A site for the thinking fan

There will be no shouting headlines or gratuitous graphics dancing off your screen when you log on to Royce Webb's site.

Webb and his partners had something else in mind when they launched sportsjones.com three years ago.

"Good writing. That's the main thing we had in mind," Webb said from his Chicago-based company. "We like to think we have magazine- level writing. Our goal is to plant other voices."

Editor and publisher Webb, executive editor Jeff Merron and managing editor Eric Neel have succeeded. Sportsjones consistently serves up entertaining, thought-provoking pieces by as many as 100 contributing writers.

What's also nice is the writers are given room to write and often tackle topics considered taboo for your daily newspaper. For example, an article picked up from the British newspaper, The Observer, explores the provocative atmosphere in Palm Springs, Calif., that serves as a backdrop to the LPGA (Dinah Shore) Nabisco tournament.

The piece is found in the Ms. Surfjones area, which is a guide to women's sports. That, along with Surfjones, are two places you'll want to check out on this worthy Web site.

Dot.com courting game

Greg Witter, publisher of www.cougfan.com has been listening to offers from alliancesports.com and citadelpartners.com, two sites known for college news, recruiting information and active message boards.

The 3-year-old Cougfan site, aimed at attracting Washington State fans, once was hooked up with rivals.com. It began rebuilding an independent infrastructure in January before Rivals went down.

"Our site hasn't been dark for one day," said Witter, a Gonzaga Prep and Washington State graduate who lives in Seattle.

Witter estimates Cougfan is averaging 3,000 unique visitors per day, far more than what it was attracting one year ago.

"And we're having more fun because we have greater flexibility with layout," he added.

But there are benefits to climbing on board with Alliance, (licenser of many of the old Rivals sites) or its competitor Citadel. For starters, the two have a wealth of recruiting information, whereas independent publishers have to scramble.

"We're hoping to make a decision within the week, one way or another, to stay independent or go with one of the others," Witter said. "Right now, we're learning toward joining a network."

Quick, who's David Beckham?

If you don't know, then immediately put yourself on the Lycos 50 Uncool list.

Beckham is known as the best soccer player in England and cracked the lycos.com top 10 list as one of the most requested athletes. The dreamy teen idol also is married to a Spice Girl. (Triple bonus points if you can name her.)

The Lycos top 10: 1. Anna Kournikova; 2. Allen Iverson; 3. Kobe Bryant; 4. Jelena Dokic; 5. Vince Carter; 6. Tiger Woods; 7. Martina Hingis; 8. Ichiro Suzuki; 9. Tony Hawk; 10. David Beckham.

(Beckham's wife is Victoria Adams, but you probably know her as Posh Spice.)

Copyright 2001 Cowles Publishing Company
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.