Inside the Soccersphere: 11 questions for The Far Post

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of interviews I will conduct with soccer bloggers around the globe. Each interview will consist of five standard questions followed by six questions tailored to the blog in question.

This edition of Inside the Soccersphere features an interview with Mark McClure, proprietor of The Far Post, a strikingly well-written blog that combines soccer news with overarching absurdity. Enjoy.

Blogger: Mark McClure
Blog: The Far Post
RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheFarPost

The interview:

ThroughBall (TB): Describe The Far Post.

Mark McClure (MM):

This summer.
One defender.
Will track back.
Too far.
Too fast.
And, meet his destiny.
The Far Post!

“A cavalcade of glorious Technicolor entertainment!” – Gene Shalit

“Better than Cats! I’ll see it again and again!” – SoccerSites.com

“Best meatloaf in town!” – Harry.

TB: Why do you blog?

MM: I blog for the love of The Game. Well, the love and the money. Actually, for the love, the money, the chicks, and the drugs. Also, I’m terribly insecure and need external validation.

TB: Describe your writing style in soccer terms, e.g. back-to-the-goal, attacking, etc.

I write in English, so on the surface my writing is a rigid 4-4-2 system that underperforms during big competitions – like essay tests or the SAT. Yet, I’m also a graduate of the famed Tahuichi Academy so I like to think my writing is full of flair and has a sweet mullet.

TB: Do you play soccer?

MM: I sometimes play pick-up soccer on the National Mall or kick it around with my sister. But, playing can seriously cut into my sittin’ around time.

TB: What is your favorite non-soccer blog?

MM: Jon Pack Approves or Disapproves

TB: What do you do in real life?

MM: I am information architect for a consulting firm called NavigationArts. We fight crime one website at a time.

TB: So, what are you–some kind of a funny guy?

MM: I don’t know about funny. I’m many things – son, brother, consultant, space cowboy, joker, smoker, midnight toker – but I’m not sure I can be called a “funny guy.” I’m just a hack with access to a server. Credentials that place me on several federal government watch lists.

TB: Tell me about BobbyBoswell.com.

MM: As the URL suggests, the website is about Bobby Boswell and his intense, almost hysterical, affection for small porcelain figurines. I’m proud to say I am the designer and developer of this important site.

A representative of D.C. United and Bobby contacted me in February to ask some questions about starting a blog. I think my enthusiastic response struck a chord and they brought me on to develop and design a site. I was happy to volunteer and used it as a way to explore some profession web development and promotion techniques in ways I can’t with my formal corporate clients.

Bobby is a great guy. I’m not a jock sniffer and don’t get excited by celebrity, so I say that with complete sincerity.

TB: Forgive me for saying that your “blogroll” is a bit small. Do you hate the Internet?

MM: There are lots of ways to overcompensate. Some guys buy a Porsche or Ferrari, others create a bloated blogroll. Not me. It’s not what you do with your blogroll, it’s how you use it. Am I right, ladies? [crickets] [solitary cough in the back] [tumbleweed].

TB: I think of The Far Post as The Onion of the soccer world. Is that a fair characterization?

Are you saying my site stinks and makes you cry when you cut it?

Your comparison is very flattering, but The Onion is a superior site. Unlike the traditional concept for a blog, I don’t write many personal stories or link to other content with a comment. I prefer to create original content or just be silent.

TB: You’ve spent time in Minnesota and D.C. Surely you prefer one over the other.

MM: I was born in Mankato and lived there until 1989, when I was traded for Kevin Tapani, Rick Aguilera, and a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

I miss the Central Time zone, a proper winter, and the Minnesota accent, but I love D.C. too and think it gets an undeserved bad reputation. The District is much more than Capitol Hill and the vapid rhetoric coming from the people America send here.

TB: What is up with http://www.farpostreport.com/?

MM: There are only a few soccer terms that don’t sound like a gay porn site. I mean they couldn’t call “Studs Up” or “The Flat Back Four Report” or “Throughball,” could they?