Don't forget that, after tonight's Knicks game, tomorrow's post-game discussion thread will be guest-hosted by KellyGreen, who will have been at the game. Meanwhile, here's a new thread for anyone to use to post about any topic that's Celtics-related. I also continue to welcome ideas about how to make this site more appealing and user-friendly for everybody. So go to it, with the only rule being one of civility.
Thanks,
Sam
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21 comments:
Sam and all
A quick note that I posted on BDC that the game tonight vs the Knicks in to be shown on MSG-HD channel 634 on DirectTV. I have no way of knowing however if it would be blacked out unfortunately.
If not we might be able to get a few more views about the C's.
beat
dang typos anyway
Thanks for the information, Beat. It would be nice if more people could see some of these games. It was pretty lonely on the Game-on Thread Wednesday. I don't know whether I can make that thread tonight.
Sam
Perhaps this would be a good time to do a little update on this site because, although it's one person's blog, the only reason it exists is for all of us equally.
This is the 18th day of the site's existence. It has attracted 3,375 "hits," for an average of 188/day. And the hits keep coming. In the last week, they've jumped to 229/day. Yesterday, there were 383.
Twenty of us hearty souls (I'm not counting the occasional lunatic fringe, which I quickly zap) have contributed. The conversation has been refreshingly civil, and I personally feel great camaraderie and have learned a lot from the exchanges.
BUT (were you waiting for the "BUT?"), a blog site is simply not as dynamic as a message board. There are fewer threads (18 so far, or an average of one per day); and the exchanges are typically much more deliberate.
I know most or all of us (including myself) have continued to use the Boston.com board for our message board "fix," despite the angst we sometimes have to endure in the process. So perhaps this site is really achieving what I had hoped for...a complementary niche involving more in-depth and guaranteed civil discussion.
But I have this lurking feeling that the lack of excitement (compared with the freneticism of a message board) is (1) keeping people from converting from "lurkers" to "joiners" and (2) potentially setting us up for an eventual erosion of interest.
I hope the Boston.com board straightens out over time, and I don't really want this site to survive ONLY because of disenchantment with BDC. Frankly, if this site can't stand on its own as having appeal that's unique and complementary to BDC, I'm not sure I want to continue it long-term.
Perhaps it's too early for this discussion. Heck, the Celts have played only one exhibition game, and I have the feeling (hope?) that a number of people are waiting to join until they're energized by viewing the Celtics every couple of nights. And I intend to persevere in at least the short-term. I do believe the advent of more posters would greatly enhance the "energy level" of this site.
But it's only realistic to start giving some candid thought to the efficacy of this site over time. And it also behooves us to make it as appealing as possible to help some of the "lurkers" make their decisions.
You can see some of the things I'm trying...less pontification on my part and more open-ended opportunities for people to post freely without the imposition of a topic on my part...the little voting/rating exercise on which the jury's out until people can actually see the games...guest posters...etc.
What other things should I be doing?
One of the most appealing things about BDC to me is the "Game-on" thread. As the games become more accessible to people, will the trolls infest that thread too? (It wouldn't be the first time.) Should we try our own game-on thread (despite what I said about not trying to compete with BDC)? I guess it could work if I just open up a blank thread and invite comments during the games.
It's sort of a Catch-22. The feasibility of many possible ideas will depend on the number of participants we have; and the number of participants will depend on how inviting we make this site.
So, as usual, I'm particularly open to your candid feedback. I'm going to keep this site going regardless, at least for a while. So you won't hurt or discourage me with your candor.
On the other hand, I'm not equipped to run costly promotions or to work outside the limitations of the blog. Basically, I'm counting on an improved PRODUCT to attract interested participants, because we now have MANY prospects who lurking but not joining.
And, if any of the "lurkers" (and I use that term only because they use it themselves) would like to offer inputs without having to join, please email me at:
SlipSamCelt@aol.com
Thanks all, and GO CELTICS!
Sam
I'm very excited to see some live action tonight and hopefully I'll have some interesting tid-bits to report! Let me know if there is anything in particular you guys/girls want me to be on the look out for.
I'll be attending 10 regular season games as well, so if this blog is still functioning (I hope!) and I do a half-way decent job on tonights game, I'd be willing to give some feedback on those as well.
Go Celtics!
Sam and all,
I am back from my trip to the job site in Penn. I read the Game On! thread after the game was over later that night on my Blackberry. Now that I am at home, I plan to watch the game later today before the Knicks game. I get to watch two games in one day!
