A Comment On Sponsorship

Lazy Saturday it ain't! Holy fuck. I get up this morning and I immediately get a message from a few people that Mario at Wax Heaven has gone Upper Deck. That, as they put it, it is now "Upper Deck Wax Heaven." I had no idea what was going on, but after I started reading the 10 or so letters I had from people after my chats were done, I saw what they were talking about.

To the chagrin of most of the bloggers out there, Mario is now going to be busting some boxes that are being sent by the PR department at UD. He says that he had been waiting quite a while, and now he is on board as a net reviewer for the baseball products. People are quite angry because Mario's objectivity has been compromised in their minds, though I don't think they quite understand a few things.

First off, I deplore the sending out of free boxes to any non customer and public face by any manufacturer, as that is completely against what I stand for and I have acted accordingly. Two things come from this mantra, first Mario is not me, and he has the choice to do what he thinks is best for his site. As one of the faces of the blogging world to the public, I am against this, but that isn't the whole story. Unlike Beckett and other hobby sources, Mario does everything he does on his own time, much like I do. He has built his site from the ground up and has refused all ad revenue and everything that could make his site profitable. I think it would be nice to pay him back a bit for what he has done.

Secondly, he already has busted quite a few Upper Deck products that he himself paid for and given them objective reviews, or at least as objective as one can be. Will that goal of objectivity be undermined by this deal? Im not sure. However, if there is one person in the 'shpere who deserves this, its him. He also is a very accessible guy, so if you dont like what he does with this, let him know.

Lastly, many other bloggers who may or may not deserve this have asked for a similar deal on a number of occasions. I know this for a fact, and some even posted on his announcement. Thats fine, it is their decision, not mine. If Upper Deck starts painting the net with their logo, I wont comment on it because I know how hard it is to maintain a blog. Dont expect to see a sponsorship logo here though, I dont roll like that. However, that doesnt mean I will chastise others for making a different decision.