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Topic: Offseason on "the Gridiron" (Read 8909 times) |
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Philosopher King
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Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« on: Jan 19th, 2003, 12:51am » |
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Hey, gang!
I have received more than a few e-mails/IM's regarding ideas for the offseason on "the Gridiron". For that, I am VERY grateful!  It shows me that you guys really care about this place of ours!  Anyway, I wanted to address this publicly so as to expedite the process and let everyone know where I am coming from in a forthright manner.
Many of the ideas were not related to football (discussion or activity). They were related to fantasy sports, such as NASCAR or baseball, that pick up when the football season ends.
First off, I have to admit, though I am a sports fan in general, but not one of NASCAR, I am only into fantasy football when it comes to fantasy sports. As a matter of fact, frankly speaking, it is the evenly-distributed, one-game-per-week, not exceedingly long 17-week schedule of the NFL that puts football over the top for me as the sport most conducive to fantasy enjoyment and fulfillment and makes me a proponent of fantasy football versus other fantasy games. As such, it is my vision that "the Gridiron" remain a purely football environment. Even "the Sidelines" is not supposed to be a completely free-for-all board. Again, this is also fairly consistent with my bigger objective of daring to be different. I want us to be "specialists" rather than general practitioners.
Next, most of the proposals I received made the pitch that what was being suggested would bring in new blood. (FourTwoOh, don't take this personally, but I have to make reference to the otherwise AWESOME contest you are running.) FourTwoOh made the same claim regarding the aforesaid contest, which is completely football-related. The fact is the contest has only brought in two more members and only one who participates on "the Gridiron" outside of the contest. Now, do not get me wrong. I am not saying that that is a flaw of FourTwoOh's contest. His contest has been GREAT and I hope it becomes a tradition here on "the Gridiron" (I was actually wondering if it could be continued through the Pro Bowl under the same premises   ). Anyway, I am just saying that I would like to do things around here because they (their means) fit "the Gridiron" mission, not just for the sake of drawing attention (their ends). The ends don't justify the means here on "the Gridiron"! At any rate, more pragmatically put, might some of these ideas bring in new members? Maybe! Will those new members really end up participating the way I would hope, i.e. in the football discussions of the forum? Probably not! Maybe X Probably not = 
Finally, the bottom line, with the addition of "the Gridiron" to Fantasyfootballer.com, I am exceeding server quotas on a regular basis. Thus far, I have avoided incurring any extra expense/fees, but... I have been over-limit, significantly in some cases, in August, September, November and January, i.e. this month. Whatever... We won't have any problems! Don't worry about that! Honestly, it is not that expensive to run a web site (as long as you know what you're doin'  )! That having been said, a couple "semi-" down/slow months would not be the worst thing.
Things'll really pick up when WE do OUR FIRST-EVER Mock Draft #1, on which next year's CBFL will be based, around the end of May, and the GBRFL and QFL guys will be around off-and-on year-round; there's the NFL Draft in April, as well. Besides that, I think we have enough regulars to pull this thing through what will probably be the most difficult offseason we will ever have to endure. We don't need to unnecessarily adulterate our forum just to keep things lively during the offseason. I mean... Isn't how things go during the "slow months" around here just up to YOU? Come June-ish, will I be thanking you or welcoming you back?
So, in conclusion, are these all dead issues? No! But, that is my inclination. I will mull things over.  I would say this. If I did ever happen to decide to permit say a NASCAR league to run on "the Gridiron", it would require, at least based on the way I want to go about things here, my opening another board for such activities. Off the top of my head, I suppose I'd call such a board "the Bleachers" and I guess it would be our "free-for-all" board. I don't know. We'll see. I know the Daytona 500 is on February 16th (someone's birthday around here  ). I'll come to a final determination at least the week prior. And, of course, you are all welcome to express your thoughts, either way, on this thread.
One last thing, don't just tacitly dismiss the fact that Steggie here might just have some tricks up his sleeve that would encourage offseason participation! ! ! ! ! 
Well, again, thank you all for helping get "the Gridiron" off the ground! You guys are the lifeblood around here, and I am well aware of that fact! I am...
...Your Friend in Fantasy Football,
Steve Stegeman a.k.a. StegRock
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| « Last Edit: Apr 16th, 2006, 4:16am by Stegfucius » |
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Fantasy Field General
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #1 on: Jan 19th, 2003, 1:07am » |
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My thoughts on this matter:
I think the creation of a "free-for-all" board has it's benefits and of course it's negatives.Though, I think it would be a good thing to have, maybe just not to talk about other sports, but, maybe to get to know everyone a little bit better. See where everyone is coming from.
