FanNation

The first ELEVEN EDITIONS have been released as we continue to meet the NMI members one by one.  Many thanks to everyone who has tuned in thus far. 

(Previous interviews: rstowe, porkins, NCshvDavid, Goodell, T-fo, Dusquesne, Jimmer, Hiya, BSchwartz, The Ram and Ghosthunter)

We're providing these blogs so that Fannation can get to know some bright and active users, and hopefully get an idea of what makes NMI tick.

This edition is about the one and only, the guy who can TD about anything, the master debater himself:  Bigalke.  Warning:  knowing Bigalke, this interview may take awhile...so grab a cup of coffee and find a comfortable chair.

What made you want to join NMI?

Nothing specific, really... they sought me out, to be honest...

What do you like best about FN?

I like having a resource where I can post my writing and can then promote it to the different niche audiences of fans; FanNation, essentially, allows me to network and target groups of potential readers I otherwise might never have met... or might never have seen my writing.

What do you like least about FN?

Partisan politics... and I don't mean Democrats and Republicans... it seems that some people like to treat this more as a minefield, laying one nefarious trap after another for other users. We've been blessed, despite all the flaws, with a valuable and free resource which should bring us closer; those who spend more time penning long mudslinging screeds against other members rather than writing about sports are my least favorite part of the site...

What drew you to join FanNation?

I clicked through the si.com site on one of Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback columns... he was running the Picks Challenge, and I decided to click through... in something like week nine or ten of the season. I think I ended up making four of the next week's picks, but I became a loyal FanNation user in the process. I really first visited the site on my birthday last year, and finding the Throwdowns was like going back to my freshman year of high school and learning how to debate all over again.

Any members of Fannation help get you where you are today?

Goodell was kind enough -- or unsuspecting enough -- to take my first throwdown topic in the open throwdowns: "American sports are more permissive of doping than international sports"... and I have always appreciated a good argument with him...  Oso and David and Tracy and hemo and all the core members of the original Night Owls lineup became a first home base for me on the site. All the late-night conversations got me to recognize the site as a breeding ground for thought. The throwdowns were the bait; the Owls was the reeling in... and the hoist up into the boat was just the myriad people that showed me more than just football and basketball and baseball lived here. Guys like Keeper and jeevs at SoccerNation; Bentley and Baun-ded and the other hockey fanatics on the site; tennis fans and track fans and cycling fans and all the other myriad fanatics out there have all enriched this journey in one way or another... everyone has helped in their own way...

What do you (plan to) do for a living?

Hopefully someday I'll be getting paid to do just this -- write for all of the sports fans out there, as well as for other magazines and websites and to start writing books...

What are your goals in life?

I want to own a home, to start living more self-sufficiently off the land... I want to become less dependent on others for my energy needs... I want to wean myself completely off petroleum products... I want to write... I want to raise a good kid someday...

If you could go to one sporting event before you die, what would that be and why?

One?! Just ONE? Can't do it... but here's what I will do -- give my top-five list of events to see before I die, in no particular order:

1. World Cup final

2. Stanley Cup presentation... in MONTREAL... TO MONTREAL...

3. Playoff game in Lambeau Field

4. Inter Milan/AC Milan derby in the San Siro

5. Paris-Roubaix (in the Arenberg Forest)

What was/is your favorite subject in school and why?

History... that which we fail to learn from the past will come back to bite us in the arse yet again down the line...

Who is your greatest sports idol?

Eugene Christophe

(hyperlink to http://www.helium.com/items/861421-male-titans-of-cycling )

Who is your greatest non-sports idol?

Hunter S. Thompson

What was the first live sporting event you attended?

The first live, professional sporting event I attended was the final opening day game at the old Comiskey Park in Chicago, a 3-2 White Sox victory over the Brewers...

What is your fondest sports memory?

Watching Super Bowl XXXI

(hyperlink to http://www.helium.com/items/957611-nfl-talk-brett-favre-and-retirement )

What do you do in your free time away from FanNation?

Work... write other things... spend time with my wife whenever I can...

What are your favorite teams and why?

All the Wisconsin teams -- Packers, Brewers, Badgers, Bucks -- because I was born in Stevens Point and all my family allegiances lie there...

I'll pull for the oft-woeful Wyoming Cowboys, because I grew up in Wyoming from age 5-18...

And I'll root for the Oregon Ducks because I work at the University of Oregon...

In soccer, Inter Milan is my team... Newcastle United in England... and I'll watch Real Madrid from Spain, Celtic from Scotland... loved Croatia since Suker carried them to third place in the 1998 World Cup...

No real favorite teams in cycling... I just love the sport altogether... though I was pulling for Unibet.com when they got caught up in the ASO/UCI power play over the ProTour last season, so much that I wrote an article (since rejected) in which I spoke with team directors and got to the heart of the issue...

What have you've learned since joining FN?

People ARE actually interested in my writing and are willing to say so...

What would you like people to know about NMI?

It is just another group like any other group. Its members are dedicated to the continued maintenance of the high standards we have come to expect from the site. Nothing more... nothing less...

What has FN taught you?

I really hated high school... and that sophomoric behavior was the main reason why...

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why.

Not much... life takes its course for a reason, and I'm doing fine... frankly I'm just excited to see what's next... but if I had to say something, perhaps it would be that I would've not cut my long hair a couple months ago... I kind of miss it, though it is growing back quickly already...

What is your biggest regret?

Live free of regret and life will be more worth living...

If you could have done one thing differently in your time on FanNation, what would it be?

I don't know... maybe I would've been more dedicated in my daily coverage of sports events sooner, had I thought of the idea sooner...

Favorite movie, band, food?

Too many to even begin to name... we're already well over a thousand words for this interview as it is...

What advice would you give to a new FN user?

Be reasonable... and have fun. This site can be a lot of things for a lot of people... may you use this site judiciously. If you choose to debate, do your homework... and use your allotted space. If you go to write a blog, treat it as an article up for publication rather than a coquettish diary entry lambasting your friends and enemies... or a dumping ground for inanity. Most of all, enjoy the company of your fellow fans... we all came here for a GOOD time, not to attack faceless names...

So there you go....now we all now a little more about Bigalke.  Tune in for more Meet the NMI Members in the coming weeks.