One Man Bandwidth speaks...

One Man Bandwidth left a comment on my earlier post regarding the results for the Best Asian Blog in this year's Weblog Awards. In his comment, he talks about the polls, his concession speech, my "currying favor" with Xiaxue and the poor girl with cancer who became the rallying cry for his supporters. Here it is in full, for those who have not yet read it:

"IZ...

I watched the polls the last couple of hours and it was close. My site was up and then down and...

I signed off at 11:00 and you were ahead...So, I wrote the concession speech...It appeared you had won....

Several of my readers told me that your readers, not you, were rallying support on Xiaxue's blog..."Currying favor" was not meant to be negative. It was a competition and I knew your fans and Singapore were going to support you and in a big way...They SHOULD have...You should be proud of your readership....

Combined we doubled and tripled the vote tally of some of the most popular blogs on the planet...That alone is something we both should be proud of...

Re: The girl with cancer...
On my blog you will see a few feedblitz ads. The Paypal account that receives those funds donates ALL proceeds to two charities: The China-US Medical Foundation and The League of Extraordinary Chinese Women (a fund to aid victims of cancer) a group that has one of my past students in the ranks...She is 22 and in need of an artificial leg after undergoing surgery last month...

The students at her school, rural students with few resources and ardent readers of my blog, fought for Coffee (the girl's name) as well as to just have a dogfight with Singapore....

We ALL won. My traffic has increased I am sure has yours, and it is a win-win regardless of who was tagged as Best Asian Blog. More money will go to my charities and your readership will increase....I hope you will not allow people to cheapen a sincere effort for a much needed....

I like your blog...You are on my blog list and will remain there...

I intend to delete any sour grapes comments from my blog that would put you, Xiaxue or ANYONE in a bad light...My blog, except for rallying against PRC censorship and poverty in China, is a positive one and will remain so....

Mine is NOT the best blog is Asia, but I will wear the tag for a year if the results hold....And I will applaud you if they do not...

Thanks for a great battle....

Lonnie B Hodge
Onemanbandwidth"

Ah, don't we just love blog awards and for the record, I DID NOT curry favor with Xiaxue or sleep with her just to get votes from her or her fans. And no, we are not getting married and she's not having my baby either. I'm not worthy.

Previously: Thanks everyone for your votes