Koufax Award voting is open!

Wampum has started voting on the Koufax Awards. Phronesisaical finds itself in two categories: Best New Blog, and Most Deserving of Wider Recognition. Please, oh please, somebody vote for us so that I don't have to do it myself!

Phronesisaical has no pretensions of winning anything. We don't have enough readers for one thing (100-150 per day - that low), and that is probably the principal factor in who wins. When the final tally comes out, check out the correlation between number of daily readers and the winners of the awards.

But it's an honor to be nominated. Thanks to the few of you who nominated us.

Here's my (Helmut) list of those I think are deserving of awards in the various categories. Not all categories are included because some are simply too difficult to decide. I'm also not going with the obvious big blogs (Atrios, Talking Points Memo, Kos, Firedoglake, etc.) or the insane-groupie blogs. Plus, out of pure resentment, I refuse to contribute to the renown of big-head blogs that ignore us.

Mostly, however, I think it's a real shame that a lot of terrific blogs who do much better work, I think, than the biggies are most likely to be overshadowed by the biggie blogs. The blogosphere is a large popularity contest that has replicated in many ways the offline world of news and commentary. Readers tend to be conservative in their reading habits and stick with the blogs they know. This means that the ones who got to readers early on monopolized readership in the blogosphere. And many of those blogs, in my view, do much poorer work than some of those deserving wider recognition.

Below that is a list of who I think will win - taking bets too.

Helmut's favorites:

Best Blog, non-Pro
I voted for Norwegianity

Best Blog, Professional/Sponsored Division
The Daou Report
James Wolcott
TomDispatch

Best Writing
Baghdad Burning: Riverbend
By Neddie Jingo!
James Wolcott
Lance Mannion
Legal Fiction: Publius
TomDispatch

Best New Blog
Adventures in Ethics and Science
By Neddie Jingo!
Neil Shakespeare
Phronesisaical
Printculture

Most Deserving of Wider Recognition
3 Quarks Daily
Arms Control Wonk
By Neddie Jingo!
Lance Mannion
Norwegianity
Phronesisaical
WhirledView
Many others. But I voted for Phronesisaical, which is legal, but embarrassing.

Best Single-Issue Blog
Arms Control Wonk
East Ethnia

Best Expert Blog
Arms Control Wonk: Jeffrey Lewis (WMD/National Security)
Balkanization (Constitutional Law)
East Ethnia (Balkans, sociology)
Max Speak: Max Sawicky (Economics)
Peter Levine (US Policy)
Real Climate (Climatology/Environment)

Best Post
My vote went to By Neddie Jingo! "Departed This Life"

Best Group Blog
3 Quarks Daily
Duck of Minerva
WhirledView

Most Humorous Blog
Bobby Lightfoot
By Neddie Jingo!
Dear Leader's Daily Thought
Neil Shakespeare

Most Humorous Post
My vote was for Bobby Lightfoot's "Asshole Celebrity Fight Week: #1: My FIGHT with Wilford Fucking Brimley"

Best Commenter
Tom Engelhardt at TomDispatch
Eric Gordy
And Murky Thoughts ought to be here, but isn't.
So should Roxtar.

And here are the ones who will win their various categories:
Kos (the monster blog)
Atrios (cruising along)
Firedoglake (I don't get it)
Glenn Greenwald (a terrific blog)
TPM Cafe (some good stuff; some really lackluster - Talking Points Memo still rules)
Pharyngula (Pharyngula - PZ Myers has a history of not winning when he already should have many times over. I think it's his year. But cast a vote PZ's way to help out. He's in several categories.).
etc.