Anyways, my vote goes to having a free-for-all board. I don't think it'll hurt to have one, though, that decision is up to you, Steg. =)
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Philosopher King
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #2 on: Jan 19th, 2003, 1:25am » |
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on Jan 19th, 2003, 1:07am, Keyshawn Johnson 76yards wrote:| I think it would be a good thing to have, maybe just not to talk about other sports, but, maybe to get to know everyone a little bit better. See where everyone is coming from. |
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I am ALL FOR everybody here getting to know one another better/on a more personal level. I don't like the impersonal feel of some other forums out there. That is one of the reasons I built "the Gridiron". As such, it is an important part of my/"the Gridiron" mission and inherently part of things. As such, the board description for "the Sidelines" states:
If you are neither of the above, but are a fan of football who wants to chat about general NFL issues, the CFL, College or High School ball, Arena League Football, cheerleaders, how good the bratwurst is at your local stadium, the political correctness of team names such as the Redskins, how your draft day went, "the Gridiron" (and how much you like it) and its members, etc., etc., this board is for you! Have at it!
Getting to know your fellow members falls under the category "'the Gridiron' and its members"! It is worded the way it is because I would still like "personal" conversations to spring from football-oriented talks rather than actually having threads start with "The Yankees: Capitalist Pigs or Capitalist Icons" or "What... or who did you have for dinner last night?"  ! I want dudes in here to be "football guys" first. Then, the "football guys" can get to know one another more deeply. A "free-for-all" board, theoretically/potentially, makes the forum, as a whole, "more" vulnerable to "undesirables." That having been said, I am not totally averse to the idea and the concept of "the Bleachers" is kind of growing on me. It fits the pattern of board categorization that I have set up, so...
Let's continue the discussion!
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| « Last Edit: Feb 2nd, 2003, 11:35am by Stegfucius » |
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UFF Primetime Prophet
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #4 on: Jan 19th, 2003, 9:07am » |
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I also participate in fantasy football only. I'm also a big fan of basketball and hockey, and now that the Phillies seem to show some interest in competing, baseball too. I don't think we really need to add additional sports to this site. If one of you is a NASCAR fan (*gasp*) then it might be a good idea for you to strike off on your own (much as Steg did) and get your own site going. I don't think anyone would mind if you did and even put a post here stating your intents and inviting others to check it out.
I also think that, much like the pro players themselves, it's necessary to take a step back and regroup in the January, February, and March months. Regroup; regain some of those lost moments from real life before diving back into things again with the draft.
That being said, I imagine things will slow down a bit over the next few months, but there will always be those news nuggets that appear and I will be there to read the other opinions here regarding such. So I'm here for the long haul - but only if that long haul is football-focused.
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Water Boy
# 67
Be vewy vewy qwiet.
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #6 on: Jan 19th, 2003, 9:51am » |
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I myself only participate in Fantasyfootball, I di watch other sprts of course, but I don't have any high interest in getting involved fantasy wise. However it's not like we don't have alot to talk about, we still have a couple of weeks of football to go, plus with all the coaching moves and the draft, combine ETC. There is no shortage of topics.
I have a few hobbies outside of fantasyfootball that keep me quite busy in the off season, landscaping my yard, but best of all, I belong to a Bassmasters club, I fish from April-October. But there is no ultimate better than having fun each sunday during FB Season, except maybe snagging a five pound bass on a nice summer day.
Carry on,
Ron
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| « Last Edit: Jan 19th, 2003, 9:52am by Bootlegger » |
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Philosopher King
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #7 on: Jan 19th, 2003, 1:30pm » |
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on Jan 19th, 2003, 9:07am, Philly wrote:| If one of you is a NASCAR fan (*gasp*) then it might be a good idea for you to strike off on your own (much as Steg did) and get your own site going. I don't think anyone would mind if you did and even put a post here stating your intents and inviting others to check it out. |
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Philly, we are definitely NSync!  Wait, I mean in sync!  What Philly states is much more what I would be supportive of. Heck, if we had some guys strike out on their own and create a "Fantasyfootballer.com's Gridiron" forum-like forum, for baseball, basketball, hockey, NASCAR, golf or whatever, I would be VERY willing to publicize said sites here on "the Gridiron" and, moreover, I would be EXTREMELY interested in substantively coming together and networking the sites. That's more what I am all about... bringing people, who have different passions and, thus, will probably do a great job for their respective passions, together. I could totally see a substantive and truly connected network of fantasy sites, innovatively and uniquely built around a forum, i.e. featuring the forum, like "Fantasyfootballer.com's Gridiron", being much more successful than some of these watered-down, do-it-all fantasy sites. A coordinated group of individual passionate specialists coming together rather than a bunch of hired general practitioners. Along these lines, the web site for YaBB forum, which powers "the Gridiron", is located at http://www.yabbforum.com/. I do think that the forums part of such an aforementioned network would have to bear some resemblance.
