The Goat Blog
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When Wisconsinite Rocky Thompson isn’t dipping cheddar cheese in his Schlitz, he’s scouring the lands for the greatest and lamest trends in the outdoor industry and informing you via The Goat. The Goat is a blog (web log if you live in a cave) that reviews the latest outdoor gear and discusses industry trends. Basically, Rocky’s job is to a) make sure you don’t look like a complete dork in the outdoors, b) give you something clever to say at the next après ski, and c) totally piss off certain brands’ disciples. Don’t quote The Goat if your friends don’t understand sarcasm—Rocky understands the need for brutal honesty when it comes to talking about equipment.
Rocky sifts through the riffraff to find out what’s really going on in the industry—no corporate strings attached. We caught up with the mustachioed word-slinger and gear connoisseur.
Q: What is your name?
A: Rocky Thompson (real name).
Q: What is your quest?
A: I write The Goat blog and the Daily Dose email for SteepandCheap.com.
Q: How many posts do you write a day?
A: I write ten a day, usually. Sometimes I’ll only write eight or nine if I’m feeling entitled or it’s really nice out. For example, I’ll probably only write nine today since it’s really nice out and I’m going to spend an hour or so answering these questions.
Q: Describe your background in 20 words or less.
A: Midwesterner who’s worked in gear shops since 15 years old. At least tried every outdoor sport except kayaking—noseplug aversion.
Q: How do you think the industry fat cats feel about you ripping apart their latest offerings from time to time?
A: If The Goat has a goal besides entertaining outdoorsy people, it’s to cut through marketing bullshit. A lot of technologies developed for outdoor gear are nothing more than marketing initiatives from big companies. Gore Tex’s new materials are a good example. All they did was change the name from XCR to Gore-Tex Pro and then embark on a PR and marketing blitz to sell more gear. If you think you’re upgrading when you replace an XCR jacket with a Pro jacket, you’re crazy. I should probably write a post about that now.
Q: Do you ever get feedback from reps?
A: When I began work on the blog, I received loads of hate mail but it was always from people who wouldn’t identify themselves. I mostly get emails from public relations people hired by the big outdoor companies. It’s clear that the PR people who email me have either never read The Goat or don’t know anything about outdoor gear because they always pitch super lame products. A few reps have sent angry emails, more often it’s the person who owns the company. Paul from Arborwear probably had the best response. He sent me a long email that was pretty funny, but the gist of it was that I wasn’t really qualified to slam Arborwear since I didn’t use any of their stuff. He sent a big box of Arborwear clothes and told me to get my story straight. I haven’t tested them yet, but I applaud his confidence in his tree-climbing clothes.
Q: Do you think Backcountry.com is shooting itself in the foot by letting you be so blunt?
A: Initially I thought they made a mistake giving me room to slam a bunch of gear they sell, but I don’t feel that way anymore. If Backcountry.com is selling gear that’s stupid or useless, people are going to find out about it. The best way to deal with that kind of stuff is to just be brutally honest and totally transparent about the stuff we choose to sell. Negative reviews are going to be on the net anyway, we’re better off if we’re providing a forum for those discussions. If the stuff we’re selling really is garbage, then I’m sure we’ll stop selling it.
Q: Have you ever been tempted to give a product a glowing review just to get free stuff?
A: No, but I’ve felt bad saying mean things about gear that really nice reps have given me.
Q: What do you wear while you work?
A: I dress fairly normally, rotating through my stable of T-shirts and jeans. I’m a little ashamed to admit I also wear some brown Birkenstock clogs that my parents bought me in 10th grade.
Q: What would you say is your mission statement as The Goat blogger?
A: Corporate mission statements are unspeakably stupid. They’re either marketing-speak for “How are we going to spin this brand expansion?” or they’re simply dishonest. The only honest corporate mission statement I’ve heard came from a software company, it was: Do good, have fun, make money. I mean, at least they want people to have fun. A personal mission statement, or “goal,” makes a lot more sense. My goal while working on The Goat is to become the most powerful person in the outdoor industry. I want The Goat to come up during product development meetings and product managers to break out in a cold sweat when they see that one of their pieces of gear has been reviewed on The Goat.
Q: Does The Goat have any super loyal readers?
A: Yeah. It’s actually really nice to get consistent feedback from a few people.
Q: Can you list a few of your favorite reader replies?
A: Sure:
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hotKARLLatte Says:
November 7th, 2006 at 3:05 pm eSlizzard. What do you know about anything bird or jackson. Judging by your play list you were weened on a pickle, went straight to the lean, and you smoke it wet. Go steal some click em’ from you local mortuary and give Jaime Kennedy back his Ipod!
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Chuck Says:
March 30th, 2007 at 3:35 pm eBecause snapping that stick over your knee would rob you of the slow pleasure of sawing it with a wire.
Q: You have any fierce Goat enemies?
A: I don’t think the people at Ninthward like me, but they can’t do anything right anyway.
Q: What are your five most commented blog posts?
A: Top 5 Reasons Snowboarders Are Cooler Than Skiers
A lot of these are the same reasons skaters are cooler than Rollerbladers.
Bass Hole Opens for Business at Snowbird
Dick Bass drills a hole through Snowbird, but you still can’t bring your dog to the resort because it causes environmental damage.
Ninthward with Full Line of 07/08 Skis at ISPO
This ski company can’t do anything right.
I think the best thing someone said was, “Opinions are like elbows.”
Shimano Coasting for the Masses
Shimano’s trying to change the world and the way we ride bikes.
Q: Any scandalous outdoor-related stories?
A: My friend thought his girlfriend had disappeared into the woods late one night and spent several hours looking for her. When he gave up the search and tried to climb into his tent to rest for a couple hours, he discovered that he’d set the tent up on top of her in the dark after she’d passed out from drinking too much.
That was about all we could get Rocky to give up, but we do happen to know that he loves Bob Dylan and once tricked his roommate into telling people he had necrophilia.
While Rocky remains elusive and mysterious, it’s hard not to trust his majestic moustache (Forget it, ladies. He’s married to The Goat).
