Introducing the Carnival of College Football

It's been interesting to watch the world of blogging evolve. From the Geocities and Tripod, to the Drudge Report getting the President of the United States in trouble, to the launch of Blogger, the creation of Xanga, and the conquest of the internet by MySpace, blogs have, in their short history, been a lot of things to a lot of people. To some, they've been the source of news and opinion that the mainstream media wouldn't address. To others, they've been irresponsible rumor mills, muckrakers working for free but without the oversight of an editor -- or a conscience. But most of all, they've represented the true realization of First Amendment rights for thousands and thousands of Americans (and, of course, people the world over ... but who aren't governed by a Bill of Rights, per se). Erstwhile journalist A. J. Liebling famously quipped that "freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." Well, now any schmuck who can dial into the vast series of tubes that is the Internets has one. And buddy, you'd better watch it.

One of the innovations that bloggers have created for themselves is the Blog Carnival. With a carnival, one blogger is chosen out of the whole universe of bloggers who covers a certain area of subject matter to compile an extensive post with numerous links to various bloggers' opinions on that topic. Hundreds of carnivals exist and are updated at regular intervals: the Catholic Carnival collects thoughts about Catholicism; the Carnival of Comedy brings you TEH FUNNY; and the Carnival of Frugality is of interest to complete and total tightasses.

I was surprised to see that there is no Carnival of College Football. But there is now. Factum est!

A carnival is a great thing. It exposes your work to those who might not otherwise see it. It gives you a chance to evaluate your posts and decide what you did well. It spreads traffic around to numerous posters, allowing you to develop a following. And if you wind up hosting a carnival, it drives a LOT of traffic your way for at least a week.

So, let's give it a go! Although I'll be publicizing this idea on the BlogPoll, this venture is completely independent of that; this way, more people can participate. I'm going to make submissions due on Wednesday, just like BlogPoll votes, because let's face it; (1) most of us can only memorize one deadline anyway, and (2) every true college football fan starts getting really antsy in earnest for the weekend on Thursday, what with ESPN broadcasting a weekly Thursday night tilt and the rest of the slate not far behind.

So, the first Carnival of College Football will be hosted here on Wednesday night, September 6 (or early on Thursday 9/7). Let's see if the idea takes (I'm confident that it will) and let's enjoy the discussion!

UPDATE: The ever astute Brian points out that I have failed to include my email address. Indeed, it's on this blog somewhere (in my Blogger profile) but it needs to be more clearly displayed. Anyhoo, that address is badgertracker@gmail.com, so send your brilliance to that address. If you have no brilliance to speak of, I do need to improve the size of my genitals (seriously, ask anyone I've cornered after half a dozen Jagerbombs) so feel free to send along any offers of mir@c1e pi11s you might have come across.