Five Years of Dubsism: The Epitome Of What Is Wrong With the Internet

You would think a momentous occasion like this would have dramatic opening theme music like this.  But let’s be honest, this is an independent sports blog with what could be most politely described as an “off-beat” sense of humor. That means appropriate theme music for this moment would be something more like this from the McRae/Bohnen* school.

The best talent for a blogger to have is propensity to rant. I love to rant about sports, and most people give two shits less about them. That was really the genesis behind Dubsism;an outlet for my rants which nobody wanted to hear.

So, what was so special about this day five years ago? That was the day the Minnesota Vikings signed Brett Favre; that was the day the very first post on this blog came as an outlet for my reaction to the extreme stupidity that happened in the Twin Cities that day.

If you found yourself in Minnesota on that day, a little after 10 a.m., your life changed forever. Just a few moments before, you were enjoying a bit of “The Price Is Right,” perhaps chuckling at Drew Carey’s sheer likability and noticing that you enjoy this show so much more now that the odds of hot college-age chicks spinning the big wheel have increased so much more since the Bob Barker days. Then it happened.

You weren’t quite sure what had happened yet. All you knew was that lazily pondering the cost of a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew was suddenly thrust aside by a visibly excited Mark Rosen yammering almost incoherently about King Brett I finally agreeing to play for the Vikings.

Since then, while Favre remained a popular topic on Dubsism, the blog has grown into one of a select number of independent sports blogs that have survived the test of time and that occasionally gets a reader.

As far as the test of time angle is concerned, look at some of what has happened in the last five years in sports.

• Joe Paterno goes from Dubsism’s most-blogged about person to a legend who suffered an ignominious end
• Speaking of falls from grace, Lance Armstrong go from cancer-surviving hero to disgraced juicer
• One of the greatest comeback’s in sports history EVER… The US America’s Cup Team storming back from a 1-8 deficit to keep the Cup where it belongs by beating New Zealand 9-8.
• Tim Tebow’s entire professional football career

While you ponder that, take a look at just some of the things Dubsism has brought you during that same time.

There have been 895 posts on this blog, and the one about Top Salaries in Obscure Sports was the most read.

There several choices for what got you to comment. On the serious side, there was an assessment of the Penn State sex abuse scandal. From the ever-popular “List” format, lots of people had things to say about The Quintessential List of the 30 Greatest Quarterbacks.

There were movie parodies, such as the Dubsism version of Apocalpyse Now which takes place in the swamps of the SEC.

In addition, there were hundreds of J-Dub posts on the now defunct Sports Blog Movement, many of which are featured in series that now make a home on Dubsism.

• Sports Doppelgangers: The series for sports and celebrity look-alikes
• Tales of Depression and Sorrow: Stories of long-suffering fans of not-so-good teams
• Conversations Not Meant To Be Public: Great stuff unearthed by Dubsism’s investigative journalism division. DISCLAIMER: Buy “unearthed,” J-Dub may mean “completely fabricated.”  But its some seriously funny stuff in any event
• Grinds My Gears – My rants about teams or people in sports who piss me off
• Comparisons – Exactly what you would expect…looking at things outside the sports world and showing you that if life imitates art, then sports imitates life
• Signs We Are Near The End Of Civilization – The Bible talks about Armageddon; believe what you will. But there’s plenty of evidence out there supporting the idea we are fucking up our own lives every day
• The Deep Six: A Ryan Meehan joint (often featuring J-Dub) exposing the foibles of pop culture in sports

That last series takes us to all the guest columns and collaborations Dubsism has done over the years. For all questions about the business of sports, the Dubsism “go-to” guy in legendary general manager Joe McGrath. The sports world has a definite intersection with the law, and private investigator Jim Rockford covers that. The sports world is getting more international every day, and to walk us through that we have King George VI.

Dubsism even has collaborators that actually exist. The one seen most often is the aforementioned Ryan Meehan from First Order Historians.  He’s lent a pen to all kinds of things, not the least of which was the sole Dubsism foray into politics.

I’ve also worked with Chris Humpherys from SportsChump, who not only gave us the definitive podcast on The Masters, but his skill as a bartender partnered with my rampant alcoholism is a match whose level of perfection hasn’t been seen since Dr. Jonas Salk and the polio vaccine.

Several former members of Sports Blog Movement show up in the annals of Dubsism as well; hockey guru Jeremy Wiebe offered us some great insights into the world of European soccer.

Dubsism has also been proud to be the web’s exclusive home of the Jamie Moyer for the Hall of Fame campaign.

After all that, the one thing that remains…I was absolutely right in everything I ever said about how the Brett Favre era in Minnesota would end. Everything.

*McRae and Bohnen were two guys who were usually in the room when many of the early posts on this blog were written in Minnesota. They were usually heavily armed.  You figure out why.

About J-Dub

What your view of sports would be if you had too many concussions

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