2023 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[Falconer]

On a more pessimistic note, this place may not just be dying, but already dead.  Very minimal activity, during two big days of soccer, now 3-4 weeks into the season.  Maybe a few of us keep frantically trying to defibrillate the patient well past any meaningful chance of a revival.  There has been the suggestion that traffic and interest would increase if some of the more active posters like myself took up less space and grabbed some pine.  I don't think that is it, but certainly anything is worth trying at this juncture.  The medium in part may be just too anachronistic, but I don't know of other options where posters can react and respond and a whole community of lurkers and posters can see the content and jump in or not. 

Well, I don't think we're dead in the water, but certainly it's much quieter now. I don't know whether the downturn is related to D3soccer.com going into limbo, but I wouldn't be surprised if that has some role. Partly, perhaps, this is a result of the hiatus of a highly knowledgeable NESCAC fan, Mr Right (formerly known as LaPaz), who took umbrage at something someone said that he interpreted--wrongly, IMO--as a slight directed at him personally. I doubt he'll be back. But, he was either the single most active poster here, or at least one of 2 or 3 contenders for that title. So, some percentage of the silence can be explained easily, but not all of it. He usually said a lot worth reading, though sometimes he did get a burr up his saddle or pretend he knew things that he didn't. (I particularly recall him saying something seemingly definitive about Messiah and recruiting, when he didn't know the first thing about how they get their players.)

I post much less often than formerly, partly b/c I sense that people were getting tired of the very limited range of my comments, as a homer. I used to make multiple comments after each Falcon game, but now I'd rather just speak up when asked for an opinion (as PN recently did) about the Falcons, or sometimes respond to a more general topic if I think I have something worth saying.

[EnmoreCat]

Have to let me know where to get that sort of filter, Falconer.  I tend to be a little less discriminate, once in the mood....

[Gregory Sager]

I post much less often than formerly, partly b/c I sense that people were getting tired of the very limited range of my comments, as a homer. I used to make multiple comments after each Falcon game, but now I'd rather just speak up when asked for an opinion (as PN recently did) about the Falcons, or sometimes respond to a more general topic if I think I have something worth saying.

Just speaking for myself here, but your Messiah homerism doesn't bother me one bit. While not every post I add to the fray concerns North Park, I'm clearly a homer as well, so I'm hardly one to complain when other posters wave different sets of pom pons.

Don't let yourself be held back by perceived reactions. Post to your heart's content, I say.

[stlawus]

Most of it is just self sorting. It's why the individual league or region threads get more activity.   I am a fan of all things D3 soccer, but if I had to be completely transparent I just don't care enough about most regions to be bothered to post about them in the national thread.   I'm willing to bet this applies to many users, especially the lurkers.

[Domino1195]

Might consider Reddit for something that would have more visibility. I participate in MLS and Columbus Crew boards - very active

[SimpleCoach]

Truth be told, I am the only unbiased person on here.  I accept Mount Union as simply the best, but really don't look down on all you lessers.

Go Raiders... kind of in a neutral sort of cheer.

SC.

[Hopkins92]

First off, Falconer, like others, I'm only speaking for myself, but... Messiah is a fascinating program, so I pretty much never tire of quality posts about them.

Secondly, I'd be really interested in this sites traffic year over year traffic. I think the perception this place is dying seems a bit over the top (no offense PN). I'm sure d3soccer front page going away is having some kind of effect.

But I also feel like the last 2-3 years there've been some high quality/quantity posters come on board. Just an opinion without any research.

[PaulNewman]

On a more pessimistic note, this place may not just be dying, but already dead.  Very minimal activity, during two big days of soccer, now 3-4 weeks into the season.  Maybe a few of us keep frantically trying to defibrillate the patient well past any meaningful chance of a revival.  There has been the suggestion that traffic and interest would increase if some of the more active posters like myself took up less space and grabbed some pine.  I don't think that is it, but certainly anything is worth trying at this juncture.  The medium in part may be just too anachronistic, but I don't know of other options where posters can react and respond and a whole community of lurkers and posters can see the content and jump in or not. 

