Football-only board?

ralph · Post by **ralph** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 5:54 pm

How about having a football-only board instead of mixing all of the sports together?

Maybe:
Bobcat Football
Discuss anything and everything relating to Bobcat Football here.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 6:06 pm

Thanks for the input, Ralph.

We (kmax, rtb and I) had a discussion early on when we were pulling together this idea, and we decided at that time that we would like to leave it simply as "Bobcat Athletics" so that all of the sports (track and field, women's basketball, etc.) got the attention they deserve from all of the posters as opposed to being relegated to lower boards that might not be viewed nearly as often.

I know a lot of people are football only sports fans, but this set-up might expose them to some of the other great college sports going on at MSU and maybe even spark a little more interest in those lesser hyped sports.

I would be curious to know how the other posters feel about this. If there is a strong enough demand for a football only board, I am sure (at the risk of speaking for the other two guys) we would consider changing things up a bit.

ralph · Post by **ralph** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 10:52 pm

Bay Area Cat wrote:...this set-up might expose them to some of the other great college sports going on at MSU and maybe even spark a little more interest in those lesser hyped sports...

Understood. But I would think that a couple MSU sport-specific boards would be needed just to keep everything decipherable. I mean, MSU football participation/spending is more than twice that of basketball, which is more than twice than any other sport. The Bobcat Nation posters are probably split accordingly.

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:58 am

Mslacat say in a sarcastic breath:

owwwww.... So us basketball people just get in the way too much! We don't
spend enough money! We are not as pretty as you rough and tough burly guys. Well
we're just as manly men as the rest of you guys!

In all seriousness I would recommend we continue to test drive this format I really think
too many sub boards gets cumbersome

Post by **kmax** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 9:07 am

Now that we have gotten this site going, I tend to really agree with mslacat as I just think that more boards would get cumbersome. I must admit when I first set up the board I was intending to have several forums, one for each of the more popular sports and a catch-all for the rest. BAC and rtb brought up the fact that the one nice thing about the old espn board was that one could catch conversations about all sports, and sometimes even see something interesting that you may not have seen had it been in another forum. I think they were definately right and so far this setup has worked well.

Case in point is the post from the MSU track coach talking about the track team's performance and the new Plaza they are building at the track facility. I know I probably wouldn't have paid as much attention to it and I'm sure others wouldn't have either if it had been banished to an "Other Sports" board. We'll see how things go as football season approaches and the board likely turns to a mostly football board anyway if other sports are getting lost and we need to split them, but for now(unless as BAC there are many members that feel differently) I like the format and would like to keep all MSU Athletics discussions togethor where they will be seen by the majority of members.

ZifCat52 · Post by **ZifCat52** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 10:09 am

I am in support of keeping the existing format, I think Bobcat athletics is more than football, basketball or any other sport. I think the more everyone know about all the activities in Bobcat land, the more likely they are to get involved. The football messages are pretty easy to distinguish form the others, as are basketball, so if you only want to look at one sport, that is easily accomplished, but being aware of everything is a real benefit for the overall health of the program. Along those lines, I really like the way the weekly sports TV show, Cats Sports 30, looks at both the men's and women's programs, and all of them, each week.

ralph · Post by **ralph** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 8:32 am

mslacat wrote:Mslacat say in a sarcastic breath:
owwwww.... So us basketball people just get in the way too much! We don't
spend enough money! We are not as pretty as you rough and tough burly guys. Well
we're just as manly men as the rest of you guys!
In all seriousness I would recommend we continue to test drive this format I really think
too many sub boards gets cumbersome

I suggested two sub boards for the two biggest sports. football and basketball. Otherwise it gets too congested.

ralph · Post by **ralph** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 8:46 am

ZifCat52 wrote:...The football messages are pretty easy to distinguish form the others, as are basketball, so if you only want to look at one sport, that is easily accomplished, but being aware of everything is a real benefit for the overall health of the program...

The messages are not easily distinguishable and the board is for posters I would think, not the benefit of all MSU programs. People will get real discouraged when they come here and have to open up messages just to see if they pertain to what they're interested in. Check out these examples from the current front page:
Nice Joey Article
Holland Classic Lobster Claw
Signing Day 4-14-04: Recruiting update
Joey Thomas Wonderlic score 19
TX A&M Transfer
Thomas and other BS players
Justin Hartman Letters to the Editor
scrimmage
Getting to know you
This is down right weird!
Coaches / Media Poll
World Stadiums
Key games in the "Kramer Area"
Cats in Greatfalls
pregame music
MSU press release - scrimmage
Championship banners
Question on starting up...
The guys Durham wants!

Maybe do a poll and see what your posters want to read about? That's all I had to say. Great work on the board!!

Post by **kmax** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 9:52 am

Ralph, don't get me wrong I do thank you for the feedback, I just think that it is more a matter of opinion and style rather than a clear cut issue as you seem to feel. To illustrate what I mean about it being a matter of opinion an example from your home board: I don't particularly care for the new layout of the anygivensaturday boards where the "official" news is split from the discussion as I feel it just leads to many near duplicate posts on seperate forums and causes one to flip back and forth more than would be necessary, just my opinion and I understand that you guys have good reasons for doing it that way which is cool. I know you are a I-AA football only guy, and I assume that is part of where your feedback is coming from as you would like to be able to decipher that info a bit easier. However from being on the espn board I know that many posters did like to see and discuss other topics and from being on some other teams boards that do have them seperated I know how few people actually look at the other boards when they are seperated out from the football one.