I won't review the last game, but I will try to review the Knicks game tonight.
I plan to start the Game On! thread (on BDC) tonight if there isn't one already started. If I don't see anything by 7:00, I'll give it a go.
I think the Game On! thread should be kept on the BDC for now. It is more dynamic. If the trolls infest it, we should just put them on ignore, even if it is temporarily for the game only. After the game is over, we can take them off ignore in order to see what they said and THEN respond (as if that will do any good) That way, we won't waste any time on them during the game.
I plan to start posting on the BDC again. Personally, I plan to NEVER reply directly to a troll (ours or theirs) again. I may make a comment to another non-troll (ie: you, bobc, bobh, beat, etc.) about a troll, but that is all. I will also go back to reporting, as required.
gyso
PS: If you post to me and I never reply back...
You might be a troll!! (LOL)
Kelly,
I'll start the post-game thread within a couple of hours after the game. Hopefully that will give you time to return and start getting some thoughts together. You can post on the thread at your convenience simply by using the comment box as usual.
Usually, I'd say the most interesting contributions would be things people might not see on tv (bench byplay, things that happen away from the ball, etc.). But, since most people apparently can't watch the exhibition games on tv, I'd say that any comments you'd have would be interesting.
I'm personally most interested in the chemistry of the bench...especially between the veterans who are likely to get most bench minutes. I'm also very interested in the progress of Hudson; and, since he tends to be everywhere, a lot of his activity might not get caught on camera. And obviously KG's condition is a priority...and you may be able to see some of his reactions that we can't (e.g. after he goes to the bench).
Have a great time at the game. And thanks for guest-hosting. There's no reason guest-hosting couldn't become a regular gig when you (or others) attend games (or any other time, for that matter).
Sam
Hi Sam,
sad to say, but one of the motivations to come here was troll infestation and childish responses to it on BDC.
keep it up. Thanks again,
AK
GYSO,
You were missed. Welcome back. I'm pretty much confining my troll-related comments on the board to when I know I can make them look foolish. They like to bait us, but they don't like to look foolish...and to be reminded subtly just how foolish they look. It's a bad tradeoff for them to be embarrassed while not achieving their goal of propelling us over the top.
I think you're probably right about the game-on thread. I was just wondering what people thought, because I recell how some trolls infested last year's BDC game-on thread...well BEFORE the influx of the summer.
So, any ideas on how we can make this site more exciting/inviting for the "lurkers" out there?
Enjoy your "viewing doubleheader."
Sam
Sinus,
Yes, I realize that's a motivation of many people. But, if that's the only uniqueness we have, it sort of puts us in an implied competition with BDC. I want to make this site better than that so that people could potentially find different kinds of value in both sites. So any ideas you might have for enticing features we could offer would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Sam
Sam, I think in a short period of time, this blog can be as exciting as BDC. We can now begin to discuss basketball again, without the other stuff that just wastes everyone's time.
As more of us get comfortable with the format, we will post more often. I think this is great! I know that you have some from other teams on your list, it would be interesting to have the occasional matchup discussion with them, again, without the child's play. And to give credit where credit is due.
My situation regarding the blog is different than most because I'm a basketball fan rather than a Celtic fan, but I can make a couple of points.
The two most appealing aspects of the blog are quality and civility. Unless something changes, I think I'm done with the Celtics forum on BDC. There's not enough there any more to justify the aggravation. This blog is a far better alternative.
(Gratuitous tangent -- if you've seen the Peter Sellers movie "The Magic Christian," the BDC forum is beginning to remind me of the climactic scene. Some things just aren't worth it.)
The blog's biggest limitation is the lack of multi-thread discussions. Yes, you can continue to write comments to last week's post, but that "thread" gets buried by newer posts. That's just the nature of a blog vs. a forum.
I think we can all agree that the best solution would be a civil BDC, but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen. Maybe things will get better as the season goes along, but it seems to have devolved into infantile contest between the trolls and those who feel compelled to respond to them and bait them. (The trolls obviously shoulder more of the blame, but I do blame both sides.) Without a civil forum, this blog is a decent alternative.
Sam, credit goes to you for taking the time to start and maintain the blog and for being the genial, convivial host who urges everyone to join in and have a good time. As long as the demands on your time aren't onerous, give the blog a chance to grow and evolve. Don't worry about the blog's inevitable demise just yet; after all, the sun will burn out eventually, but that doesn't mean we should all jump off a cliff now.
