Dave Metrick

Dave is perhaps our funniest writer to date. He burst onto the Bleacher Report scene with his infamous piece “Stadium Rename-ium,” where he laid some ground rules for corporations to follow when renaming professional sporting venues. It had all of us at the office cracking up for hours.

Since then, Dave has pursued an “open letter” series in which he addresses Red Sox Fans, Raider Nation, Ricky Williams and Joey Chestnut (just to name a few) and pokes fun at the ridiculousness of today’s sporting world.

Dave has managed to find the time to write 40 career Bleacher Report articles—despite working a full time job and raising a child. Now that’s commitment!

Richard Bowler

Richard Bowler is best known on Bleacher Report for his writing on the NFL. He regularly covers the Seattle Seahawks, his favorite team, providing members of the network with news, analysis, and unique insights into the Hawks’ every move.

Rich got particularly busy during the NFL draft, where he extended his coverage to the league at large—analyzing how each conference made out and their prospects for the upcoming season. A few days before the draft, Richard made Bleacher Report history—by publishing a Mock Draft piece that generated an at-the-time network record 15,771 hits.

Ron Johnson

Ron Johnson is all Bleacher all the time. Since signing up for the network just over a year ago, he has written on a wider variety of sports than any other member—from the NBA to college football to professional wrestling.

While his “Dem’ Apples” pieces are always good for a laugh, Ron saves his best work for his league wide previews. In these articles he shares the vast knowledge he has about his sports of choice (which as far as I can tell is pretty much anything other than hockey) in a way that is both insightful yet easily digestible for the average reader.

Ron isn’t known for being particularly active in the comment threads—and I’m guessing that’s because he is so busy writing. He currently holds the Bleacher Report record for most published articles, with 92 total submissions.

Read Overview

Read Part One

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Adam Amick

Adam is Bleacher Report’s go-to Nascar guy. Despite hosting his own racing radio show/website, working as a contractor in the mortage industry and spending time with his wife and child, Adam has managed to write 68 articles since signing up for Bleacher Report a little more than a year ago.

Adam has covered various racing events for Bleacher Report, including the recent announcement by Dale Earnhardt Jr. of his new sponsor and car number. Adam gave our readers a live description of the events taking place with up-to-the-minute photographs and thorough analysis.

Interestingly enough, Adam is also a big hockey fan. He is an example of a true Bleacher Creature in that his sporting interests are quite unique, and his loyalty to the network runs deep—despite his other pursuits in life.
Kevan Lee

After I appointed Kevan as an NFL community leader, he took it upon himself to write a full-length preview on each and every NFL team in anticipation of this year’s season. None of us at the office figured that he would get all the way through…but Kevan proved us all wrong. We were so inspired by his passion that we all pitched in to buy him a signed and framed photo of Tom Brady, his favorite player.

Kevan’s biggest claim to fame however is his Patriots draft analysis, which was featured prominently at Patriots.com (the official site of the Pats). For what it’s worth, Kevan also predicted the Niners to go 4-12, which in addition to personally upsetting me attracted a bundle of Niner fans onto the network to cuss him out. Yet with Alex Smith now out for the season and a literally non-existent offense, the prediction is starting to look more and more dead on….
Adnan Tezer

Adnan has written 75 articles throughout his Bleacher career since signing up a year ago. He is a die-hard Cowboys fan who’s writing usually focuses on the upcoming Dallas game and the overall performance of the team.

However about half of Adnan’s articles are written under the pen name “The Liver,” which has truly made him a celebrity in the Bleacher Report community.

“The Liver” is shameless alcoholic who begins his columns by telling anecdotes about strippers and parties, or rambling about the various issues that have cropped up in the world of sports that week.

The focus of his pieces center around the upcoming week’s NFL games. The Liver offers his predictions on the games around the league, but warns his readers that as a drunk, you must take his calls against the spread with a grain of salt. From this week’s column: “Of course it goes without saying that the following picks AGAINST THE SPREAD are for RECREATIONAL USE ONLY. The Liver’s picks are to cover the spread, not straight-up winners. Only Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Greg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Michael Vick, Bill Beliprick, and Travis Henry’s nine kids and nine mommas would be drunk enough to question the Esteemed Liver’s picks.”

Read Overview

Read Part One

Read Part Three

Marty Andrade

Marty Andrade loves baseball, numbers, and the Minnesota Twins. I’m not sure anyone on Bleacher Report really knows what else he enjoys in life…and I have a feeling he likes it that way.

Marty has written 78 articles throughout his Bleacher Report career. He is the network’s resident Sabermetrician, and never hesitates to bring statistics no one’s ever heard of into the discussion. Marty will attempt to prove why a hitter’s batting average indicates little about their overall production, and how meaningful statistics show that Matt Holliday is not as good as everyone thinks—regardless of how others react. His honest analysis and willingness to analyze baseball to it’s fullest extent have made Marty greatly respected within the MLB community.

He also loves his Minnesota Twins with a passion—but isn’t afraid to call out their front office when they look over important statistics in signing or dumping a player.