As to your point that this board is for the posters, not the benefit of MSU programs I would have to say, yes and no to that. The board was created for the fans, and as BAC and I pointed out, if users want seperate boards for the sports, we will listen and perhaps a poll is the way to go. However, when we put this site together we decided that we not only wanted to give fans a place to come, but hopefully put together something that will serve not only the hardcore Bobcat fan, but also hopefully give the casual fan more information about Bobcat sports and help them to become more involved, whether that be through becoming a booster, helping at alumni functions, or just attending more games/matches/meets/etc. I know that is not the goal of all fan sites, but it is one of ours and making sure that all Bobcat sports get attention from the casual lurker here on these boards is important to reaching that goal.

Like I said, I do thank you for you feedback but I wanted to explain our position on the issue and I assure you that we will listen to the ones that use the board to make it the best we can for them. Right now almost all of the feedback that I have heard on this issue is that users like it this way. Can that change? Of course it can, and when/if it does we will address it.

ZifCat52 · Post by **ZifCat52** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 1:00 pm

Ralph, I appreciate your comments about tracking down football specific information and recognize it would be simpler for those who would only want that to have specific links. I also agree, with my limited experience, that this tends to create duplicate threads on different forums. This discussion is like the centralization/decentralization arguement management faces when making decisions concenring support functions in organizations. There is no "best" answer, but we sure need everyone's input to find the best combination that works for everyone. I also support everyone's comments on the quality of the site so far and I feel it is a great improvement over the ESPN site.

My comments about not having a football specific board are more reflective of comments I heard by a student-athlete a few years back that said everything is fine as long as its "All for one and one for football" in MSU athletics. I think that attitiude is changing to reflect that there are 9 other sports teams (some with multiple components like track and skiing) at MSU and all deserve attention. There has been a large amount of success in all areas of athletics as demonstrated by the second place finish in the all-sports race in the Big Sky by MSU last year and getting everyone involved with that is something I believe we need more of.

For those who want only football because that's their interest, a routine visit to this site, specifically the Bobcat Athletics section, allows much of the other material to be sorted fairly quickly. I am willing to put up with that problem when I want to look for something specific because I am more in favor of seeing everything and getting overall support for MSU athletics. I also understand that it could be very frustrating for someone on the other side of the issue. My vote is to keep it the same, but it is worthy of discussion.

ralph · Post by **ralph** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 2:25 am

ZifCat52 wrote:...For those who want only football because that's their interest, a routine visit to this site, specifically the Bobcat Athletics section, allows much of the other material to be sorted fairly quickly...

Zif,
Did you read my last post to you? It showed that almost all the posts were not sport-specific by title. As someone who is employed to follow many boards/newsgroups, see http://www.i-aa.org/section_front.asp?arttypeid=594 to see the I-AA ones I visit nearly daily, it is frustrating. I believe in community building, if someone follows this site they should read all the boards. I just wish the categories were split. That's all.

ralph · Post by **ralph** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 2:46 am

kmax wrote:...I just think that it is more a matter of opinion and style rather than a clear cut issue as you seem to feel. To illustrate what I mean about it being a matter of opinion an example from your home board:... I know you are a I-AA football only guy...However from being on the espn board I know that many posters did like to see and discuss other topics and from being on some other teams boards that do have them seperated I know how few people actually look at the other boards when they are seperated out from the football one...

Thanks for both of your feedback responses. Please realize that I-AA.org does not have a messageboard but I hang in the AGS boards and give them counsel. That is a one-sport community/set of boards. Big difference. I know that if someone can't find what they want quickly then they are not likely to be a frequent visitor. Since you asked for feedback and I know this will be a popular site I wanted to say my piece.

ralph · Post by **ralph** » Sun Apr 18, 2004 11:56 pm

Oh yeah, GO BOBCATS!

Post by **SonomaCat** » Wed May 12, 2004 10:26 am

After checking eGriz periodically, I think we made the right choice in leaving all athletics on the same board. Over there, it seems that even basketball related threads are posted on the football board as the moderator notes that nobody would see it if it was posted directly to the basketball board (it was later moved to the basketball board once the news was absorbed by the group).

I have to take that as an anecdotal reference to the advantage of just leaving it all on one board. This seems to keep everyone involved in all of the conversations and doesn't allow for people to put on their football blinders and miss out on the relevant events in the other sports.

Sorry for beating a dead (or dying, at least) horse, but the experiences of our UM board brothers can be helpful for us over here as well.

CatfaninGA · Post by **CatfaninGA** » Wed May 12, 2004 12:20 pm

I would have to agree and say that the board should have each sport broken out seperatly:

Football
Basketball (mens and womens)
Track
Golf

In the long run it would be for the best.

Football-only board?

Football-only board?

my .02 cents