It has come to our attention that one of our colleagues in the Colts blogosphere has taken shots at Coltzilla regarding a lack of steady content recently. In fact, in the latest comment, it was suggested that Coltzilla is “dead.” As the site’s founder and editor I think it is worthwhile to address any of our readers’ concerns about the current and future health of Coltzilla.

Our readers should know that Coltzilla upholds a standard of reporting and analysis that we hope best serves Colts fans. We do not engage in long-winded or repetitive rants regarding rather mundane occurrences in the Colts front office, draft strategies, private practices, or minor surgeries to players.

When Coltzilla covers injuries, we only do so when trustworthy and verifiable sources report that injuries have occurred, and our injury expert Laura Calaway does considerable research to analyze the current and future impacts of that injury on the effected player. Laura’s work is very professional and receives resounding support from our readers and from others in the blogging community.

Coltzilla does not, on the other hand, attempt to create news and controversy, or attempt to shock the Colts community when there is, quite simply, very little of substance to report.

Unlike some more established blogs on the internet, our writers do not get paychecks, which means we all work very hard to generate professional stories without promise of any meaningful compensation. Accordingly, during times like a long NFL lockout and an extended legal proceeding whereby no football is actually happening, our staff has the ability to take some much needed r and r, focus on their jobs, take vacations, and allow creative ideas to form for the coming season.

It is understandable that some blogs and sources for news about the Colts have different motivations. Some sources may feel that multiple stories covering the birth of Peyton Manning’s twins, and discussing the reasons why “hiding” the news is not within the proper rights of professional football players because they get paid high salaries or because they shoot a lot of commercials is an example of upholding positive writing principles and standards.

Some blogs might find it worthwhile to set out on a mission to expose the Colts organization as unfriendly to the media, secretive, and defending the media’s right to have access to whatever they please. Coltzilla has no such motivations, and adheres to a policy whereby the likelihood of access to the team increases significantly when blogs do not attempt to burn, harshly and unjustly criticize, attack, or misrepresent its players, coaches, administrative staff, or owner.

Do not misread the above to suggest that Coltzilla is unwilling to be critical of any aspect of the team. On the contrary, we work hard to write stories that look at team performance — including players, coaches, and administrative staff — in as objective a way as possible, a quick review of Check it to Pancakes podcasts will illustrate this point.

Writer Jacob Crocker has spent hours of his own time compiling a very detailed and comprehensive set of traditional and advanced statistics. In fact, he is currently trying to reform, improve, and clean up the 2010 statistics — as well as trying to perfect his process for future years.

Even after the season ended we have made efforts to add to our writing staff, to bring in more voices and perspectives, and try to present analysis that all Colts fans can relate to and respect. Some perspectives will be more palatable than others, but we feel it is our job to be thorough.

Writer Greg Cowan has rejoined the team and will pick up where he left off in 2011, presenting a witty and humorous writing style that our readers enjoy. Writer Anthony Payne delivers a no holds barred approach to issues that effect the NFL and the way football fans view their favorite sport. Writer Justin Javan has spent time developing a readership on Facebook and has presented new concepts and ideas to make future Coltzilla content more interactive and illustrative.

TJ Higley has been an extremely reliable writer who covers game reviews from the previous seasons — including photos from the game — power rankings posts, and offers local television coverage of the Colts to fans who do not have the luxury of living within the Indianapolis television market.

Since the season ended, Coltzilla has added new features, such as the statistics and draft pages. During the off-season, unlike other Colts blogs who may attempt to cover training camp and summer activities from afar, our staff makes it a point to have a presence at training camp practices.

In short, a dearth of stories during the slowest period of time in any football season, particularly during a lockout of players keeping actual football from happening, is not cause for alarm. None of the Coltzilla staff intends to let this site whither or falter. We will continue working hard to provide quality content and any suggestions that the site is dead or dying are both premature and inaccurate.

We appreciate your continued support.