Matter of substance

A rumor found its way onto the Internet recently.

It involved a high-profile athlete. It was scandalous. And entirely unconfirmed.

As skeptics might say, it was perfect for the Wild West territory of sports blogs.

But an interesting thing happened to that bit of gossip about Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Blogs such as Deadspin and the Big Lead treated it with relative caution, while others ignored it altogether.

"Two years ago, I would have run with it," said Jason McIntyre, owner and operator of the Big Lead. "But as the blogs get bigger, you have to be careful about what you say . . . you can't go with the first rumor you hear."

Has the Wild West become a little less wild?

Sites such as SportsbyBrooks, Kissing Suzy Kolber, With Leather and Mr. Irrelevant have touted themselves as edgy and independent, outsiders free to write what mainstream media will not. Critics have portrayed them differently: the rabid fan sitting at a computer in his parents' basement, in his pajamas, spewing opinion.

The truth lies somewhere between with content that ranges from factual to gossipy, skeptical to malicious, humorous to sophomoric and vulgar. As time passes, media experts suggest, the sports blogosphere is bound to evolve.

"Bloggers are maturing and realizing that we're moving out of the childhood age of this industry, into an awkward adolescence," said Robert Niles, who chronicles new media on his SensibleTalk.com website. "For some bloggers, they can see adulthood on the horizon."

In the early days, bloggers were driven by various motives. They scoured the Internet, gathering links to the best stories. They sought to offer sharper, funnier and more opinionated coverage than traditional news outlets.

They also wanted to get noticed.

It was easy to be outlandish and freewheeling when, as one blogger put it, "you were writing for 87 people."

The job began to change as sites such as Deadspin and ProFootballTalk attracted large audiences and readers began taking them to task for erroneous reports. Suddenly, bloggers had something to lose.

"It's a question of how successful do we want to be and how much are we willing to adjust our approach?" said Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk, who began blogging in 2000. "We're gaining revenue, gaining credibility."

Sports bloggers saw their brethren in the political arena achieve great success. They watched The Times and other newspapers hire bloggers whose copy was overseen by editors.