The Blog Wiser Hot Seat: One More Dying Quail

by Stan and Rupert, Ghosts of Wayne Fontes

Welcome to another installment of the Blog Wiser Hot Seat. Today's guest is the man behind "One More Dying Quail." He was able to set some time aside for all of us to get to know him a little bit better. If you haven't picked up on his work, be sure to give his site a visit. In the meantime...no more funny business...just the serious stuff.

Ghosts: As always, much appreciated for you taking the time out to meet/greet and drop some knowledge about yourself for us. We have to start off by saying keep up the excellence on “One More Dying Quail”…it’s always good stuff going on over there. Let’s get down to business…shall we?

First off, could you elaborate on the One More Dying Quail name? We apologize for being morons, but we have no idea what that means.

OMDQ: One More Dying Quail is a line from “Bull Durham, one of my favorite movies. After Tim Robbins’ character, “Nuke” LaLoosh, is called up to the major leagues (straight from A-Ball – you kind of have to suspend your disbelief a little bit), Kevin Costner’s Crash Davis gives a tremendous speech about how the difference between hitting .250 and hitting .300 (a life in the minors vs. a shot at the majors) is 25 hits a season. That works out to about one hit a week – as Davis tell Nuke, “…you get just one extra flare a week – just one – a gork…you get a groundball, you get a groundball with eyes…you get a dying quail, just one more dying quail a week…and you’re in Yankee Stadium.”

To me, that line – “one more dying quail” was representative of the luck that exists not only in baseball, but in all aspects of life. Sometimes we hit the proverbial seeing eye groundball past the diving second baseman, sometimes we don’t.

Ghosts: How long has OMDQ been in business and what (if any) are the immediate plans on the future? By that we mean are you into this for the enjoyment and chance to share a voice or are you seeking the big break and to find a full-time writing gig?

OMDQ: I actually started blogging over at Fox Sports in June 2006. I don’t remember if I was already reading Deadspin regularly at the time, but I know that at some point I looked at stuff like Blogdome and said to myself, “I can write like that.” There never seemed to be Fox Sports links in there, however, so I started up One More Dying Quail in early July and started posting there.

The plan at this point is really to continue having fun and work on my writing. The biggest issue I’ve always had as a writer has been taking a side on an issue and building an argument to support that point of view. I’m what I like to call an “encyclopedia writer” – I’m most comfortable compiling facts and presenting them in a straightforward manner, without really adding any significant commentary. So a major goal is to write more pieces where it is necessary to argue a specific point.

“Voice” development is certainly a part of my blogging, as is the opportunity to find paid writing work, but those aren’t the only reasons I do this. I forget who said it – might’ve been one of you guys – but I agree with the sentiment that if blogging ever stopped being fun, I’d give it up in a heartbeat. Even if I ever got a steady writing job, I hope One More Dying Quail would continue to be updated, simply because I enjoy everything I do there.

Ghosts: We notice that you tend to take the high road compared to many other bloggers, typically refraining from traffic bait like hot women and athlete bashing. Was it a conscious decision to take a more mature approach or was there some event that kind of set the tone for your direction?

OMDQ: It’s funny that you mention this, because my biggest traffic day – about 7,000 visitors – came from a post I did comparing Erin Andrews to NESN sideline reporter Tina Cervasio. So I attempt to use hot women as much as the next guy – I’m just not very good at it.

I guess I don’t do a ton of athlete bashing, but it’s made up for in how much I rag on announcers (such is the influence that Awful Announcing has on me. If he told me to give crack a try, I’d probably do it). Even then, however, I try to make it clear every so often that these guys have to be reasonably okay at what they do if they’ve reached the point they’re at professionally – but even so, they often make mistakes that are stupid and avoidable and for which they deserve to be called out. (Note: that may be the single most unreadable sentence I’ve ever written.)

As for the approach…for the longest time, I didn’t even swear on my blog because I knew my dad was reading at least occasionally and my ability to curse is not one of the many things I learned from him. So it was kinda out of respect for him that I stayed away from stuff that might have been potentially offensive. Now, my junior high school principal (who is also my brother’s boss) reads from time to time and I drop f-bombs all over the place. Go figure. Maybe I’m regressing morally.

Ghosts: Aside from your interesting regular features, “The Bizarro Hall of Fame” and “2007 MLB Ejections” are there any other tricks of the trade you attempt to employ in order to harness more readers? Any specifics on how you’ve gone about establishing your niche?