Well, I don't think we're dead in the water, but certainly it's much quieter now. I don't know whether the downturn is related to D3soccer.com going into limbo, but I wouldn't be surprised if that has some role. Partly, perhaps, this is a result of the hiatus of a highly knowledgeable NESCAC fan, Mr Right (formerly known as LaPaz), who took umbrage at something someone said that he interpreted--wrongly, IMO--as a slight directed at him personally. I doubt he'll be back. But, he was either the single most active poster here, or at least one of 2 or 3 contenders for that title. So, some percentage of the silence can be explained easily, but not all of it. He usually said a lot worth reading, though sometimes he did get a burr up his saddle or pretend he knew things that he didn't. (I particularly recall him saying something seemingly definitive about Messiah and recruiting, when he didn't know the first thing about how they get their players.)

I post much less often than formerly, partly b/c I sense that people were getting tired of the very limited range of my comments, as a homer. I used to make multiple comments after each Falcon game, but now I'd rather just speak up when asked for an opinion (as PN recently did) about the Falcons, or sometimes respond to a more general topic if I think I have something worth saying.

Falconer, time for a confession from me.  The whole reason I'm ticked off is because you have never sent me any free Messiah gear.  I don't want an actual uniform (although I would accept a Messiah jersey with my name on it), but rather more like the training gear players wear to practice, to classes, etc.

For real, I'd love for you to post about your beloved Falcons to your heart's content....and when you say something outrageously insane, then we could go back and forth a round or two which would be an excellent way for me to show off my hard-won maturity.  But I'd also love for you venture out beyond Messiah because you have a great feel for soccer and a keen eye that would have even sharper vision on non-Messiah matters. 

I'm certainly not happy about the season thus far, but I will say that my team sucking has been freeing.  After all these years, there are still so many schools I know almost nothing about and I do enjoy learning stuff about them that will no doubt serve me well at the D3 soccer boards national trivia tournament being held next February 16-19, 2024 in the Bronze Room at the Holiday Inn Express in Waverly, Iowa (and of course hosted by Wartburg College).  With any luck, you and I could meet in the Final and hopefully go to about 5 OTs.

[PaulNewman]

First off, Falconer, like others, I'm only speaking for myself, but... Messiah is a fascinating program, so I pretty much never tire of quality posts about them.

Secondly, I'd be really interested in this sites traffic year over year traffic. I think the perception this place is dying seems a bit over the top (no offense PN). I'm sure d3soccer front page going away is having some kind of effect.

But I also feel like the last 2-3 years there've been some high quality/quantity posters come on board. Just an opinion without any research.

Lol....so you're saying I'm a bit hysterical?  How could that be?!

I give you a ton of credit, because you have worked hard to keep new folks engaged, played moderator at times when fools like myself get a little off the rails and/or too heated, and your play on the field has been steady and consistent.

That said, remove 8-10 of us, and is there really much going on?  Compared to your level of excitement about the site towards the end of last season do you really feel like the site is thriving?

In addition to not having Mr.Right to shake things up good and bad, we also don't have a Ryan Harmanis or our Tufts doctor probably in his first year of residency to provide the highly intelligent, new alum perspective.  Not to mention the circa 2013-2019 version of blooter442 who also was quite prolific and knowledgeable. 

[Freddyfud]

I'm certainly not happy about the season thus far, but I will say that my team sucking has been freeing.  After all these years, there are still so many schools I know almost nothing about and I do enjoy learning stuff about them that will no doubt serve me well at the D3 soccer boards national trivia tournament being held next February 16-19, 2024 in the Bronze Room at the Holiday Inn Express in Waverly, Iowa (and of course hosted by Wartburg College).  With any luck, you and I could meet in the Final and hopefully go to about 5 OTs.

The D3 board trivia tournament is in the Silver Room due to a scheduling conflict.  The Bronze Room was already booked by the SUNYAC thread members for Chinese New Year to celebrate the Year of the Dragon starring the Cortland mascot.

[Gregory Sager]

First off, Falconer, like others, I'm only speaking for myself, but... Messiah is a fascinating program, so I pretty much never tire of quality posts about them.

Secondly, I'd be really interested in this sites traffic year over year traffic. I think the perception this place is dying seems a bit over the top (no offense PN). I'm sure d3soccer front page going away is having some kind of effect.

But I also feel like the last 2-3 years there've been some high quality/quantity posters come on board. Just an opinion without any research.

Lol....so you're saying I'm a bit hysterical?  How could that be?!

I give you a ton of credit, because you have worked hard to keep new folks engaged, played moderator at times when fools like myself get a little off the rails and/or too heated, and your play on the field has been steady and consistent.

