NCAA TOURNAMENT 2024

[jknezek]

I'm here regularly, but I'm also on the football and basketball boards and the future of D3 boards. I used to be more involved than I am now, so in some ways I've cut back. But also, the boards have cut back as well. Used to be the ODAC football boards would hardly go a day without a post of some kind in season. Now it can be almost a week with little or nothing. When LaxPower had boards I spent time there as well in the spring, so I'm just a W&L/ODAC athletics follower. Whether I have people to talk to about it or not.

SLU is playing W&L in lax this upcoming season, so you'd have one person to talk about it with!

I also feel like covid/the great d3board outage had an effect on this.  I think some folks just didn't think it was worth the hassle tracking down usernames/passwords again in combination with the weird vibes of d3 athletics that occurred in the season post covid.  Reading old threads from ~15 years ago can be a fun time killer.  It's like stepping into a time machine.  Just read the LL basketball board in the 06/07 season and you'll see a ton of Hamilton posters complaining about Tobin Anderson.  Little did they know...

I hadn't checked the schedule. I keep hoping they will make a southern swing to Sewanee like they did maybe a decade ago, but no such luck. I haven't even thought about the lax season yet. Was just looking at basketball and realizing the men's team is in a rebuilding year but the women should be in good shape if they can adapt to the new coach. It was tough last year when our final four men's soccer coach and elite eight women's basketball coaches both left!

[Hopkins92]

Another interesting question...

Some of us are here day and night every day or almost every day. I'm sure some of us would deny that on the stand, but there are data so just embrace it.

But wtf are we doing? Especially when no one is posting and during stretches where there are no posts for days?  Just staring at the threads unchanged and hitting refresh over and over and over? Like what are we looking at? How will I explain my behavior to future generations?

1) I began posting regularly on BigSoccer in the late 90s. (I know I've written this here before, but just a refresher.) I was actually a moderator on the Yanks Abroad thread (this was back before that was even a common thing. We were following dudes in the third division of Swedish soccer ffs.) I made actual real, long-term friends over there and attended 2 weddings from folks I met at that forum. The point here is that posting and interacting on message boards became a part of my daily routine.

2) I now have another place that I've been posting on regularly for the last 15 years. Met some of those guys, too, especially during the pandemic when we'd do Zoom meetups. We still get online together for trivia matches and the like.

3) I stop by here at least once a day, many more times than that during the heart of the season. It gets pretty quiet in here during the off-season, so it's a pretty easy thing to just check of there's anything new and then pop back out.

4) One thing this particular board might do to create more of a community is to post more OT threads. That gets tricky, because things get dicey when politics or other social stuff comes up. But that keeps folks coming back during the quiet months, for sure.

[Hopkins92]

Back when the board seemed like it was affiliated with D3soccer.com, and before I learned otherwise but never accepted, I relied on (in my own mind) "oh, I'm buried deep in the archives figuring out who Brandeis beat in the 2nd round in 1983" or memorizing the list of national champs and finalists or checking out the scoreboard. 

To hear it's dying -- and I agree -- makes me feel like we are most nobly specialists in palliative care...at the bedside...and waiting.

Here's the thing, though... There've been discussions about this place "dying" since before COVID.

I (obviously) don't have the analytics, but... is it, really?

When I checked on this board during one of the F4 matches the active users list was dozens of folks. I didn't think to screen cap it or even to count it up, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that.

I mean, it's not like those numbers have anything to do with actually watching the matches, as that is obviously happening on another site.

We are sitting in a thread that was started a few weeks ago and is now almost 80 pages long.

(SMy MIL has been warning that my FIL was going to pass over some ailment or another for close to 20 years. He's still kicking, and so is this board!)

[PaulNewman]

Hop92, if I could have your optimism and your intelligence I could accomplish some things.

Two discrete issues....alleged death of the site...and what folks are looking at when they are here all day and nothing is happening.

Taking those in reverse, I'm not so much referring to "healthy" posters like yourself who routinely check in once or twice a day and then are more active, but judiciously so, during high activity periods. I'm literally asking what folks like myself and others are doing spending literally hours day and night when absolutely nothing is being posted. Studying trends from old threads could work, as stlawus suggested.

Regarding death, there is no question in my mind that participation is way down, and probably for all the reasons people have noted (COVID, lost season, lost site before re-emerging, older crowd using old platforms, anxiety about jumping in, etc).  There were times when literally hundreds were online at the same time....both registrants and guests.  Even in the middle of this season, there would be days with almost nothing. Some of the more active folks have exited or have severely curtailed their participation (Sager, Flying Weasel, Mr.Right, Flounder, blooter, D4pace, Harmanis, Falconer, the Loras crew, a few Calvin posters, couple of Chicago supporters, etc, etc).