:nudge: :nudge:
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Gridiron Great
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #9 on: Jan 19th, 2003, 8:37pm » |
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I have, being the avid sports fan that I am, participated in fantasy leagues in other sports. I still play fantasy baseball, but stopped doing other sports like basketball and hockey.
I think this should be a football site only. I think the idea of a Bleechers board (I prefer calling it the Cheap Seats ) is okay, but I wouldn't want it to go the way the Geek board over at FFToday has gone, where we would get "unwanted or unattractive" members here that really wouldn't contribute in a positive way to the other, more football oriented boards. I admit I read some of the posts over there, and some are humorous, but I normally stick to this site because the information and the people providing it are much more intelligent.
Just my take on the matter...
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Head Coach
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #11 on: Jan 20th, 2003, 8:31am » |
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I have a couple of more suggestions for the off-season. We could have some guys write up a "State of the Team" report during the off-season.
Keep us all up on free agent moves, draft needs, injuries, coaching changes and other team info. Similar to the hometown team reports, but with a little more depth.
Player rankings is always interesting and one way to make it somewhat different than most, and possibly more accurate is to do it a few diferent times. Do the first one after the draft, the second one early in Training Camp and then one late in Training Camp. I know every site does player rankings, but with the small core of guys who participated here, we can manage some semblence of quality control and maybe wind up with a consensus that has some teeth to it. Certainly, we can come up with something that has more depth than just a numerical ranking for players.
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GM
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #15 on: Jan 20th, 2003, 10:38am » |
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on Jan 20th, 2003, 8:31am, paulinstl wrote:I have a couple of more suggestions for the off-season. We could have some guys write up a "State of the Team" report during the off-season.
Keep us all up on free agent moves, draft needs, injuries, coaching changes and other team info. Similar to the hometown team reports, but with a little more depth.
Player rankings is always interesting and one way to make it somewhat different than most, and possibly more accurate is to do it a few diferent times. Do the first one after the draft, the second one early in Training Camp and then one late in Training Camp. I know every site does player rankings, but with the small core of guys who participated here, we can manage some semblence of quality control and maybe wind up with a consensus that has some teeth to it. Certainly, we can come up with something that has more depth than just a numerical ranking for players. |
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Great ideas Paul. I could scout the Bangals. 
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Philosopher King
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #17 on: Jan 20th, 2003, 2:26pm » |
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on Jan 20th, 2003, 8:31am, paulinstl wrote:| Player rankings is always interesting and one way to make it somewhat different than most, and possibly more accurate is to do it a few diferent times. Do the first one after the draft, the second one early in Training Camp and then one late in Training Camp. I know every site does player rankings, but with the small core of guys who participated here, we can manage some semblence of quality control and maybe wind up with a consensus that has some teeth to it. Certainly, we can come up with something that has more depth than just a numerical ranking for players. |
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The occassional "Huddle Up" (we really are getting intimate around here) threads would be one unique way player rankings would manifest on "the Gridiron". If you don't remember what I am talking about, here is the link to the one we did this past September right before the season:
http://www.fantasyfootballer.com/cgi-bin/theGridiron/YaBB.cgi?board=56;a ction=display;num=1030919485.
And, here is the link to the thread that contains the final results of the "Huddle Up" thread:
http://www.fantasyfootballer.com/cgi-bin/theGridiron/YaBB.cgi?board=55;a ction=display;num=1031291519.
I, at least, plan on doing a few of these this offseason.
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Philosopher King
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #18 on: Jan 20th, 2003, 11:49pm » |
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on Jan 20th, 2003, 8:01am, paulinstl wrote:| I understand your stated desire to make this place a different environment for football people like you have here so far, but you may also want to consider that every place has turnover. Not all of us will return next year or maybe not to the status as we had this year. Any way you can attract more members is worthy of an effort. Quality will out....cream always rises, right? |
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Well, I agree... with work, paulinstl. But, you can see what the bad apples do to a forum by visiting some of the others out there. They can end up ruling the roost if the admin does not put a stop to it, which, I am sure, can be exhausting. Don't get me wrong! My staffers and I will do exactly that. However, I like to be proactive and try to foster an environment where the mean-spirited creeps more often than not decide to stay away.
