that happen?

I'd been trying to do something like this for awhile and I left a trail of failed blogs in my wake. I'd been writing stuff inconsistently on MySpace for awhile. They were basically ramblings about my life, sports and pop culture that some of my friends would read. I wanted more people to read my stuff so I tried to start something with friends from USC that only my namesake and excellent writer Jonathan K. got on board with. After neglecting that pursuit for awhile, I just got into reading more blogs and diving deeper into the blogosphere. At the end of April, The Big Lead asked me to fill in while they were on vacation because I'd provided a few tips for them. I figured I might as well have a blog to promote so I started Pyle of List on blogspot and posted once every 2 weeks. Right around the time I filled in for TBL, came the Ladies... Hot Blogger Bracket which really inspired me to post actively. I became enamoured with WordPress after my experience with TBL, so I moved the blog over there. After doing it for a couple of weeks solo, I recruited a good friend to help me out and here we are now.

Describe the creative process behind PoL. How do you decide on content?

It's all about Google Chat. For the most part we do our own thing but we often have some sort of discussion beforehand about what we're doing. Usually it starts by asking the other person what they're going to write this week. Sometimes we bounce ideas off each other if we get stuck or send over a couple of good links if they might help. We haven't had many collaborations yet ("Kill Buss" is the only one I can think of), but it's pretty similar.

I also think Lunchbox and I occupy different roles which makes it easier. He's the better writer, photoshop expert and more technically inclined (than me at least). I like to think of myself more as the P-Diddy of the blog world. Not the most talented in terms of writing, but I like to network, collaborate and promote.


Who are your inspirations in the blogosphere?

There are too many to include everyone, so I'll name a few that come to mind. The Big Lead, of course, as they're the first sports blog I started reading (through the Whitlock thing). They opened my eye to a whole new universe ("There is sports coverage that exists outside ESPN? And they update after 2pm?") and gave me my first "break". The Extrapolater who was like the Gatekeeper of the Blogosphere when I first started, helped put me at ease by informing me that a pingback wasn't a hostile gesture. He was also my first interview subject. The Ladies... whose attempt to determine the hottest blogger literally inspired me to keep posting and stick with it.


What are your favorite blogs out there?

Again, too many to include everyone. If I step away from my Google Reader for an hour it's overwhelming. My blogroll covers pretty much everyone, so check it out to see what I read. Some blogs I've started reading recently: With Malice, Nation of Islam Sports Blog, Blumpkins for All, It's Still Football and Dave's Football Blog.


Which post that you've written are you most proud of?

I think the post I'm most proud of is "Kill Buss," even though I just slightly contributed and Lunchbox did all of the work. I just thought the idea was perfect and I think it's become our signature post.

For something I actually wrote, "The Only Streak That Matters" turned out to be very good. It was so personal that I feel like it's something that I could put in a scrapbook and keep for my kids to read.


Funniest/Best post that you've read on another blog...

Impossible to pick one, so I'll just go off the top of my head. The History of Blogging at Blumpkins for All is quite humorous. The original Sex Cannon at KSK is fantastic. That personification of Rex Grossman is one of the funniest premises I can recall. It's in the same class as my friend picking Burt Reynolds for his History Shaping Person in 8th grade history, in terms of ideas that always make me laugh.

One More Dying Quail's post about his Father is brilliant. It's one of the highest quality posts I've ever read, just stunningly written and quite affecting. Truthfully, it's one of the better pieces of writing I've seen in awhile, blog or non-blog. When I read it, it made me want to be a better writer.


What's your "dream job"?

The obvious answer is blogging for a living, which would be great, but I would want to interact with more people. I cannot work alone, I'm really a people person. I would love to be a blog consultant. Struggling or new blogs would hire me to help them build a successful site. Big sports outlets like ESPN, newspapers and magazines would bring me on to help them be "legit" in the blogosphere.


You do interviews on the Pyle of List...who's your dream interview? If that even exists?

I doubt it would be a big name athlete or celebrity because they're interviewed all the time. They know how to do it and it would be just another day at the office. I think someone like Ted McGinley or one of the American Gladiators like Nitro or Gemini would be a dream. I'm not fascinated by big name celebrities, I really appreciate the people on the fringes.

