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Our interview subject SportsGirl365 from Strike Zones and End Zones has had quite a year: her blog has become quite popular, was added to the formidable roster at Epic Carnival, got a column at the Huffington Post and most importantly collaborated with me on the first chapter of the overlooked sports rivalries series. Before she ends up the Editor-in-Chief of ESPN.com, we figured we’d better get an interview now.

Prepare a customized list that you’d like to share with the world.

Free samples at the grocery store

Twelve hours of football on Sundays

My dogs

A good beer and a plate of wings

Falling asleep without having to set my alarm

Priceless things that make me happy.

Propose a fight for Fracas Friday.

Shawn Kemp’s illegitimate children vs. Calvin Murphy’s illegitimate children.

3 best games you’ve ever watched (in person or on TV).

The year was 1964. The man? Cassius Clay. I was ringside when the 22 year-old shocked the world by defeating Sonny Liston for the title. And as I lifted him on to my shoulders to celebrate, I remember thinking that it was the greatest moment of my life.

The year was 1974. The game? Dodgers at Braves. I was there in the dugout when Hank Aaron hit homerun 715 to break Babe’s record. And as I lifted him onto my shoulders to carry him around the bases, I remember thinking that it was the greatest moment of my life.

The year was 1980. The team? The USA Olympic hockey team. I was in Lake Placid training for the decathlon when I took a break to watch the rag tag hockey team defeat the Soviet Union for the medal. And when I lifted them onto my shoulders to skate around the ice, I remember thinking that is was the greatest moment of my life.

What teams do you follow? Sports?

I’m a football fan first and foremost. I absolutely live for it. I’m a huge Giants fan and a Virginia Tech fan. Baseball takes a close second to football – I’m a Yankees season ticket holder in the right field bleachers, which is absolutely insane. A Devils fan for hockey and although I follow the Knicks loosely, by basketball allegiance is up for sale. Oh, and in NASCAR I pull for the wall.

What is your greatest athletic achievement? The worst folly?

I was the first female little league baseball player in my town growing up. They tried to get me to play softball, but I wasn’t having it. I guess that’s an achievement. I’m pretty graceful on the playing field so I don’t have too many follies, but I played Rugby for a half semester in college before I pulled a few muscles in my lower back in a practice, killing my Rugby career. Plus, I’m 5′2 and didn’t weigh much, so I was happy to give up being chased around by big butchy women who wanted to kill me.

I’m auditioning this one as a potential staple question: how was high school for you? Please feel free to elaborate.

Oh, high school was great. I was a cheerleader who also varsity lettered in fencing so you could say I didn’t belong to one specific social group. I was also in the band, and I don’t care what you say about band geeks, they’re absolutely crazy. Plus, I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters, so there was never a dull moment growing up.

Tell us something about yourself that nobody in blogfrica knows.

I always say I don’t post YouTube clips on my site because I want it to be about actual content. But really it’s because I don’t know how.

Why do you blog? What got you started?

I got started simply because I read a few great blogs and realized that I had opinions that were different from a lot of people’s and I just needed a place to write them down. I also hadn’t seen too many good sports blogs written by females.

I do it now because it’s fun to see how people react to what you say. And while it never was my original intention to go anywhere with it, it’s led me to some great people and interesting opportunities.

What do you want your blog to be known for? What do you personally want to be known for?

I’d like to think I’m known as someone who tells it like it is and always sticks with her opinions, even if they aren’t the popular ones. It’s easy to agree with the majority consensus. It’s not as easy to be a public dissenter. Although the more I put out there, the more I find people who agree with a lot of what I say. And the ones that don’t have sparked some really great debates.

What post is your personal favorite? Which is the most popular?

I don’t know that I have a personal favorite. I’ll always remember the first one because Deadspin linked to it. It was the first day I started my blog and I didn’t know about sending stuff to be linked. I didn’t even have a tracker set up yet. But all of a sudden, I started getting emails letting me know that people were commenting on my blog and it blew my mind.

Do you want to do this for a living?

I don’t necessarily want to get paid for Strike Zones. I chose not to have advertising there because I would have to watch what I say and I’m not about to censor my blog. I wouldn’t mind being able to make a living writing though, or doing something related.

Thoughts on the present and the future for the blogosphere. How does it fit with the mainstream media?

I think blogs have proven very necessary to the mainstream media. The MSM seems to struggle with original content often, something that the blogosphere has no problem with. Part of that is because most blogs aren’t corporate and therefore have more freedom to carry whatever content they choose. And as much as they claim to be hip to it, the MSM for the most part has no clue how to co-exist with the blogosphere.

I also think that the popularity of blogs has decreased the quality of information that the MSM puts out. So often, the MSM is in such a rush to beat the blogs to a story that they offer incomplete or incorrect information, sacrificing the credibility of the stories.

How did you manage to get a weekly spot with the Huffington Post?

The guy who has the Yankees season tickets next to me writes for them about social issues in medicine. When the site decided to expand their topics to go beyond strictly political, he recommended me to his editor as someone who could write provocatively about social issues in sports. I wrote my first column, the editor liked it and so it began.

How have you been treated by the hundreds of male bloggers at Epic Carnival? A source on the inside tells me they don’t have the most strict sexual harassment policy.

Haha…it’s only sexual harassment if it’s not welcome.

The guys (and now gals) at Epic have been great. The emails that get bounced around are some of the funniest things I’ve ever read. They welcomed me from day one and have always treated me with the same respect as everyone else. Which is very little.

But seriously, how does being a woman in the world of sports blogging effect your perspective?

I don’t think it affects me at all because I have never held the traditional female perspective. I don’t agree with Title IX, I think the claim of sexual harrasment in sports has been abused by some women, and I don’t necessarily agree that women can do anything men can do. That’s not to say that are women in sports doing things way better than some of their male counterparts and I have a lot of respect for that. But some of the gender lines that are there, are there for a reason.

That being said, I’d like to think that my credibility in the blogosphere goes beyond the fact that I’m female.

You were chosen to take part in the KSK Blog-illuminati Fantasy Football League. Have you gone through your secret initation? How much is like the movie The Skulls II?

The KSK guys are anything but conformist, so any initiation would never mimic a movie. Especially not a movie with Joshua Jackson.

There have been a few bitch slapping emails and I got slammed for some of my draft picks, but that was to be expected. So far, they’ve been pretty respectful but I’m hoping that changes soon. I’m really looking forward to the trash talk.