December 02, 2003

Whine mode= On
Sorry to preempt the cool interview thread below, but I thought I'd ask this again: Is it possible to change the email address for user 15 (hincandenza) to the same as my own (hincandenza@hotmail.com)? I'm not sure why it wouldn't be that already (unless it is, and the email-your-password feature doesn't work), but it might have been set up as an @rivals.com address, a now defunct dot-com I worked for back in the day; in any event, it'd allow me to retrieve my old account's password and start logging in as that one.

And possibly more difficult, how hard would it be to change comments listed as from user 599 to being from user 15? I assume from the link syntax and existence of features like the post counts on the user profile page that the SpoFi site is stored in mysql or something like that, and each thread is an entry in a table, with comments being a separate table that lists the comment ID, a linking thread ID, a posting userID and a datetime stamp, such that each page is dynamically built out of the tables of threads and comments; in which case a simple SQL update query could alter those 599's to 15's.

It's just that I once again long to be my old self- this "Hal Incandenza" shell, it never has fit quite right. :)
Whine mode= Off





posted by hincandenza to navel gazing at 11:55 PM - 13 comments

The e-mail address for user 15 is your hotmail.com address. The SportsFilter database is currently Microsoft SQL Server rather than MySQL. Some of the site overlords have been puttering around with a database client for changes like this, but I don't know how far they've gotten with it yet.

posted by rcade at 07:10 AM on December 03, 2003

You used to work for rivals? wacky.

posted by tieguy at 08:32 AM on December 03, 2003

HOLY SHIT! Was it necessary for a full post about YOUR problem? Why not just email the owners of this site?! Good lord!

posted by StarFucker at 11:16 AM on December 03, 2003

Maybe someone should tell Rivals they're defunct, as they seem to be still running their network. (They're running it like shit btw, so if you could go back and sort it out Hal I'd be most grateful).

posted by squealy at 11:44 AM on December 03, 2003

Where is the love, SF? Where is the love?

posted by worldcup2002 at 11:54 AM on December 03, 2003

Jeepers criminy, SF- sorry to let you down!! Weird- the forgotten password email never shows up. Well- it's not that critical- just woulda been nice. squealy, tieguy: to recap the sordid history, if'n you're at all interested. Yep, I used to run part of their network. rivals.com/rival networks went down the tubes, and Softbank et al who had been funding that org (and the money in turn getting blown on wasteful expenditures, like every other dot-com) pulled the plug. The company assets were sold off piecemeal. We were all basically laid off in April of 2001, though I was then re-hired for a few months as a contractor for some liquidating organization that helped break down the assets of the company, such as selling off the equipment, etc (which is why I currently have a dual 800MHz as my desktop, along with a 21" monitor, for the low low price of $300 used!). The UK and JP variants had already been splintered off as separate long before then, so I think the rivals.net continues for UK content. The main asset, the subscriber base and the rivals.com brand was sold off, bought by Alliance Sports (see some history here: http://www.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=36178) and thus continued as rivals.com. Some of the devs and network guys who worked to build the original rivals then turned around and built out http://www.theinsiders.com

posted by hincandenza at 12:03 AM on December 04, 2003

Thanks for all that info Hal. I hope ya get your original ID back.

posted by squealy at 04:45 AM on December 04, 2003

Hal, was rivals.com the place started by Gretzky and Elway and some other pro athlete? Any idea how much they lost on the deal?

posted by vito90 at 10:06 AM on December 04, 2003

Gretzky and Elway? Are you sure you're not thinking of mullets.com?

posted by lilnemo at 02:13 PM on December 04, 2003

Elway has never sported a mullet. Like Pete Rose, he's a Prince Valiant/Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer man.

posted by rcade at 04:22 PM on December 04, 2003

vito, what was that for? three greats from three sports pushing ______? Arg!

posted by garfield at 04:43 PM on December 04, 2003

vito: you're thinking of MVP.com. Rivals.com wasn't supposed to be "official", it was the idea of publishing independent content (like a blogspot for sports fans). It's big catch was insider and up-to-the-minute info on draft days, etc. The company was founded by Jim Heckman, who used to run the UW Huskies fan magazine, but about 10 years or so ago he was I believe wrapped up in the trying to persuade players to come to the UW during their recruiting violation period. It's a shame- in its prime, it was a great site, and had a lot of loyal readers. Just didn't have much of that, what do you call it, money stuff. :)

posted by hincandenza at 12:11 AM on December 05, 2003

Thanks, Hal...yeah MVP.com was what I was thinking of...

posted by vito90 at 08:48 AM on December 05, 2003

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