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2011 BTB Honor Roll: Recognizing Significant Contributions To BTB

This is a post that's not going to be about the Cowboys. Instead, this is where we say thank YOU. You the reader, you the commenter, you the contributor.

Last year was a big year for Blogging The Boys. In July, we cracked one million page views for the first time in our history - and have kept that number above one million in every month since. In total, we racked up 12.5 million page views in 2011, an increase of 50% over 2010, in a season in which the Cowboys went 8-8 and the lockout wiped out a significant part of the offseason. In our SBNation network, BTB is consistently among the top five in traffic. The Chief's Arrowhead Pride rules the roost with a ridiculous 22.5 million page views. Five other blogs are all within about a million page views of each other and jostling for second place: Bleeding Green Nation, Buffalo Rumblings, BTB, the Tebow-enhanced Mile High Report and the 13-and-3-boosted Niners Nation.

Those numbers show that we are a vibrant and growing community. We have more than 10,000 members who have signed up for BTB, and more are joining every day. Each day, the community changes a little bit, as we welcome new members to the blog and as new voices start commenting and posting FanPosts and FanShots.

Think back to when you first stumbled across Blogging The Boys. Most of us probably came here because of what we read on the front page. Most of us likely kept coming back, and eventually signed up, because of the community. So today we give a big tip o' the ole hat to those members that have made significant contributions to making BTB what is is today.

And because I'm such a numbers geek, those contributions are of course quantified. After the break we look at some BTB stats from 2011 to identify who the most prolific BTB members have been, both in terms of quantity and quality.

Let's start with some topline 2011 stats.

  • Eight different front page writers combined to bring you 1,794 front page posts in 2011, which is almost as much as the previous two years combined ('09: 853, '10: 1,081). Considering that we didn't have a regular free agency, OTA's or mini-camps, I think that's a pretty awesome job by the staff writers, if I may say so myself. At the very least, I hope we've kept you entertained.
  • 358 BTB members wrote a combined 1,357 Fanposts last year. That's also up versus the previous two years: ('09: 1,270, '10: 1,150).
  • 256 BTB members published a total of 1,408 Fanshots in 2011, again a significant increase versus previous years ('09: 585, '10: 855).
Front Page

Over the last three years, we've had 17 different writers contribute to the front page. Each of them had a unique voice, each had a unique point of view, and each helped build BTB into what it is today. Some of our former writers are still a part of the BTB community today, some are not. But each one put a lot of effort into BTB and paved the way for new writers like last year's newbies Tom and Kegbearer, so here's a Texas-sized hat tip to the BTB Veterans Association. Thanks, guys.

2009 Front Page Writers
Writers
Posts
Rafael Vela 202
Dave Halprin 195
Aaron Novinger 175
Carl Shelton (GloryDayz88)
64
Jim Vance 56
Mike Fisher 41
Brandon Worley 9
Raul Villaronga 5
Tuna Helper 4
- - - -
Open Game Threads
Dave Halprin 98
Aaaron Novinger 3
Rafael Vela 1
- -
- -
2010 Front Page Writers
Writers
Posts
Dave Halprin 283
OCC 249
Rafael Vela
140
Aaron Novinger
114
rabblerousr 52
Paul Alexander
39
Brandon Worley 38
KD Drummond 23
Martin Long
12
Mike Fisher
8
Open Game Threads
Dave Halprin 105
Aaron Novinger 10
OCC 5
Brandon Worley
3
2011 Front Page Writers
Writers
Posts
OCC 516
KD Drummond 432
Dave Halprin
284
rabblerousr 195
Tom Ryle 135
Kegbearer
62
Brandon Worley 11
Paul Alexander 11
- - - -
- -
- -
Open Game Threads
Dave Halprin 133
OCC 15
- - - -
- - - -
Fan Posts

One of the things that stand out for me at BTB and other SB Nation sites is the FanPost section. This is where you get a much broader spectrum of opinions, topics and styles than you get on the front page, but it's also where the heart of the community is beating the strongest. And until you've tried your hand at authoring a FanPost of your own, you may not realize how much time and effort most authors put into their FanPosts.

So this is where we recognize the FanPosters who invested the time and effort write a FanPost for your reading pleasure. Hands down the most prolific poster of the past year has been ChiaCrack, who posted an incredible 123 posts. That's about 2.5 posts per week, and if you've read one of those things, you'll know that they are loooong with rarely less than 2,000 words, often much, much more. There have been entire doctoral theses written that were shorter than some of Chia's posts. Great effort.

I am Ironman!!! follows in second place with 65 posts and is in turn followed closely by our resident stat-man and volume-stat agnostic Fan in Thick and Thin who offered 36 posts. ProBowlFactory, CowboyWay and hookerhome round out the top five of the most prolific posters. Hats off to all these guys as well.

The FanPost writer's currency of choice is the rec. A high number of rec's will leave a writer in a gleeful state for days, while low or no rec's can feel like a huge disappointment, especially if you've put a lot of hard work into a post. So don't be stingy with those rec's. They are the most gratifying thing for most authors because they show a special appreciation for the work the author has put into his FanPost.

For an extended list of FanPosters, look at the tables below to see who the top 15 FanPosters of 2011 were, ranked by number of FanPosts, number of recommendations and number of comments.