OMDQ: For a little over a month, until my wife’s pregnancy reached the critical stage, I did a daily link dump. That was a great way to sort of introduce myself to some blogs out there whose work I admired but whose path I had never crossed.

Ghosts: Do you ever partake in inebriated blogging?

OMDQ: I can’t remember the last time I partook in inebriated anything, and it saddens me greatly.

Ghosts: As a Patriots fan, in a few words or less; tell us what to expect from Brady to Moss?

OMDQ: Lombardi Trophy.

Ghosts: Have you ever attempted to emulate the style of a celebrity athlete - anything from clothes and style to an MJ windmill dunk in your backyard?

OMDQ: I’m almost positive I once attempted the J.R. Rider “pass the ball through the legs in mid-air” dunk when I was about twelve. Unfortunately, I was a short fat kid who couldn’t jump for shit, so it didn’t go well.

Ghosts: We understand that you are a teacher; do any of your students read your blog by chance?

OMDQ: I’m actually a 1:1 teacher’s aide for special needs kids. Tremendously rewarding work (seriously), but not much in the way of potential readers. If I were a teacher, however, this question would be intriguing. On the one hand, something like a good blog might earn the teacher a little street cred if used probably. On the other, I would be worried that I’d say the wrong thing and lose my job.

Ghosts: Bad question. Moving on, you mentioned to us that you’ve had some pretty interesting jobs in your time, for example working for the Baseball Hall-of-Fame. Do you care to share any details about that gig and was it a dream job come true or not all it was cracked up to be?

OMDQ: Um, both? At the time, I’ll admit, the work could be tedious. As research library interns, we had to do fascinating stuff like alphabetize player questionnaires, photocopy player files, and check minor league contract cards for accuracy. Booooring. On the other hand, I got to meet Vern Law and Jayson Stark, worked for one of the two best bosses I’ve ever had (Tim Wiles, the Hall’s Director of Research) and walked through the plaque gallery every day on my way to work. So things more than evened out.

The nice thing is that five years has given a lot of perspective, so I tend to remember the good more than the bad.

Ghosts: Also, you say you worked for a minor league baseball team – (in the same league as Jose Offerman's Long Island Ducks, in fact). Real quick scenario, if Jose Offerman is charging full speed at you with a bat what do you? Who wins and why?

OMDQ: Probably do the same thing I did when a pitcher “charged” the press box on my first day as an intern in 2003: freeze and hope nothing bad happens.

Either that or grab the mascot (ours was a giant moose) and use him to cover my escape.

Ghosts: We can gauge that you are a tried and true Red Sox fan. Does it or did it ever bother you with the outpouring of pseudo or bandwagon Red Sox fans/haters that came aboard after 2004?

OMDQ: The thing that bothers me is the fact that Red Sox fans are now being considered in a class below Yankees fans, and are actually causing mainstream baseball fans to dislike the team itself through their actions. Adding fans due to success isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it’s happened before, in the Impossible Dream year of 1967 – but when a lot of the fans who come on board are assholes who give the rest of us a bad name, that’s a problem.

As for being a bandwagon jumper…I can’t say much since I admitted to the same character flaw with regards to the Patriots last year, which was actually great because it drew a ton of hits from a New York Jets message board.

And on the bright side, the guilt led me to start following the Celtics again, even before the Garnett and Allen trades.

Ghosts: Favorite Red Sox player ever?

OMDQ: Depends on the day. Kevin Romine was the most influential player on my fandom – he hit a walk-off homer in 1988 that remains one of my first baseball memories – but I have fond memories of so many players (not to mention all the ones I never got to see) that it’s impossible to pick just one.

Today, I feel like picking Tim Wakefield, which is tough because he’s my wife’s favorite player ever (she still refers to him as “my boyfriend”). I admire the way he has approached his career with the team, doing whatever management asks (start, middle relief, setup, close, sell hot dogs, announce games on the radio, work the grounds crew, umpire, etc.) while rarely speaking out in his own best interests. He is also very active in the community but doesn’t expect a lot of public recognition for it.

Ghosts: Does the feeling or thoughts of “are the Red Sox going to choke this year” seem a little played out to you now?

OMDQ: I actually wrote a post about this earlier in the week. It amazes me that the Red Sox can have the best record in baseball and playing close to .600 baseball since the All-Star break, yet people still call it a choke when the Yankees play absolutely out of their minds and make up ground in the standings. Boggles the mind. Sometimes, credit needs to go where it is due.