That said, remove 8-10 of us, and is there really much going on?  Compared to your level of excitement about the site towards the end of last season do you really feel like the site is thriving?

In addition to not having Mr.Right to shake things up good and bad, we also don't have a Ryan Harmanis or our Tufts doctor probably in his first year of residency to provide the highly intelligent, new alum perspective.  Not to mention the circa 2013-2019 version of blooter442 who also was quite prolific and knowledgeable.

FWIW, the nationally-oriented boards here have roughly the same amount of activity, and only slightly less participation in terms of individual posters, than do the football and men's basketball nationally-oriented boards, and those are by far the two most heavily-trafficked sports on d3boards.com. And nationally-oriented soccer boards like this one do just as well, if not better than, the nationally-oriented boards for baseball -- and that sport, unlike soccer, has a sister site (d3baseball.com) that's part of Pat's d3sports.com family that provides the baseball boards with comprehensive content.

The big complaint among the basketball people is that Twitter ... uh, I mean X ... has stolen much of their thunder, even though it's a platform that degrades conversation and thus really doesn't suffice as a replacement. I don't know if the same thing is true for D3 men's soccer, because I really haven't discovered any conversation at all regarding D3 men's soccer on X. Maybe there is, and I just don't know the secret password or the club handshake.

[Kuiper]

First off, Falconer, like others, I'm only speaking for myself, but... Messiah is a fascinating program, so I pretty much never tire of quality posts about them.

Secondly, I'd be really interested in this sites traffic year over year traffic. I think the perception this place is dying seems a bit over the top (no offense PN). I'm sure d3soccer front page going away is having some kind of effect.

But I also feel like the last 2-3 years there've been some high quality/quantity posters come on board. Just an opinion without any research.

Lol....so you're saying I'm a bit hysterical?  How could that be?!

I give you a ton of credit, because you have worked hard to keep new folks engaged, played moderator at times when fools like myself get a little off the rails and/or too heated, and your play on the field has been steady and consistent.

That said, remove 8-10 of us, and is there really much going on?  Compared to your level of excitement about the site towards the end of last season do you really feel like the site is thriving?

In addition to not having Mr.Right to shake things up good and bad, we also don't have a Ryan Harmanis or our Tufts doctor probably in his first year of residency to provide the highly intelligent, new alum perspective.  Not to mention the circa 2013-2019 version of blooter442 who also was quite prolific and knowledgeable.

The interesting thing is that we're actually getting more of what @Paul Newman asked for in pre-season - conference or region-wide capsule summaries.  In addition to the West Region top-to-bottom type of game reviews and attention that I started doing last year, I'm seeing other people take up the job in the Mid-Atlantic, the Great Lakes, the Sunyac, the Liberty, and probably elsewhere I'm forgetting with posts that summarize and describe the results of the weekend's game and give a sense of the relative ranking of the area.  What we're seeing less of perhaps is the fiercely partisan bantering that @Paul Newman may be missing in places other than perhaps the NESCAC, where there's still less than there used to be.  I, for one, have zero actual ties to any of the teams in the West region.  I'm just a fan of the sport (although I may have a soft sport in my heart for the lovable losers like Cal Tech now that they are actually winning, and for a team like Lewis & Clark, just to root for them to get better because I think they can eventually improve the Northwest Conference by adding another team to the mix with a somewhat more national profile).  So, my posts tend to be more neutral and don't really invite a lot of bantering even if there were lurkers upset with my characterization of games or teams.  For some, this may make the forums better, but for others, it may seem more like a resource and less like a bar full of people watching and arguing over the game in real time.  @Paul Newman can correct me if I'm mistaken, but I think that's what he sees as missing from the Board.

[Hopkins92]

Good take kuiper. We can let PN speak for himself, but from my perspective, I've enjoyed expanding my knowledge beyond the Centennial and that is greatly aided by those who chime in on the regional/conference specific threads.

While mildly entertaining, I don't find a lot of value in posts with fans/alums chirping at each other, but it does add some flavor I suppose.

[WUPHF]

Over 300 views of this thread today.

If you are a regular contributor, but feeling discouraged, people are reading.

[Scot_Fan]

I'm often guilty of being a lurker, partly due to the fact that the school I went to and their conference are not often brought up a ton (though the CCC has already seen quite a number of surprising results...) and also that I am not in the area anymore and don't have much of a pulse on the current dynamics of the teams nearby. But maybe I'll look to hop in a little more prevalently.