In the few free moments I’ve had today, I’ve been checking out my competition at the Koufax awards for Best New Blog. Gee, I’m just honored to be nominated. No, really. There are some damn good ones out there.

James Wolcott’s blog is worth a look. He’s the managing editor for Vanity Fair and writes like a dream. I am not sure if he’s an original political thinker or not yet. He goes out on a limb and comes out four square against torture. Quite a risk. But I’ll read more and see what he has to say. Anyway, I like the insider gossip about the magazine industry.

I haven’t had a chance to do an official counting, but a good number of those new blogs are written by professional writers, Washington insiders, or tenured faculty. No longer are bloggers grad students or untenured professors or computer programmers. They are pros.

Interestingly, their sidebars don’t include many of the older blogs.

Is this a revolution? Will blogging lose its underground edge or will it become even better with finer writing and more astute commentary?