Outside
Sam,
Unfortunately discussions of Celtics and basketball in general will attract trolls no matter what or where. So, you and/or other people will have to police this blog. Sorry.
On the positive side: I wonder if it'll make sense to rate the opposing team as well. Something simple, such as top/bottom team, did they put a good fight or not.
Pete,
I'd welcome the opportunity to have civil discussions with fans of other teams, as I've had the pleasure of doing numerous times on BDC. Some trolls say I don't like Lakers fans, but that's untrue. They simply don't want to look in the mirror.
I, like most reasonable people, simply don't care for scurrilous people, regardless of what team they root for. Included in my definition of "scurrilous" would be those who taunt for their own selfish gratification or who maintain a gratuitous agenda of disrupting other people's pleasure.
That will be avoided here.
Sam
Outside,
Oh no! Not the sun! What about my tan?
Sam
Sinus,
I'm not worried about policing this blog. So far, at least, I'm able to stay pretty much on top of it while still running my company and fulfilling personal obligations. We'll see how that goes. Right now, I'm getting a real charge out of zapping the few trolls who show up in their wimp-out "anonymous" costumes.
The plan (IF people eventually start responding to the ratings "voting") is to issue periodic tabulations of the ratings and to look at the trends over time. I wouldn't have a clue as to how to determine mathematically how much of a fight the other team put up. But one breakdown we'll provide will involve the ratings versus .500+ teams as opposed to poorer teams. Another will contrast results versus eastern teams and western teams.
Sam
Sam,
You live in Boston. Tan?
Outside
Sam:
This site looks good, but I'm not sure it's what you want it to be.
If you run a blog, I think that you (or you, and some trusted cadre of cowriters) should provide stimulating content that will inspire the community of lurkers to come out of lurking and contribute their own comments. Threads might attract a lot of posts but, on an active blog, will last for only a limited duration, because they will be buried under other posts. This is the nature of blogs; although there's something unfortunate about this aspect of them, clearly, today's internet is filled with bloggers and reader-communities who are quite satisfied with the trade-off.
You began this blog in precisely this way. But the recent posts have been mostly meta-posts. Posts about posting, posts about blogging and the nature of this blog. While I entirely understand your desire to solicit reader-feedback in your efforts to make this site the best it can be, these posts are not what I come here for.
You have said that you feel uncomfortable with the you-centric nature that it would be easy for this blog to assume. This might be in part because you don't want the full responsibility of always having to be the one who comes up with ideas for posts. Knowing you, however, I'm sure you are plenty creative to come up with frequent and varied posts throughout the season. Probably you instead want a more small-d democratic feel to the website, like the BDC one had.
If this is the case, I recommend that you make a few other people co-bloggers, so they, too, could start posts themselves. Other successful basketball blogs do this. Think TrueHoop (Henry Abbott and Kevin Arnovitz), Celticsblog (Jeff Clark, Roy Hobbs, and others), Celticshub (Brenden, Zach), Freedarko (Bethlehem Shoals, Brown Recluse, etc.). This would still leave a few people in a privileged position relative to others. But if what you want is a blog, well, this is what a blog is. This is why people come to blogs. People like to comment on blog posts, but primarily they come to blogs to read the provocative, well-reasoned, well-written posts of a trusted writer (or writers).
It seems to me that what you want might not be a blog, but rather a message board. If that's the case, using Blogger software won't give you the freedom to create what you want. You might want to check out http://www.proboards.com/.
Not sure why the link didn't work.
http://www.proboards.com/.
Dslack,
Thanks for the thoughtful comments. You're absolutely right. My desire for a more democratic vehicle, without competing directly with existing message boards, has resulted in my gravitating in the direction of trying to turn a blog into the equivalent of a message board. Your suggestions have echoed those of another person who elected to share them via email rather than via the blog.
Having been new to the blogging game, my original concept had been to post "articles" designed to inform and invite response, and you have noted my earlier efforts in that direction. But then, the researcher in me began wondering what it would be like always to be a recipient/responder without also having the option of exercising my own initiative in the posting process.
So I guess this thread has been my attempt to validate those concerns, which you and others have done. I now have a lot of thinking to do about future directions.
Thanks so much for the candid feedback I requested. I bet you'll see some results sooner rather than later.
Best,
Sam
sam doesn't want this blog to be about him?
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