5 minutes with : Mac Thomason

One of the things I enjoy most on the internets is reading "blogger interviews", which are done pretty kick-ass over at the Big Picture and also at the Pyle of List. So, I decided to venture into that neck of the woods and I set up some interviews with some of the "bloggers" that I enjoy reading the most.

First one up. Mac Thomason from the great Braves Journal. So yes, let's get this party started.

The facts..

Name : Mac Thomason
Age : 36
Occupation : Librarian
City : Tuscaloosa, AL.
Teams : Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Alabama Crimson Tide


You're the writer over at the Braves Journal. Did you just wake up one day and decide to start "blogging"? Or how did that happen?

Back in the Stone Age -- well, 1998 -- I was using Compuserve as my at-home online service. (This began long enough ago that it wasn't, exactly, an ISP.) I became aware that they offered some site hosting on their "Ourworld" service, and I figured I was paying for it so should take advantage. I thought for awhile and decided to make it a Braves site.

At first it was a simple "tribute" site, but to be honest I don't think that way and the Rafael Belliard Home (Run) Page was the only thing I did that I liked. So I decided that if I was going to have ongoing content I needed to have a continuing page of Braves news. I called it "Braves Update" and it was just a web page that I typed stories on the top of. Eventually I decided that what I was doing was "Braves Journal". I did it for years before moving to blogging software (Blogger, briefly, then Movable Type and eventually WordPress) but it was more or less blogging -- shortish entries, newest on top.


For a while, the Journal was over at Braves.net. Did you approach them, or did they approach you? How did that "partnership" work, and why was it located there?

As I recall (my recollections are kind of hazy at the best of times and I don't have access to the emails anymore) I was approached by a group that was merging together and starting a mega-Braves site. I signed on.

Essentially, the idea was to drive traffic by bringing in several groups and several types of content; I was the blogger. My main goal was to not have to deal with site hosting or anything technical because I don't like doing that, plus I got a traffic boost. The basic agreement was that I ran my own shop and didn't get interfered with, and that worked fine for several years.


Are there some writers out there that inspire you?

Bill James, most importantly; I rip him off on a regular basis. What I was doing in the early days was basically borrowed from what Rob Neyer was doing on ESPN.com at the time, though he's moved to longer columns since then.


Which are some of the blogs that you enjoy reading?

Sticking with baseball... Why, Blown Coverage, of course. Sabernomics, Chop-n-Change, Talking Chop. I read Deadspin regularly.


What's the main thing you want to achieve with your blog?

"Achieve"? I don't know that I want to "achieve" anything. I wanted to improve my writing and amuse myself. Really, that's all. Okay, the occasional ego-boost.


What's the most enjoyable part of blogging and the most aggravating part for you?

I like it when something gets picked up by a bigger blog, or when I come up with a good joke. The only aggravating part is when there's a technical problem and I can't write when I want to; that hasn't happened much since I switched hosts.


The Journal has established a very nice core of visitors and people that comment on the threads. How did you start getting all the traffic? Word of mouth, links on other sites... ??

Heck, I don't know. The only things I remember doing to publicize were to make sure I was listed on the directories back in the pre-Google days. I'd guess the most important things were getting a link on the early version of Baseball Primer, the bravesbeat/braves.net connection, and just being out there early.


Dream job?

Librarian at the Baseball Hall of Fame.


I've noticed that you like to crunch numbers. Would you call yourself a "Sabermetrician"?

I lack the skill to do a proper study, so no, but that's the tradition I'm working in.


You are a huge baseball fan. What made you get into the sport so much?

I dunno. My total lack of athletic ability left a lot of time for watching TV? Also for reading, and there's a lot more good reading about baseball than football. And clear channel AM radio, which let me listen at night to Braves and Cardinals broadcasts.

My earliest datable memories are of Hank Aaron's 715th homer and of Nixon's resignation. Make of that what you will.


Best Braves memory and worst Braves memory...

Best: 1991, the whole of the last six weeks or so of the season. Worst: Jim f-ing Leyritz.


Favorite current Brave and favorite ex-Brave...

Current: Brian McCann. Ex- (active) Greg Maddux (inactive) Hank Aaron.


Give a 2nd half prediction, on the Braves and how you see them performing the rest of the year.

I think they'll catch the Mets, and that winning the division will come down to holding off the Phillies. Schuerholz will find a starter in trade, somehow, and everyone will marvel at how he does it.