As to the issue of attrition, I am also trying to be proactive. I am really trying hard to give "the Gridiron" a personal, friendly feel. I respond to queries and deal with things quickly and with a personal touch. With the e-mails I send out to members, I make it a personal message/heads-up from me to each of you rather than yet another sterile, in many cases redundant, fantasy football newsletter. I also therein give kudos to those "run of the mill" members, i.e. the lifeblood, who contribute over and above the call of duty (no, not just to "Mr. Greatness," who is blah-blah-blah NFL Grand Poo-bah of whatever yankity-yank magazine, site or whatever, strictly for marketing purposes). I have even gone about hosting some of our members' personalized profile pics if they were experiencing problems with the ones they were linking to. Regardless of how big we get, I will always do things this way. Why? Because that is the kind of guy I am... that is what is important to me. I also do not and will never make it a point to continuously remind you all to click my advertisements with the threat that that possibly is the only way I will be able to continue to provide you this forum for free. And, I will never tell anyone else to do my dirty work with regards to such matters. I have marketing strategies in mind that hopefully will allow me to avoid such desperate behavior. Again, I treat you all as "contributors" instead of "users." You should know that well by now and, moreover, feel that way. I think this kind of treatment engenders more of a genuine commitment to the project rather than a "minionship" for the provider and, as such, I believe that turnover can be, though not eliminated, minimized.
All of that having been said, I will keep what you say in mind, pauly, as it does contain truth. As things grow, I will continue to provide an environment where the cream should be able to rise and the bad apples rot. At the appropriate time, I will recall your words.
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Gridiron Great
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #19 on: Jan 21st, 2003, 5:36pm » |
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I'll take care of the Giants off season report!
I'd also be willing to run the NFL draft contest where we predict the first round of the draft come April...
Love to do a first round NFL mock where we all take turns selecting, starting with Cincinnati, then Detroit etc...all the way down the Oakland, like the huddle up from last year.
on Jan 20th, 2003, 8:31am, paulinstl wrote:I have a couple of more suggestions for the off-season. We could have some guys write up a "State of the Team" report during the off-season.
Keep us all up on free agent moves, draft needs, injuries, coaching changes and other team info. Similar to the hometown team reports, but with a little more depth.
Player rankings is always interesting and one way to make it somewhat different than most, and possibly more accurate is to do it a few diferent times. Do the first one after the draft, the second one early in Training Camp and then one late in Training Camp. I know every site does player rankings, but with the small core of guys who participated here, we can manage some semblence of quality control and maybe wind up with a consensus that has some teeth to it. Certainly, we can come up with something that has more depth than just a numerical ranking for players. |
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Philosopher King
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Re: Offseason on "the Gridiron"
« Reply #20 on: Feb 1st, 2003, 12:04am » |
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Well, with the NASCAR season here revving up within the next week or so, I thought I should address the main issue hereof now...
I have decided against opening a new fourth board on "the Gridiron", our main forum. There are many reasons, some mentioned above, that factored into my decision, but there was one that was really the key. Right now, I am VERY pleased with the post ratios on the three main boards of our forum. The way things are, based on our thorough and fairly logical board descriptions and encouragement of "downstream posting," the main board, "the Red Zone", gets the lion's share of the attention while the lesser two boards, "between the 20's" and "the Sidelines", still get their share, moreover, actually splitting the remainder of the posts right down the middle. This is exactly what I was shooting for. All the boards are frequented to a reasonable degree. I did not want to have the kind of forum where everything goes on one main board whether it should or shouldn't; maybe there is a second board that gets a little attention, and then there are a litany of other generally applicable, i.e. not league-specific, boards that are barely ever even looked at. Bottom line, the addition of any other board, "free-for-all" or otherwise, would definitely disrupt those aforementioned proportions to some degree. In any event, will this be revisited someday? Perhaps, but for now, know that I have A LOT coming at you this offseason. I have big plans that will begin materializing here in a couple months. So, please rest assured that though "the Gridiron" is not going in the direction herein discussed, it is going in a direction, one that is going to be very fun and exciting for all who are a part of it!
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At first it's the greatest thing in the world and you can't keep your mind off it.
It's so new and exciting and you toss and turn at night just thinking about it.
But the longer it goes, the more you know it has to end. And eventually it does, leaving you feeling lost and empty inside.
But deep down you know that it'll be back some day and you do things in the meantime to keep your mind off it. 
I don't know where that came from but I guess what I'm trying to say is, I love you guys... No wait, that's not at all what I'm trying to say.
This is a great Fantasy Football site and I think it should stay that way. I'm a big fan of fantasy baseball and basketball, but I come to "the Gridiron" for football.
If another forum was created, I would defiantly check it out and do my best to contribute. 
!
