Jason Calacanis is one of the most divisive voices in the blogging world. He is a New Yorker which colors how he interacts with the world. It’s that color which rubs some people the wrong way.

The first time I heard about Jason was when Weblogs, Inc. (Engadget among others) was sold to AOL for something like $20 million. Back when the sale went through, it sent shockwaves through the blogging universe. It was the first time that a blogging network was given a real-world dollar value, and what a value it was. Since then YouTube (not a blog) was sold to Google for $1.65 Billion dollars (in stock) which changed the landscape once again.

Jason was on TWIT nearly a year ago and became the most reviled guest in TWIT history. He is outspoken, but he is nearly always right.

I have to admit that I was one of the haters when I heard the TWIT episode, but since then he became a regular on the now defunct Gillmor Gang podcast. In those podcasts he shot to the top in respectability in my book. He might have been abrasive, but the things he said simply made sense. He is smart and worth listening to. He understands the blogosphere and has a keen insight as to where this whole mess is going.

For all those who are Calacanis haters out there, I challenge you to take another listen. You may be surprised that you start to like him. I do. Weird.