Students Discover Creative Outlet Through Sports Blog

What good could come from a two hour argument with friends at the Grille? Just ask Fordham students Joe Gallagher, Bobby Montano and Kevin Daly, all FCRH '15, creators of the up-and-coming sports blog, "Sports Spangled Banter."

"I remember my sister being like ‘stop talking,'"Gallagher said. "‘I don't want to hear this anymore.' So I decided I would just write it all down."

The blog was born in early October and has, so far, received approximately 500 views per day, with some days even peaking around 900.

"It started out Fordham-based, but when we have 900 views, a lot of them are from other places," Montano said.

Their popularity from readers continues to grow with more regular and timely posting.

"It's all about putting out consistent material, otherwise people aren't going to check back," Montano said.

"Sports Spangled Banter" has also benefited from the three creators' strong advertisement.

 "We market shamelessly.  We annoy everyone with Facebook, Twitter. If there's live chats for ESPN, we'll just throw it in there and say come check this out," Montano and Daly said.

"Sports Spangled Banter" covers a range of sports topics from NFL playoff picks to NBA power ranking. Its goal is to cover all stories, especially ones that may not be covered by more professionally-recognized writers.

Besides Gallagher, Montano and Daly, the blog also has many other writers who intermittently post based on the sports topics in which they are interested. The blog's target audience ranges from about 18-24, but it attracts readers of every age, beginning with students in high school.

What makes "Sports Spangled Banter" different from other sports blogs? The answer lies in the personalities attached to each post.

"We all have different styles. It's pretty obvious who writes each post. If you read articles from between the two of them[Gallagher nd Daly], I would absolutely know who wrote what just from the opening line," Montano said.

The blog also benefits from offering opposing perspectives on a variety of sports, since none of the three root for the same team.

"The three of us, we couldn't disagree more on a lot of things, Gallagher said. "We go at each other's throats.  Sometimes we get the idea to write because we'll be yelling at each other," Gallagher said.

Even though it is a sports blog, Gallagher, Montano and Daly like to tie in other topics to attract an even wider audience. Montano enjoys focusing on statistics and the numbers behind the game, while Daly often writes about ethics in sports.

 "I've been doing a lot of my stuff with incorporating pop culture," Gallagher said. "My sister will take my posts and put them on her [Facebook] wall, and her friends will comment, saying that they don't know much about the sport, but I mention movies and compare them [to sports], so they understand what I'm saying."

The most important thing to them is staying true to themselves, as fans first. Even their writing style is conversational, putting them at the same level as their readers.

"A lot of times you read national writers, and they seem to have this sense of authority, that they know more and that makes them greater than you," Gallagher said. "We just try to write like we're fans. We feign arrogance, but we just want it to be like a fan talking to another fan."

 But that does not mean they are not serious about actively updating, posting and working religiously on the site.

"A lot of times people hear ‘blog' as a negative or less professional term, but if you read enough of them, you realize they're almost better than what you're going to get at professional level," Montano said.

One of the top reasons for the success of "Sports Spangled Banter" so far is that writers include their strong opinions, which allows for in-depth discussion and debate over the hot sports topics.

"Sometimes I feel when you read the national writers, they're completely indifferent. That's exactly what I don't want to be," Montano said.

"We want to be biased. I want people to be annoyed enough with me to comment," Gallagher said.

What started out simply as an outlet to vent their opposing opinions has turned into a potential launching pad for their careers.

"It's something we've thought about and considered. There's a lot of competition with journalism now, but Joe and I have talked about it. If we could continue it for a career, we would," Daly said.

"But, right now, it helps when applying for jobs, because I say I've done this and send them an archive of my work," Montano said.

For now though, Gallagher, Montano and Daly continue to write because it is something about which they are extremely passionate.