Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post hops on the show to talk about his new gig...writing for The Sporting Blog!

Things got pretty interesting on Twitter yesterday when news came down that Steinz would be joining TSB crew. People (I did come to find out it wasn’t just me, so that’s good) thought that Steinberg was leaving the DC Sports Bog and Washington Post behind.

In fact, Steinberg will be doing one post per day -- non DC sports related -- for The Sporting Blog. What that will be each day remains to be seen, as we discuss his ability to balance working for the Post, which keeps his focus centrally located on happenings within the Beltway, and TSB, for which Steinz will need to spread his blogging wings a bit.

For those of you who read Steinberg’s work covering the Olympics, you know that he’ll do just fine talking about non DC sports. And right about now, there isn’t much to talk about in DC. Sure the Redskins have OTAs. And there’s always something about football that people would want to hear. But the only team playing competitive (ahem) games in DC right now are the Natinals. How many times can you make fun of them in one summer?

So what is the summer season like for Steinberg? While the beat is probably more difficult without constant games to focus on (especially for the Wizards and Caps) does it make for better blog fodder for the Sports Bog? Does the downtime in the sports calendar lead to more human interest stories?

For those who read the Sports Bog, you know that Steinberg is a different kind of blogger than many are used to, in that he actually covers events. Most of Steinberg’s stories aren’t aggregations of other news around the internet or commentary on the news of the day. He’s actually doing reporting. Off-beat reporting, but reporting nonetheless. In fact, that’s part of his concern for writing for TSB...will he be able to provide that style when he can’t physically be on location all the time? We’ll have to see. But Steinz makes a living talking with athletes. What would happen if the athletes stopped talking to him and only talked to their own blogs? This ‘athlete blogger’ phenomenon isn’t new, but it might be time to take it a little more seriously. Chris Cooley  (and his brother) is turning the Cooley name into a brand. So why would Cooley give a good story to someone like Steinberg when he can post it on his own site and get the traffic right to him? Could this be happening with other athletes soon?

In other words, does someone like Steinberg, who makes a living on stories ‘outside the lines’ see the very people he’s covering as his competition? And how does the bevy of athletes on Twitter change things even more?

We end on one of my favorite events of the year....The Spelling Bee. The Bee starts in earnest today and Steinberg will be there to report on all the action. Last year he interviewed Erin Andrews and this year they are supposed to have lunch as well. He’s going to ask her why she hasn’t come on the show yet. I hope that makes it into his report, but my breath isn’t held.

Sure there are celebrities at the Bee, but the great stories are always the kids -- or as Kornheiser calls them ‘twitching little freaks.’ Why do the spelling kids get a bad rap? And who does Steinberg think will win? Darren Rovell has his picks. Does Steinberg have a favorite?

Did you know that you can wager on the Bee? Yep. And Steinberg thinks the Bee might be the easiest event in the world to fix. He’s also looking forward -- or not at all looking forward -- to talking with the kids after they get eliminated. As Steinberg notes, you’d think that kids who know all the words would be better at using them to construct sentences while being interviewed. Not the case, it seems.

We talk about our spelling histories....and realize I don’t have one. I don’t think our school participated in the Bee. I only remember one spelling contest my entire life. So how are these kids picked for the Bee? Is it an opt-in situation or does every student in the country participate without even knowing? And what happens to people who make the finals the year before? Do they get a free pass to the semifinals the following year? Do they force these kids to work up through Spelling Q School again? These are the questions we need answers to.

Housekeeping:

No Nick today so we’ll talk about some important things around the world of sports and politics later in the week (hopefully). But man the Cavs are in trouble. And so is Nike with these awkward puppet ads if Kobe vs. LeBron doesn’t happen. Is this a Dan and Dave situation for the swoosh? Also, Rich Eisen tomorrow, Kornheiser next week and some other big stuff coming soon. Go sign up for Blogs With Balls, now!