(June 9, 2002)
What do you get when you have a site that focuses on sports, babes and beer? For starters, you get an e-mail from me saying, "Please do an interview for my stupid-ass site."
This week, we chat with SportsByBrooks.com maestro Brooks, who updates daily with news not already mentioned on SportsCenter and, more importantly, posts pictures of fake-breasted L.A. hotties wearing his cutoff shirts. Let see what's up on the left coast...
Site: SportsByBrooks.com
Description: Sports, babes and beer
Webmaster Name: Brooks
Webmaster E-mail: brooks@sportsbybrooks.com
Birth Date of Site: June 2001
Traffic Data: 130,000 unique visitors in May 2002
1. What were your goals for SportsByBrooks.com when you first started, and how's it going so far?
My goal was to create a service for people that have the same interests as me. Sports, cute girls and hitting the bars.
2. What are some of your favorite all-time sports moments?
I'm from Kansas City, so it's probably the year we won to the World Series in 1985. Also, in 1980 when Brett hit the homer off Gossage to sweep the Yankees in the ALCS and go to our first series. That was probably more satisfying than '85 because the Yankees had stuck it to us so many times previously.
3. How do you tolerate fans who spend time drumming up hypothetical trades and criticizing pro athletes who are among the best 1 percent of 1 percent in their industries?
I don't mind knowledgeable fans that criticize teams and players as long as their opinions are informed. What's frustrating is people cracking the whip on players when they don't watch the games and don't know what they're talking about.
4. On to more important matters: Who are all those hot chicks in those tight SportsByBrooks.com t-shirts on your site?
They are mainly girls I've just met out in L.A. Most aren't models. Basically, I'll see a hottie somewhere and invite them out to a SBB gig. I'd say 90 percent of the girls end up participating.
5. What are some of the more creative and successful ways you have promoted SportsByBrooks.com?
Based on my referrals, people are posting stories that I post on SBB (and pics of the girls) on various sites and messages boards all over the web. That then drives people to the site. Along those lines, Fark.com has been a major factor in people discovering my site. Drew Curtis (Fark webmaster) has been a big supporter and one of the major reasons for SBB's popularity.
6. Do you have an online staff, or are you a one-man 'Net empire?
It's a one-man show — which is cool. I couldn't update the site in my underwear with people around.
7. I contend that increasingly obnoxious fan behavior treatens the romance of attending sporting events. What are your thoughts on that?
That's one of the factors. Ticket price is another. It's a shame. You're seeing less and less families and true fans attending games. At some point pro sports is going to have to seriously address the loss of it's core audience due to these factors.
8. Aside from the three biggies (ESPN.com, CNNSI.com, CBS SportsLine.com), I don't see much in terms of sports sites worth visiting daily. Have you identified any that I am missing?
Yahoo! has a nice sports site as does The Sporting News. Outside of that, there's not much out there that I know about. The cool thing about the 'net though is there's always something new to discover every day. I'm sure there's some great sports sites that I've never seen.
9. Which L.A. team's fans are the most active online? Seems to me hockey fans hit the Web pretty hard, but I know the Kings don't rule Tinseltown.
None of the teams themselves are very active on the internet. Thanks to MLB.com, the Dodgers have a significant presence, but outside of that there's not much to speak of. UCLA and USC have decent Web presences and have some very impressive fan sites. The L.A. Kings and Lakers also have good fan sites and message boards.
10. You know how NBC drums up the annual Notre Dame-USC game as "a continuation of one of the most storied rivalries in sports?" Is that a load of crap or what?
Yeah, it's pretty much dead at this point. SC football has been on the wane for awhile and we all know about the decline of ND football. My whole family went to ND and now I work with the USC flagship in LA so it's cool to be in the middle of it. For the schools and players it's still a special game but it's importance has faded from view on the landscape of college football.
11. Back to the girls: Do you think any of them want to fly to New York and watch a real team (the Yankees) with me? I'll bring the mace.
What a coincidence! They were all just asking me about going to New York to see you. But they all want to go to a Mets game instead. Think you could stomach the Mets if all the SBB girls were tagging along?
12. What can we look forward to in SportsByBrooks.com's future?
I just put up a forum, so I'm sure I'll be hiring an attorney in short order. I'll have a calendar out of the SBB girls this summer and I also plan to make SBB shirts and lids available for purchase. And many more L.A. gigs. Hope to see you in SoCal soon Paul!
Thanks to Brooks for not only participating in this week's Full Disclosure, but for buying t-shirts three sizes too small. I do have one question, though: When kids in Kansas City learn that there is no Santa Claus, are they also told that the Royals' World Series championship in 1985 was a gift from first-base ump Don Denkinger?
One of these days, I'll make it out to SoCal, but it the SBB gals want to see the Mets, I'm game. Hell, I'd even escort them to see the Mets' Triple-A team, which I guess is pretty much the same thing.
All you sports fans head over to SportsByBrooks.com.
Oct. 6, 2002 — TracyLines.com — Model/actress Tracy Lines
Sept. 17, 2002 — JumpTheShark.com — Jon Hein on his popular site and new book
Sept. 17, 2002 — idreamofkerri.com — Atlanta model Kerri
Sept. 2, 2002 — LisaMenuto.com — Model Lisa Menuto
July 21, 2002 — Kelli Graham.com — Model/actress Kelli Graham
July 14, 2002 — YourDreamModel.com — Detroit babe Chrissy
July 14, 2002 — WhosNYC.com — The craziest bar on Manhattan's Upper East Side
June 30, 2002 — RoundCardGirlz.com — Boxing and babes. We like the babes better
June 16, 2002 — SomeIdiot.com — A longtime leader in the e/n scene
June 9, 2002 — SportsByBrooks.com — Sports, beer and babes in Los Angeles
June 2, 2002 — MurphGuide.com — Connecting fun people through parties and events in NYC
May 26, 2002 — Honeygirlx.com — Blonde bombshell makes your fantasies come true on posters
May 19, 2002 — MirandaRox.com — Michigan model and Playboy hopeful Miranda
May 12, 2002 — CamGirlDirectory.com — A directory for camgirl sites, sortable by popluarity and location
May 5, 2002 — GoShannon.com — Model/actress/entrepreneur and overall hot babe
April 28, 2002 — NYCBP.com — Pictures and stories of New York city bartenders and patrons whooping it up
April 21, 2002 — GuyCritical.com — Where women ask men anything and have it answered anonymously
April 14, 2002 — Networkinggirl.com — A singles-event planner in New York City
Want to be interviewed? E-mail Paul.