Erick Blasco

Erick Blasco shaped his Bleacher Report identity by getting busy in the NBA threads. It became clear very quickly that Erick knew more about professional basketball than anyone else on the network—frankly, it got to a point where he was starting to embarrass writers with his vast knowledge of the game.

It wasn’t long before Erick took to article writing. Since then, he’s taken the NBA community by storm. His willingness to analyze all the teams and players throughout the league has paved the way for a variety of excellent discussions, and made him a no-brainer pick as the NBA Community Leader.

Erick has recently branched out his Bleacher intersts to the college football section of the site, where he has written and commented with the same intensity as he has in the NBA community. All in all, he’s written over 40 articles and 350 comments since signing up for Bleacher Report almost a year ago—despite studying TV/Radio and English on a full ride at Brooklyn College.
Ron Glover

Ron Glover is one of those guys who does a little bit of everything. For as long as I can remember, he’s been a staple of the Bleacher Report Community.

Ron doesn’t write or comment quite as frequently as some of the other Creatures—but when he does, he makes his presence felt. He writes tributes to players of old that have passed away, reminding all of us why being a sports fan is so special; he talks about his home teams with a calm positivity that makes you smile, rather than a ra-ra, “we’re the best” type of arrogant attitude.

Not only that, but I’ve noticed that Ron really takes advantage of our Bulletin Board feature, making friends and engaging other members in casual chat. I’ve seen Ron have lengthy conversations with other members about topics ranging from the Simpsons to Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches. In fostering a genuine sense of community at Bleacher Report, it is just as important to have guys like Ron providing a welcoming atmosphere as it is to give new members the ability to read and write in-depth analysis on their favorite teams and players.

I’ve never met Ron in person, but I have a feeling he’s one of the nicest people around. His contributions always have a positive vibe, and he never makes personal attacks, no matter how large the temptation.

Read Overview

Read Part Two

Read Part Three

(Courtesy of the American Heritage Dictionary)…Bleacher n. 1. One that bleaches. 2. Usually plural. An unroofed outdoor grandstand for seating spectators.

Creature n. 1. Anything created. 2. A living being, especially an animal. 3. A human being. Often used with a suggestion of pity or contempt.

Bleacher Creature n. 1. One that bleaches anything created. 2. An unroofed outdoor grandstand for seating living beings, especially animals. 3. A human being that is obsessed with, dependent on, or addicted to the Bleacher Report website.

Since we put the concept site up over a year ago, a wide range of folks have come to bleacherreport.com to write sports editorials. People of all creeds and colors, ages and sexes, have taken it upon themselves to become the sports journalist they always wanted to be—bringing fresh opinions and analysis to a community to welcomes their contributions with open arms.

The great thing about Bleacher Report is not only that it allows aspiring sports writers the ability to write about whatever interests them—but that in addition, writers can contribute as frequently or infrequently to the network as they like. In this day in age where the 40-hour workweek is no longer the norm—and everybody’s got a hobby, a wife, a child, or all three—there is nothing that can stifle creativity more than imposing obligatory requirements for participation in an online sports network.

Since the frequency of contribution is up to the individual member, the level of involvement of a given person on Bleacher Report can vary quite significantly. Some contribute once a month, others once a week. Some writers are seasonal, popping in their submissions when big news in their sport of choice breaks. And some write their articles in bulk, posting three or four pieces and then going silent for a month—before coming back with another bundle of insight to share with our community.

Then there are those members who live on the site. Enter the Bleacher Creatures.

Bleacher Creatures come in all shapes and sizes—but there’s one characteristic they all share: a strong passion for sports.

The Bleacher Creatures are the lifeblood of the Bleacher Report network. Without them, the community would collapse at the seams.

The Creatures set the tone for the network at large. They spark the debates that make Bleacher Report the thriving community that it is. They engage the network’s user base with their thoughts and opinions.

Overall, they make Bleacher Report the place where internet users seeking fan-driven sports journalism want to be.

It’s time that they got a little recognition. Over the course of the next week or so, I will be discussing some of our finest Creatures in further detail.

I will dedicate the first three segments to some of our “Classic Creatures” that have been around for quite awhile now, and continue to be irreplaceable contributors to the network. The fourth installment will be dedicated to “Emerging Creatures,” who have joined the network more recently but are well on their way to Bleacher Report stardom.

Enjoy.

Read Part One

Read Part Two

Read Part Three

Well after taking some time off from blogging to focus on building the community post-launch, we’re back now at the Bleacher Report blog and will be posting more regularly with updates, stories, and other random notes relevant to the Open Source Sports Network.

We’ve also got a great new blog template to match the Bleacher Report site, thanks to superb design work on both by our designer Shaun Andrews of Upstate Interactive.

There’s a lot of cool stuff going on here at Bleacher Report—from the development of new communities and the emergence of some fresh writing talent, to some cool new features we have in the works.

Keep checking back here for all the latest on what’s up at BR.