Bloggers in the Press Box

I realize that everybody in the blogosphere has given their take on this topic, so I am not going to go on a long diatribe as to why allowing bloggers in the press box is a good thing or a bad thing.  Rather I am going to try and get straight to the point.

As a whole, I can see the arguments against allowing bloggers in the press box.  People say that bloggers don’t have to answer to anyone and therefore have no accountability.  Sure that can be true in certain instances, but teams and the league as whole that judiciously select particular blogs to have press access should not have such a problem.  If the public relations director believes the site to be reputable then why such a backlash?  In my opinion the benefits far outweigh the detriments. 

Think about it, the game is getting publicized on another platform.  How can that be a bad thing? Whether it gathers critical publicity or not, it gathers fans together on sites or message boards and allows for passionate discourse about their favorite team.  Hockey is ahead of other sports in terms of internet content, so why slow it down? 

I’m not here saying allow every blogger in the press box; that’s not it at all.  In fact, many bloggers don’t need to be at the game to write their opinions of the games they have witnessed.  If there is no room in the press box, I would not expect a team to make room for bloggers.  However, when teams have open seating in the press box, then what’s the harm?  If the teams understand and are familiar with the type of blogger they are letting through their doors, there really shouldn’t be any concern. 

Bloggers aren’t here to replace the mainstream media.  Those men and women continue to do a terrific job keeping fans as up-to-date as possible on their favorite teams.  In fact, I’d say the coverage of teams today is as good as it has ever been.  Many times, it is the articles written by team beat-writers that evoke such interesting and informative dialogue on blogs. 

Why curb that enthusiasm?