2011 No. Of Fanposts
Author
Fanposts
ChiaCrack
123
I am Ironman!!! 65
Fan in Thick and Thin 36
Tom Ryle 31
ProBowlFactory 30
CowboyWay 23
hookerhome 20
DCyanks21 20
5Blings 18
ScarletO 18
TheCowboyWay 17
jdg4660 16
cwbys 16
Chandus/Birddog 15
Blue Eyed Devil 15
2011 Recommendations Received
Author
FanPosts Rec's
ChiaCrack 123 542
5Blings
18 215
Tom Ryle 31 187
Fan in Thick and Thin 36 153
I am Ironman!!! 65 145
Chandus 15 141
CoachGary 13 125
ScarletO 18 105
Birddog26 15 91
Musiccitynorm 11 83
CotySaxman 8 76
Lee Ford 4 65
greatwhitenorth 6 64
TheCowboyWay 17 53
thesharpestnick 5 49
2011 FanPost Comments Received
Author
FanPosts Comments
ChiaCrack 123 12,381
5Blings
18 4,890
I am Ironman!!! 65 2,536
Fan in Thick and Thin 36 1,776
Chandus 15 1,183
Tom Ryle 31 1,088
ScarletO 18 997
Blue Eyed Devil 15 990
CoachGary 13 858
Lissyyyyy 6 820
hookerhome 20 782
DCyanks21 20 770
Birddog26 15 727
ProBowlFactory 30 723
bloodyhanded 11 557

When we looked at the BTB stats for 2010, it was immediately noticed in the comments that these numbers were volume- and not efficiency stats. So we invented a new stat on the spot, the RpFPs (or Recommendations per FanPost) and this year we add the CpFPs that measure the comments per FanPost.

Leading both lists (min. five posts to qualify) is another BTB heavyweight, 5Blings, who may not be the most prolific writer on the blog but is certainly one of the most appreciated ones. You'll find most of the perennial BTB favorites on one of these lists, where greatwhitenorth, thesharpestnick, CoachGary, CotySaxman, Chandus, Lissyyyyy, Chia and CoachGary all make the top five.

2011 Rec's per FanPost
Author
FanPosts RpFPs
5Blings 18 11.9
greatwhitenorth 6 10.7
thesharpestnick 5 9.8
CoachGary 13 9.6
CotySaxman 8 9.5
Chandus 15 9.4
goldnboi7 5 8.0
Musiccitynorm 11 7.5
Birddog26 15 6.1
Tom Ryle 31 6.0
ScarletO 18 5.8
Requiem 5 5.2
TK19 5 5.0
scout06 7 4.7
Kegbearer 7 4.6
2011 Comments per FanPost
Author
FanPosts CpFPs
5Blings 18 272
Lissyyyyy 6 137
ChiaCrack 123 101
Chandus 15 79
CoachGary 13 66
Blue Eyed Devil 15 66
Plinkostar 6 63
CotySaxman 8 59
ScarletO 18 55
Kegbearer 7 55
Feeling Blue & Silver 6 53
bloodyhanded 11 51
Jeremiah_24 6 50
Fan in Thick and Thin 36 49
Birddog26 15 48

If you click on the FanPosts tab at the top of the BTB front page, you'll be taken to a nifty overview page for FanPosts. Once there, I'd urge you to click on the most popular of all time option. This gives you the eternal list of the FanPosts with the highest number of rec's in the history of BTB. Leafing through some of those posts can be quite entertaining. Try it out over the next couple of days, you won't be disappointed.

And last year, like every year before, many new FanPosts entered this FanPost Hall of Fame. Here are the ten most recommended FanPosts of 2011:

Top 10 Fanposts 2011
Author
Title Rec's
Chandus The Schematic Advantage Of Having A Ryan 41
Lee Ford Reality of the New CBA ...You asked for it! 38
5Blings Don’t Blink, You Could Miss This… 31
Chandus Koolaid? Cool, please. 27
CoachGary Football 101 - The Receiver Route Tree. 26
Luke. Jason & Jerry 24
White Wolf The most deceiving element 24
Seanrude MORE GREATRIOT MYTHS EXPLODED!!!!!!!! 22
TruBluToTheCore One, Two, Three...Roast Him 22
TimSchultz36 Is Love Really Blind? Fixing the Front Office's Biggest Flaw 22

Fanshots

Many people think that the FanShot section is where FanPosts go to die, the secret burial ground of FanPosts guarded by the ever-watchful thebigham. But the FanShot is alive and well on BTB, and 2011 saw more FanShots than ever before. Rena rules the FanShots, averaging two per week. beWare94, Kegbearer, Fan in Thick and Thin, ChiaCrack and thebigham earned their BTB laurels by posting a FanShot a week on average.

And it's not like the FanShot section is completely devoid of commenting life. Three FanShots in 2011 managed to generate more than 100 comments each:

Tip of the hat to all of you who posted FanShots, the top 15 are below.

2011 No. Of Fanshots
Author
Fanshots
Rena 124
beWARE94 67
Kegbearer 53
Fan in Thick and Thin 53
ChiaCrack 48
thebigham 41
One.Cool.Customer 40
BlueNSilverBlood 37
scottmaui 36
Jonathan Stern 33
ProBowlFactory 27
DCyanks21 24
Dub_TC 22
jeffrey hutcherson 21
2011 Fanshot Comments Received
Author
Fanshots Comments
Rena 124 796
Kegbearer 53 534
ChiaCrack 48 497
thebigham 41 483
Lissyyyyy 20 468
One.Cool.Customer 40 445
beWARE94 67 329
Jonathan Stern 33 306
scottmaui 36 297
Fan in Thick and Thin 53 291
Dub_TC 22 263
2tightendpkg 17 255
ProBowlFactory 27 243
G_SWAG 20 237

63 individual bloggers are mentioned in this post. If your name's not on any of the lists above, but you want to see your name up in the bright BTB lights, then simply post more stuff, more often!

Until then, thank you all for your great contributions.

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