There are any number of bloggers, photographers, podcasters, announcers, Twitter accounts, video production, etc., types in derby, but we're all spread out.
The nature of our now-global sport is that the people who care most about it have a hard time ever coming together, unless it's RollerCon, World Cup or Championships (there are other examples, yes, but these are the top 3).
Dumptruck, of course, is world-renowned as an announcer for roller derby, and has participated in countless bouts (suck up points?). He also worked a lot with Megatron on the Derby Deeds Podcast. Beyond that, the man is incredibly knowledgeable about the sport and its recent history.
What would it take to build a talent pool of strong derby journalists using a Web-based hub to create a focal-point for derby coverage to come out of?
Essentially you could create a wealth of information as various people cover the sport from multiple angles, and it would eventually grow our product as we're providing amazing insight into a sport we care deeply about.
The Internet and social media already serves as a way for us to disseminate our writeups, photos, videos, etc., so it makes sense to create a group in which we able to share our craft. All intellectual rights and copyrights would stay with the creator, but it would give the writers an opportunity to include other voices in their blog, increasing the content, and building web hits.
The photographers would have a place to share their work, and give the writers a launch point for story ideas. The podcasters would cover the game from a whole different angle, but give us the sound quality and bites that we so desperately crave.
The idea certainly has merit.
