The Big Lead
Encyclopedia
The Big Lead is a blog
owned by Fantasy Sports Ventures that mainly covers sports but also touches on everything from politics to pop culture. It was started in February 2006 by Jason McIntyre and college friend David Lessa. McIntyre, a former sportswriter, enlisted the help of fellow bloggers Stephen Douglas (username Cousins of Ron Mexico), Tyler Duffy (tyduffy), Jason Lisk, and Tim Ryan (The Sports Hernia) in 2008 and 2009 to help contribute. Currently, the site averages over 3 million monthly page views.
clips. Recaps of the previous nights games also receive a common post heading. Basketball recaps are entitled "Ballin'", baseball game recaps are called "Yardwork", football previews are called "Pigsplosion", and soccer posts are usually called "The Onion Bag".
Every year the site stages what it calls a "Culture Tournament". 64 different sports figures, celebrities, or other relevant items (example: Michael Phelps' Bong Hit) are seeded in an NCAA basketball tournament
style bracket. Readers are allowed to vote one time for each match up until a winner is decided. In 2008, ESPN
sideline reporter Erin Andrews
beat out actress/singer Jessica Simpson
. In the 2009 version, Megan Fox
was crowned champion narrowly over Andrews.
and Kansas City Star and FoxSports.com
columnist Jason Whitlock
. The interview with Whitlock generated controversy when he proceeded to trash his then ESPN colleagues Scoop Jackson and Mike Lupica
. This ended Whitlock's association with the network.
instructed the listeners of his radio show to flood The Big Lead with traffic. The surge in activity overloaded the servers, knocking the site out of commission for about 48 hours. The attack appeared to be unprovoked, with Cowherd saying "wouldn't it be great if we could blow up a website?". His actions drew criticism from the blogosphere, as well as ESPN.com's ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber, who called his actions "immature, irresponsible, arrogant, malicious, destructive and dumb."
However, since such actions weren't forbidden by ESPN at that time, he was not disciplined.
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
owned by Fantasy Sports Ventures that mainly covers sports but also touches on everything from politics to pop culture. It was started in February 2006 by Jason McIntyre and college friend David Lessa. McIntyre, a former sportswriter, enlisted the help of fellow bloggers Stephen Douglas (username Cousins of Ron Mexico), Tyler Duffy (tyduffy), Jason Lisk, and Tim Ryan (The Sports Hernia) in 2008 and 2009 to help contribute. Currently, the site averages over 3 million monthly page views.
Format and content
The site is usually updated 10 to 15 times a day between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. est, with each post receiving its own title and space for registered readers to post comments.Days usually begin with the morning "Roundup", which links to varying news stories of interest in paragraph form at the top, and mainly links to different sports related stories at the bottom. The Roundup is usually accompanied by a picture of an attractive model or actress as well as relevant or humorous YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
clips. Recaps of the previous nights games also receive a common post heading. Basketball recaps are entitled "Ballin'", baseball game recaps are called "Yardwork", football previews are called "Pigsplosion", and soccer posts are usually called "The Onion Bag".
Every year the site stages what it calls a "Culture Tournament". 64 different sports figures, celebrities, or other relevant items (example: Michael Phelps' Bong Hit) are seeded in an NCAA basketball tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
style bracket. Readers are allowed to vote one time for each match up until a winner is decided. In 2008, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
sideline reporter Erin Andrews
Erin Andrews
Erin Jill Andrews is an American sportscaster, journalist, and television personality. As of 2011 she is a co-host of the ESPN entertainment show College GameDay and a contributor for Good Morning America on the ABC network...
beat out actress/singer Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Ann Simpson is an American recording artist, actress, television personality, and fashion designer whose rise to fame began in 1999. Since that time, Simpson has achieved many recording milestones, starred in several television shows, movies, and commercials, launched a line of hair and...
. In the 2009 version, Megan Fox
Megan Fox
Megan Denise Fox is an American actress and model. She began her acting career in 2001 with several minor television and film roles, and played a regular role on Hope & Faith. In 2004, she launched her film career with a role in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen...
was crowned champion narrowly over Andrews.
Gaining notoriety
The site first gained notoriety by obtaining interviews with syndicated sportswriter and ESPN Poker commentator Norman ChadNorman Chad
Norman Chad is an American sportswriter and syndicated columnist who is seen on the sports channel ESPN. He also was an occasional guest host on the ESPN show Pardon the Interruption and has appeared as both host and movie critic on the ESPN Classic series Reel Classics.He writes a weekly...
and Kansas City Star and FoxSports.com
Foxsports.com
Foxsports.com provides sports news, scores, sports statistics, sports and entertainment video, sports fantasy leagues and fantasy information. Launched in July 2001, it is a unit of Fox Interactive Media, which also includes other News Corporation online businesses, including MySpace, IGN...
columnist Jason Whitlock
Jason Whitlock
Jason Lee Whitlock is a sportswriter for Foxsports.com, as well as a former columnist at the Kansas City Star, AOL Sports writer, contributor to ESPN, and radio personality for WHB and KCSP sports stations in the Kansas City area.-College and sports:Whitlock was an all-state offensive lineman at...
. The interview with Whitlock generated controversy when he proceeded to trash his then ESPN colleagues Scoop Jackson and Mike Lupica
Mike Lupica
Michael Lupica is an American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the New York Daily News and his appearances on ESPN.-Biography:...
. This ended Whitlock's association with the network.
The Colin Cowherd Incident
On April 5, 2007, ESPN Radio personality Colin CowherdColin Cowherd
Colin Murray Cowherd is an American sports radio personality. He is currently the host of The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio and ESPNews. He is also the co-host of the television show SportsNation on ESPN2.-Career:...
instructed the listeners of his radio show to flood The Big Lead with traffic. The surge in activity overloaded the servers, knocking the site out of commission for about 48 hours. The attack appeared to be unprovoked, with Cowherd saying "wouldn't it be great if we could blow up a website?". His actions drew criticism from the blogosphere, as well as ESPN.com's ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber, who called his actions "immature, irresponsible, arrogant, malicious, destructive and dumb."
However, since such actions weren't forbidden by ESPN at that time, he was not disciplined.