Ghosts: All things considered, you’re married, have a little one and manage not only your own individual blog, but also correspond on “AA” and moonlight at Epic and the Epic Email Group, mind if we ask, but where oh where do you find the time?

OMDQ: Everyone reaches that tipping point where they officially have too much on their plate, and I’m just about at mine. I love doing all the stuff I do (even if my Epic contributions are largely in email form), but trying to juggle it all isn’t easy. Eventually I’ll have to cut back somewhere, mainly because I like my wife and adore my kid and the last thing I want is a bitter divorce that will take them both away from me. Especially because she makes most of the money in our marriage and I need her income to stay afloat financially.

Seriously, I couldn’t do half the work I do on the various blogs without the support of my wife. She rarely complains about all the time I spend on the computer and tries to take a genuine interest in the stuff I’m working on (especially when it involves a check).

Ghosts: Speaking of Awful Announcing, you fill in pretty admirably over there on the weekends. How did you end up with that gig?

OMDQ: I left a comment. Seriously. Last year, I was reading through the site – he was writing a lot about Bill Simmons at the time, one of my favorite writers, and I was curious what he had to say – and noticed that the standing policy was anyone who leaves a comment gets a link in the blogroll. I’d seen AA on Deadspin a few times and figured it was bigger than me, so I dropped a couple of comments and eventually got added.

After awhile, I started helping out with some college football and NFL live-blogs, joining forces with Run Up The Score, Signal to Noise, The Extrapolater, and Just Call Me Juice to form the vaunted Channel Four News Team, a Voltron-esque gathering of some of the brightest mid-majors in the blogging world. After football season, I asked AA if there was anything else I could do for the site, thinking he might like a weekly column of some sort. Instead, he suggested the weekend editor spot. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Ghosts: As someone who often posts insightful pieces, does it ever frustrate you that a lot of the link love around the blogosphere seems to be geared towards trendy, gimmicky, half-assed comedic stabs or parodies on current topics (call us guilty)?

OMDQ: Not really. I’ve had plenty of success with links – Deadspin has been unbelievable in the amount of support they’ve given me, The Big Lead, With Leather, AA, The FanHouse, and many more. Most places recognize quality writing and/or a quality concept and reward them accordingly.

Are there some links I may never get because of my writing style or content? Absolutely. Since I don’t make any money off the blog, however, links and the hits that result serve mainly to satisfy my own ego, and the sites mentioned above more than meet that purpose.

Ghosts: Is there any one particular post or segment you are most proud of or you feel to be your best work?

OMDQ: Besides the Bizarro Hall of Fame, which I love dearly but wish would just die already (three years left!), my favorite post has always been the one I did for my father’s birthday last December. Telling him face to face how much he means to me wasn’t really an option – he’s not the sort of guy you approach with mushy stuff like that – so that piece was the best way to let him know I feel.

Ghosts: Aside from the obvious like Larry Bird, who is the most influential, yet heavily underappreciated Boston Sports figure that you can think of?

OMDQ: Let’s go with Willie McGinest, who has already been pretty much forgotten by Patriots fans after one season in Cleveland. I honestly believe that New England beats Indianapolis in the playoffs last season and wins the Super Bowl if McGinest is on the team, simply because he would not have allowed the Colts to complete that comeback. I say this because of two plays, both (I think) in the playoffs: the first had McGinest making a huge tackle at the goal line to prevent a big touchdown, the second had him sacking Peyton Manning on third down in a playoff game to move the Colts out of field goal range. He came up absolutely huge in both circumstances. I don’t think enough people remember plays like that.

Ghosts: Is Kevin Garnett going to save the Celtics?

OMDQ: Save them? I don’t know. He’s made them relevant in the Boston sports scene at least, and that’s good enough for now.

Ghosts: What are your initial impressions of the direction of Epic Carnival?

OMDQ: A little hectic and uneven at first, but I think people are starting to settle down into a good routine. The important thing at this point, from my perspective, is for contributors to keep posting the type of stories that got them invited in the first place and not get bogged down in the various special features that are being worked on. I’ve seen it happen to a number of blogs – you’re going great, then decide that you need a weekly schedule or a bunch of great series and everything falls to shit.

But you’re talking to someone who only posts on the summer solstice and vernal equinox, so take this with a grain of salt.

Ghosts: That’s really all we have, was that so bad?

OMDQ: We’re done? Does that mean you’re gonna unchain me from this chair now?

Ghosts: Got it.

Thanks for your time.

OMDQ: Always a pleasure.