I always think Meatball whenever I see Maeball.  Maybe I should just change the name to: The Meatball Web Report.  Then I can create a logo with some spaghetti noodles or something.  I like that much more than my actual name – what would I use as a logo with my name, a picture of myself?  So boring. 

I know it’s a little early for a re-branding campaign, but I’m officially changing this to: The Meatball Report

Then again, maybe I should just get some lunch.  As you may or may not have noticed, I’m not standing in line to receive my Dave Stewart 1980′s jersey at the A’s/Angels game this morning.  I thought about it: waking up at the crack of dawn only to watch non-fans get the shirt and leave the coliseum just when the coliseum needs them the most.  I thought about drinking Pyramid’s Apricot Ale from the bleaches in the sun and cheering on my boys as I worked on a tan, but I’ve decided to go boating with some friends today in the Bay.  Yes, freezing windburn over baseball, so summer choices are made.

Let’s do the numbers!

The Game: I’m comparing the Alexa rankings (the lower the
ranking = the higher the site’s traffic) of the top sites from google
web and blog searches.  Whoever has the lowest total ranking wins!

Oakland Athletics Alexa rankings of top Google Blog Alexa Ranking:
          Related Blogs:
              oaklandathletics1.info                #4,556,786
              mlbnewsblog.com                     #1,220,435
              athleticslocker.com                 #21,362,586
              oaklandathleticsjournal.blogspot.com      #21,410,917
              athleticshomeplate.com           #100,000 (it’s driving me crazy that this blog
doesn’t have a ranking)
1. howdydoodyijnaq.th3blogs.com         #662,897 (the most boring of all the stupid non-fan sites in the world – obviously owned by ebay)
2. mbd.scout.com                              #1,508 (wow, this blog is the coolest ever – I love it!)
3. mlntherawfeed.squarespace.com      #6,271
4. betus.com                                     #9,157  (this site is perfect for all those days at work when I want to talk about baseball stats, but no one else cares so I break it down into “I’ll bet you a can of coke Zito blows it” and they say “yeah, sure whatever, Mae”)
5. ballhype.com                            #9150  (claims to have the “best stories, biggest fans” but I see nothing of the sort.  Still, great rankings, the A’s should zero in on them)
6. devonyoung.com                        #2,067,359 (this blog was a harsh reality for A’s fans, even though I don’t agree with every point Devon makes — they’re competitive but the AL West does not belong to Texas, thank you)
7. sportsbooks.com                      #379,316 (I think the ebay blog may have been more exciting than this one)          
8. theolympian.com                       #59,463 (the Olympian is cool, they’re keeping baseball fire’s alive – why am I not seeing any good sports blogs showing up from the Oakland Tribune?  I mean, come on, Oakland is a part of my search term – what does it take?)
9. athleticsnation.com                    #151,529
10. blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com    #34,010 (Seattle is a baseball city!)

Total: 52,020,384

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Alexa rankings of top Google Blog Alexa Ranking:
          Related Blogs:
              halofan.livejournal.com                #53  (I hate livejournal blogs)
              mvn.com/mlb-angels                  #28,634
              angelswinblog.blogspot.com       #3,655,700
              mlb.com                                   #206
              angelshomeplate.com                #100,000 (okay, what are these team “homeplate” blogs and why don’t they have a ranking?  They’re all really tacky and whoever’s running them needs to take down the Google ads and get A. some decent content and B. real advertising.  These sites are an eye sore.  Conjunctivitis – these sites are the pink eye of baseball blogs.  Whoever’s running these needs to pull themselves out of their martini glasses or whatever funk of life their in and get these puppies off the ground.  They have so much potential to be a great guerrilla marketing tools.  Ahem…*stepping off soapbox* lets get back to the numbers)
1. devonyoung.com                #2,067,359  (I like this Devon Young guy – I like him a lot)
2. sportsbooks.com               #379,316
3. searchforvideo.com            #6,733
4. squarespace.com              #6271
5. angelswin.com                  #7,843,825
6. jasonkearney.net               #3,211,617
7. ncsportsmagazine.blogspot.com      #6,711,608
8. athleticsnation.com            #151,529
9. ryanspoon.com                  #237,737

10. misandryreview.com         #4,896,225


Total: 23,052,541

Winner: Angels

Well bummer, I thought maybe the A’s would pull ahead in the blog arena because, well, I have no good reason why they would – they live in a larger metro area and win more games – but it was all I had to hope for today after losing the series.  But it looks like the Angels are all around winners.   Damn you red sparkly Disney magic!