Anyway, I managed when there was no board, as did everyone else, and I'm not complaining in the sense of really caring what happens but I really don't. Now I turn to Celtics and UK bball (just got huge win on road at Gonzaga and have an inspirational and exciting new coach), and my emerging competitive pickleball game with a goal of making at least the Elite 8 of the 65+ Pickleball National Championship.

At any rate, this theme was really a side note on folks complaining about their already media-heavy teams not commanding even more attention...and I wanted them to acknowledge that they themselves have little interest beyond their own programs....so why should I give them attention even though I do? Bandwidth aside, there are folks who are here all day and night even though often not posting much themselves and I suppose waiting to see if anyone posts anything positive or negative about their squad.

As for beating the odds, my mother was diagnosed with leukemia 30+ years ago around age 55.  I'm headed to Greensboro Wednesday to celebrate her 89th birthday. Walks 3 miles a day, has all of her faculties, and could be working full-time. She engages in what I term 'competitive living.'

[EnmoreCat]

Apropos of nothing....I've got 6, maybe 7 Amherst College t-shirts.

If anyone wants any or all, they're free...and I'll cover the postage and handling.

A few are L and a few are XL.

That does make me feel a little uncomfortable, perhaps it's the shade of purple...😀

[PaulNewman]

Apropos of nothing....I've got 6, maybe 7 Amherst College t-shirts.

If anyone wants any or all, they're free...and I'll cover the postage and handling.

A few are L and a few are XL.

That does make me feel a little uncomfortable, perhaps it's the shade of purple...😀

I'm guessing you are an extremely fit XXL...but four of them have never been touched and came directly from the Amherst College Bookstore and a little emerging company called Amazon.

[EnmoreCat]

Apropos of nothing....I've got 6, maybe 7 Amherst College t-shirts.

If anyone wants any or all, they're free...and I'll cover the postage and handling.

A few are L and a few are XL.

That does make me feel a little uncomfortable, perhaps it's the shade of purple...😀

I'm guessing you are an extremely fit XXL...but four of them have never been touched and came directly from the Amherst College Bookstore and a little emerging company called Amazon.

Bang on the money, Paul Newman, technically I may be better described as Enmore BigCat, especially if I started regularly imbibing coffee stouts.

The exciting news for me at least is that I am not far from Downtown Enmore and will be re-watching the final on a big screen later today.  The real treat will be when EnmoreKitten returns at the end of the week and we all get to watch together.

[PaulNewman]

Btw, I've tried to log on as just a guest several times and the site won't seem to let me.  But then I see there are frequently "guests viewing" (like 4 at latest checkand often far more).  I would prefer to have the guest option available.  Any technological insights?

[PaulNewman]

Apropos of nothing....I've got 6, maybe 7 Amherst College t-shirts.

If anyone wants any or all, they're free...and I'll cover the postage and handling.

A few are L and a few are XL.

That does make me feel a little uncomfortable, perhaps it's the shade of purple...😀

I'm guessing you are an extremely fit XXL...but four of them have never been touched and came directly from the Amherst College Bookstore and a little emerging company called Amazon.

Bang on the money, Paul Newman, technically I may be better described as Enmore BigCat, especially if I started regularly imbibing coffee stouts.

The exciting news for me at least is that I am not far from Downtown Enmore and will be re-watching the final on a big screen later today.  The real treat will be when EnmoreKitten returns at the end of the week and we all get to watch together.

Lol...how many times do you reckon you and the Kitten will watch his PK?

Wanna see my kid's walk-off GW in OT2 versus Denison in 2014 to keep the then #2 Lords unblemished at 12-0-0?

[jknezek]

Btw, I've tried to log on as just a guest several times and the site won't seem to let me.  But then I see there are frequently "guests viewing" (like 4 at latest checkand often far more).  I would prefer to have the guest option available.  Any technological insights?

Try using incognito mode on your browser

[Freddyfud]

One project I'm contemplating this off-season is to start a thread on Recruiting that includes both general information and a lot of sub-threads where parents can discuss specific issues.  Those parents are really operating in the dark and they hear from club coaches and recruiting services who offer advice that is not completely disinterested.  They could use some information from people who have been there.  If successfully plugged by people outside of this form, it might attract parents to this site who will stay because there is nowhere else where they might see discussion of their kid's team and it might attract alums and fans who could put in a good word for their teams to prospective recruits or at least dispel some myths.  It's also a nice place to cross-post SimpleCoach's coach-to-coach interviews, which are a great way to hear how a school sells itself and fields of dreams videos, which is the next best thing to going to see a school in person if you're just starting your search.  If I do get that going, hope people will chime in.  It's an excuse to check in during the offseason!

