Inside the Blogosphere: Red Line Station

As a follow-up to the popular Inside the Press Box series, STC is asking (mostly) local bloggers about why they do what they do. Today's second installment: Muneeb Alam (aka Red Army Line) of Red Line Station.

Blogging allows me to give back to the online hockey community that has shared so much insight and knowledge with me.

My dad took me to my first ice hockey game in April 2000. I remember my dad getting a pair of tickets from scalpers around MCI Center, Jaromir Jagr scoring a goal, and then my dad taking me home after the second period because it was getting late (I wasn't even 10 years old). Thereafter, my interest in hockey gradually grew.

After the firesale, I was devastated -- mainly because the Caps had traded Peter Bondra and Robert Lang -- but also excited. I remember taking some toy plastic golf clubs and pretending I was Alex Ovechkin scoring against the Lightning (the 2003 first round loss was relatively fresh on my mind).

Once Bruce Boudreau took over in November 2007 and the Caps started winning -- a lot -- I just needed more and more information about my new favorite professional sports team.

I found Puck Daddy, On Frozen Blog, Japers' Rink, and the Peerless Prognosticator, and those blogs became daily reads for me. I was amazed at the wealth of hockey knowledge and resources available to me. Blogs by Elliote Friedman, Darren Dreger, and others, even if not on the Caps, became more and more interesting, as my curiosity increased in its insatiability. Links pointed me to Behind the Net, Puck Prospectus, Battle of Alberta, and other statistically-inclined blogs, and they've really inspired me to, in a way, continue their work.

It is a herculean task to do an in-depth analysis of every player with every statistic and considering every significant factor, and I know that while I may not be able to match bigger and older blogs in content, reader contribution, and historical knowledge, I know that I can at the very least look at the numbers to see how our perception and reality may differ, and perhaps find interesting trends that have otherwise been overlooked.

Since I started about six months ago, I've found blogging to be more than that. Often, just by writing thoughts on a game, I can better remember how well or poorly a player has been playing recently. I've found that I can more completely articulate my thoughts on a topic and not simply have it in bits and pieces in another discussion setting. I've found that I can stop boring my parents and friends with analysis of "the sport no one cares about."

Blogging is a way for me to let go, to "let it all out," and to have some fun after simulating a dynasty season on NHL09 with a loaded roster and missing the playoffs. I feel like by blogging I can give back to the hockey community that has given me so much. That is what I try to do.