BleacherReport.com - For Amateur Sports Writers

Sports seem to draw out passions and rages from even the normally most coolest cucumbers out there. It’s passionate and all that passion needs to be vented somewhere. Enter BleacherReport. Here sports fans can express to their hearts’ content all their ardent feelings about how team X is the best in the world or how team Y needs to get some balls. Anyone can sign up and start writing about college and professional sports. Those who already have their own sports blogs can feed their stories to Bleacher as well. Readers who like a particular contributor can become a fan, and there are writer rankings, editor ratings, and community ratings. The most popular posts appear on the homepage. All articles can be edited by the community a la Wiki. Besides letting amateurs comment on their fave sports, the site has typical social network features: profiles, comments, feeds, and fans.

“Bleacher Report is an Open Source Sports Network committed to preempting the top-down approach of mainstream media outlets.
New technologies have greatly expanded the availability of sports information on the Internet—and now more than ever, the tools of sports punditry are at the disposal of the masses. Bleacher Report aims to empower the most hardcore of experts—the fans—who would otherwise be shut out of the mainstream debate.
By pooling the passion and expertise of a wide contributor base, Bleacher Report channels a mix of in-depth local coverage and breaking national news. This isn’t just any online sports site; with its professional standards and collaborative culture, Bleacher Report gives writers and photographers the resources they need to reach an audience of millions.
In the decentralized world of the sports blogosphere, creators who aren't plugged into the mainstream struggle to get their voices heard. Bleacher Report is the vehicle by which isolated experts can bring their work to a global stage.”

The site has a broad appeal. Sports are loved by many and the communal bent of this site will surely prove popular. Moreover, writers will be able to reach a huge audience in comparison to those just starting a blog.

Will forums be added? Will they offer users any contribution?