As someone who joined a little over a year ago while on the recruiting trail at the time I might applaud this.  As someone who has now been here for a little over a year this might scare the sh$t out of me.*  Club coaches and recruiting services may be disinterested but are generally not anonymous.  You could claim caveat emptor but I would still be afraid of unfavorable impressions, intentional or not. 

You could make it simple though.  One page with large font entitled "The best way to find a suitable program for your son or daughter is to actually visit and get to know as much as you can about the school and the program from the people who are actually there." 

Then in smaller font below you could put "Or you can try your best with this" and add a link to the NESCAC board.

*To be fair several here were generous and offered help.  Notably they respected the journey and decisions are personal.

[Freddyfud]

Another interesting question...

Some of us are here day and night every day or almost every day. I'm sure some of us would deny that on the stand, but there are data so just embrace it.

But wtf are we doing? Especially when no one is posting and during stretches where there are no posts for days?  Just staring at the threads unchanged and hitting refresh over and over and over? Like what are we looking at? How will I explain my behavior to future generations?

Groundhog Day for me.  I come for the sabbatical watch and stay for the SKUD sarcasm.

I took the over on the number of sabbatical days and lost.  What was I thinking? 

[Kuiper]

One project I'm contemplating this off-season is to start a thread on Recruiting that includes both general information and a lot of sub-threads where parents can discuss specific issues.  Those parents are really operating in the dark and they hear from club coaches and recruiting services who offer advice that is not completely disinterested.  They could use some information from people who have been there.  If successfully plugged by people outside of this form, it might attract parents to this site who will stay because there is nowhere else where they might see discussion of their kid's team and it might attract alums and fans who could put in a good word for their teams to prospective recruits or at least dispel some myths.  It's also a nice place to cross-post SimpleCoach's coach-to-coach interviews, which are a great way to hear how a school sells itself and fields of dreams videos, which is the next best thing to going to see a school in person if you're just starting your search.  If I do get that going, hope people will chime in.  It's an excuse to check in during the offseason!

As someone who joined a little over a year ago while on the recruiting trail at the time I might applaud this.  As someone who has now been here for a little over a year this might scare the sh$t out of me.*  Club coaches and recruiting services may be disinterested but are generally not anonymous.  You could claim caveat emptor but I would still be afraid of unfavorable impressions, intentional or not. 

You could make it simple though.  One page with large font entitled "The best way to find a suitable program for your son or daughter is to actually visit and get to know as much as you can about the school and the program from the people who are actually there." 

Then in smaller font below you could put "Or you can try your best with this" and add a link to the NESCAC board.

*To be fair several here were generous and offered help.  Notably they respected the journey and decisions are personal.

Fair point, although I tend to think that keeping a "Recruiting 101" thread somewhere on the first page might avoid having someone wander into a discussion about some long-held grievance as their first introduction to the boards.  My sense is that most people are pretty generous to someone identifying themselves as a prospective parent. I would be more focused on process, criteria, and general information.  Frankly, the "Future of DIII thread" on the main board homepage is much scarier than the NESCAC thread (and more useful)!

[SKUD]

My 3 obvious points for that thread when someone starts it:

1. The student athlete must self-advocate and the parent should not be the point of contact.

2. Student should not be scared to ask the coach where they stand and where they rank in the recruiting class.  Or even if they are still under consideration.

Forgot one
3. without their sport. Would they be happy on that campus?

[Little Giant 89]

Hopkins, I loved the BigSoccer boards.  I started lurking about there when my daughter started playing club ball.  When her career ended my lurking did as well.  I found the boards for professional clubs on BigSoccer to be little more than troll caves.

I travel by this board at least daily.  Part of it is my OCD.  Part of it is that I work for and am a rabid supporter of my alma mater.  Always interested to see if anything pops about my Little Giants, the hated dpu, or the North Coast.

The work piece is part of why I keep as quiet as I do.  Even in this relatively anonymous form I would hate for one of our student-athletes or (far more likely) his parents to see some bozo associated with the College on a message board talking about what a crap midfielder he is.

Beyond that, I do like to take in the opinions of others on our particular version of the beautiful game.  Like someone else mentioned, I usually stick to the lurking as I don't consider having watched the highlights, or a YouTube clip of a controversial call to be a basis for my amateur opinion on a matter.

All of which is to say that I'll be around for as long as the powers that be keep this board up and running.