11/05/24
June 08, 2002
I was randomly thinking the other day about SpoFi. I thought, why bother going to ESPN.com when I could come here for the scores and threads discussing issues. Why bother going to CNNSI when I could come here and get the latest scoops. Personally, I would like nothing more than to have SpoFi as my one-stop sports site. All the scores, some commentary, in addition to the columns that already exist would make this site very thorough. It it possible?
posted by BlueTrain to navel gazing at 03:53 PM - 10 comments
By which I mean we need a stronger user base here in order to get the degree of coverage and discussion that we're looking for. This site is great, and it will only get greater if more users join (hopefully). With a larger user base, though, there will arise a need for stricter categorization. I like to think of myself as a sports afficionado, but I know I'm only a dabbler. For example, I don't give a good got-damn about football or college basketball, but I know a lot of people do give a good got-damn (or more than one got-damn) about those sports. So we'll need to be able to refine our front-page displays to show only the sports we're interested in. Of course, this only matters if there are 40 FPP's a day. Right now, we're far from that. So yeah, more users please. The big-name sites are pretty bland, although occasionally the editorials are very good. Nobody is better for hockey than the analysts at TSN, and we'd have a hard time competing with that here, for example. But SpoFi could become one of the "major players" if we get enough users here.
posted by Succa at 01:01 AM on June 09, 2002
Personally, I don't want to see sportsfilter become meta^H^H^H^Hnews^H^H^H^Hmetafilter. I read metafilter less and less now because 9/10ths of it I've already seen elsewhere; that ratio used to be 1/10th. I don't want sportsfilter to be the same way.
posted by tieguy at 01:41 PM on June 09, 2002
Where would you get the scores and stats from though? I've yet to see a free feed.
posted by yerfatma at 08:25 PM on June 09, 2002
Where would you get the scores and stats from though? seems like any service that displays it's score data in a str8 (and stable) html format could be easily parsed and stored in the spofi DB (pretty much legally too). i wonder, tho, whether the spofi commissioners are willing to devote the necessary system resources to a score ticker...prolly be quite a load.
posted by danostuporstar at 08:41 AM on June 10, 2002
Amen, tieguy...MeFi has pretty much stunk since Sep. 11, unfortunately. And I'd hate to see this site turn in to just a regurgitation of ESPN.com/CNNSI.com links. Posts to good stuff from regional (NESN.com, ChicagoSports.com, etc.) sites and smaller papers are much better IMHO. As for scores and whatnot, I think that it wouldn't be worth the effort. SpoFi isn't going to replace ESPN.com, so it shouldn't try. Let's stick to inisghtful analysis and opinions rather than AP sports news.
posted by Conquistador at 11:28 PM on June 10, 2002
I think the opposite, actually. I'd rather continue going to espn/cnnsi/sportsline for stats & scores, because it's hopeless to try and replicate that level of service. Spofi should be for the stories that fly under the radar, or for the perspectives & takes on big stories that the big boys aren't talking about. Unless Owillis can hire Rob Neyer full time.
posted by djacobs at 10:37 AM on June 11, 2002
oh, I'd find it very convenient if there was a useful links section that went to scores and the like but that's just because I'm lazy. Are there any RSS feeds that sportsfilter could use?
posted by pastepotpete at 10:51 AM on June 11, 2002
Moreover has a ton. This is actually something I'm working on (off and on) for my site. The code's in PHP, but ColdFusion has similar RSS/WDDX support. It's pretty easy to get a headline list together, but it's hard to see where it fits into SportsFilter.
posted by yerfatma at 11:55 AM on June 11, 2002
incorporating news headlines (perhaps akin to the way it's done at the morning news) along side the regular posts would be possible, but it would probably require a redesign of the site since you wouldn't want to mix them in with the regular posts and you'd want to keep the columns/site news bar that's currently there. I don't know if it would be worth it or not. speaking of owillis. where's he been? I suppose he'll be back when the (american) football season starts.
posted by jnthnjng at 09:04 AM on June 12, 2002
Yes. More users please.