A few weeks ago, I saw the black guy from the Wamu and Fruit of a Loom (the Grape) commercials walking out of the post office and freaked out. He's like the go-to black guy for commercials. All my co-workers thought it was silly, but you have to recognize that kind of game.

Name an athlete that you'd want to spend an entire day with.

Tim Duncan. Seems like a pretty decent dude, with that sneaky sense of humor. I'm not a huge partier anyway and I'm married so I wouldn't want to be surrounded with groupies. Plus, that Spurs team fascinates me more than any NBA team ever. In the age of all this money and fame, they go about their business in an old school way without drama or trouble. They're like an incredibly talented rec league team that plays together every year or something. I have to know how they do that and I get the feeling it starts with Duncan.

What's your best sports memory? (all time favorite moment in sports)

The USC-Notre Dame game in 2005 with 4th and 9 and the "Bush Push". Just an amazing memory of experiencing it all with my wife. That's the moment I realized why I was a sports fan. I'll throw out a few more: 1) Kirk Gibson's Home Run in 1988 was my first memorable sports moment, 2) The 2004 OU-USC National Title game, 3) seeing Reggie Bush's 500+ total yard performance against Fresno State live and in person. I've never witnessed a USC crowd react like that. Not only did they will a few plays out of that defense, there was a palpable sense of electricity every time Reggie touched the ball.


Worst sports memory?

The 1989 1-15 season for the Dallas Cowboys. I was a huge Cowboy fan as a kid because of my parents. I cried every time they lost that year and was afraid to wear my Cowboy jacket to school for fear of being beaten up. I was 7, but a sensitive kid so it really affected me. Eventually they one the Super Bowl before I left elementary school which was quite satisfying.

Most USC fans would say The 2006 Rose Bowl with Vince Young. But not me, it was far more than you could've possibly expected. Probably the greatest individual performance I've ever seen in any sport by Vince Young, who I will never doubt again, and 2 teams left it all out on the field. Amazing game. At the end I just smiled and shook my head because at no point did I ever think we would lose. Even when the clock ran out. But you gotta lose sometime and there was no better way to lose than that. I still can't watch the game though.


Your best athletic achievement..

This is a tough one.

I'll go with 3 F-bombs berating my team (that included Lunchbox) in the Intramural Flag Football Championship game after catching a sweet ""jump ball" TD in the final seconds. First off, you should know that I'm rather laid back and I sound stupid when I swear. I sound like an 8 year old trying it out for the first time. But this time, I mustered some serious swear-age. Also of note, I was an RA and I'm pretty sure verbally beating down your residents is not encouraged. Lastly, it was just an intramural game. I was the guy taking it way too seriously.

"Who wants to f***in' play?!?!? Is anyone else going to f***in' play?!?!? Are you just going f***in' give up?!?!?"

I've never been more upset in an "athletic" setting in my life. We were undefeated going into the Championship game and blowing everyone out. We had a 12-0 lead at halftime and ended up losing like 48-18. Our QB turned into an INT machine like Brett Favre possessed him. I'm not sure how this qualifies as the best or as an achievement at all, but this is what came to mind. Maybe it's the only time I've ever actually been a badass for any period of time in my life.

I think I'm going to change this question in future interviews to your worst or most embarrassing athletic moment.


Who would you suggest for a future interview?

With Malice, Shorty from Milk Was a Bad Choice, the gals from Babes Love Baseball . There are a lot of people out there that should be interviewed, which means I can't get to them all. I still haven't gotten to all the recommendations my previous interviews have made.


In the end, what do want to achieve with the PoL? What do you want to be known for?

First and foremost it has to be enjoyable. Work is too stressful to have another pressure in my life and I'm sure Lunchbox feels the same way.

Of course we'd like PoL to be successful too. At some point, it'd be nice to put some coin in our pocket from it and branch out to our own domain. I'd also like to provide West Coast perspective to the blogosphere. I feel like sports is quite territorial and sports blogs are the same way. Nearly all blogs seem to be located in the Midwest or East Coast, which gives them a different sensibility. I don't think there is any East Coast Blog bias or anything, but where you live is important in the way you view the world, for better or worse.