11/05/24
May 29, 2006
Movin' On Up: SportsFilter grew so quickly at the end of the NFL season that it ran up $500 in unanticipated bandwidth charges, so we've moved to a dedicated server. (More news inside)
posted by rcade to navel gazing at 08:07 AM - 36 comments
This site began in 2002 with seven founders running code created by Matt Haughey of MetaFilter. Over time, as the traffic grew and the workload required to run the site increased, we consolidated ownership to the three founders most involved in the site: Gary Ryan, Kirk Franklin and myself. Gary takes the lead on administrative and editorial duties; Kirk's the main web designer; and I handle server administration, programming, accounting and taxes. The new server's online and should go live this week after a few remaining bugs are squashed, giving us the space to restore archived content and improve the site performance. When that's complete, we're going to add better administrative tools to deal with abusive users and flamewars and implement some long-requested features that have been waiting on a server move. SportsFilter's a ColdFusion 7 site, so if any members have experience developing in that environment, we could use some of your expertise.
posted by rcade at 08:26 AM on May 29, 2006
rcade, where is the link for those of us who don't have Cold Fusion skills to kick back a few $$?
posted by smithers at 08:41 AM on May 29, 2006
Thanks for the offer, smithers. Users saved this site a couple years ago by pitching in funds. We dropped the donations link when SportsFilter became self-supporting through ad revenue.
posted by rcade at 08:45 AM on May 29, 2006
Are the ads paying off that unexpected $500 hit? If not, I don't mind giving a few more bucks to y'all.
posted by NoMich at 10:37 AM on May 29, 2006
CFDynamics agreed to waive the charge if we upgraded to a dedicated server. We're moving to their dedicated basic package.
posted by rcade at 10:52 AM on May 29, 2006
Wow. Hi-tech. Just an opportunity to say thanks to your three tireless advocates of all things SpoFi. You guys rock. (SpoFi is like the Simpsons to me - I can't remember where I went on the net before I signed up here. Much like I can't remember what I watched on TV before the Simpsons.)
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 11:05 AM on May 29, 2006
Little fish, big dreams.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 02:00 PM on May 29, 2006
rcade, When will you have more on the new "administrative tools" and such?
posted by everett at 02:45 PM on May 29, 2006
Thanks for all you do guys.
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 03:50 PM on May 29, 2006
Me luv you long time!
posted by wingnut4life at 04:06 PM on May 29, 2006
I have more ColdFusion experience than I would care to admit, but it was all on 4 & 5. Happy to help if there's something needs doing, with the understanding that any code checkins would be accompanied by a blue streak of cursing about CF.
posted by yerfatma at 05:09 PM on May 29, 2006
I think I remember rcade saying the site would move to PHP/MySQL. Would you care to explain the non-switch? I'm sure you'd get a lot more free codemonkey-hours with PHP than ColdFusion.
posted by qbert72 at 08:06 PM on May 29, 2006
Whew. Thanks for keeping it going, Pantheon. So, am I to understand, it's not like seven or eight of you now? Just three? Because then, the Pantheon may be too big a name. We might need to rename you guys ... The Tantastic Trio! The Triple Threat! The Three Spooges! The Three Metasketeers! The Trey! The Three. Three. Erm ... The Panthreeon! YEAAAAAH!
posted by worldcup2002 at 08:23 PM on May 29, 2006
I think I remember rcade saying the site would move to PHP/MySQL. Would you care to explain the non-switch? I decided to give ColdFusion another try to avoid the bandwidth charge and stop dealing with conversion hassles. Moving from Windows/ColdFusion/SQL Server to Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP was a lot more time consuming than I anticipated.
posted by rcade at 09:21 PM on May 29, 2006
So, am I to understand, it's not like seven or eight of you now? Just three? Yes, only the strong survive, or is that the stupid? But yes, three.
posted by justgary at 09:56 PM on May 29, 2006
*lights a maroon and gold candle for owillis*
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:11 PM on May 29, 2006
Oliver's filtering the future of America's system of government now, Ufez.
posted by rcade at 12:06 AM on May 30, 2006
*lights a prayer candle for owillis*
posted by chicobangs at 03:26 AM on May 30, 2006
I'll add my thanks to the Trio of AweZ0me™ for their work on SpoFi.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 09:20 AM on May 30, 2006
Like Weedy I can't remember where I went before SportsFilter, unlike Weedy however I haven't been here as long. So its either that I have bad memory loss or I didn't surf the net. Anyway, thanks to justgary, kirk, and rcade for managing this site long enough for me to find it.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 12:25 PM on May 30, 2006
Count me in on the thanks and curious about this 2.0 also. To show you how serious I am about my gratitude, I'm naming my first child Garkircade. It's beautiful for either a boy or a girl. I've traced its origin back to Germany and its pronounced like a cat coughing up a hairball. Gorgeous.
posted by jerseygirl at 12:32 PM on May 30, 2006
To show you how serious I am about my gratitude, I'm naming my first child Garkircade. Shouldn't this be a decision we both make?
posted by The_Black_Hand at 01:05 PM on May 30, 2006
Wow, so you guys are like both sports fans and nerds? Seriously, thanks for everything. This is still the best sports site on the web.
posted by wfrazerjr at 01:51 PM on May 30, 2006
Shouldn't this be a decision we both make? posted by The_Black_Hand at 1:05 PM CDT on May 30 But, I was just going to sue you for child support!
posted by jerseygirl at 03:58 PM on May 30, 2006
To show you how serious I am about my gratitude, I'm naming my first child Garkircade. I was hoping for baby manny.
posted by justgary at 04:56 PM on May 30, 2006
That's pretty interesting to know that rcade, kirkaracha and justgary have different jobs here. And also that they have full names.
posted by Samsonov14 at 05:55 PM on May 30, 2006
Thanks guys for having this site. I am not sure how complete my day would be if I didn't visit spofi. Some people here are completely aggrevating but definately good for a bloodpressure rise to make sure I am still alive. I love all that I learn and have actually had my opinions change on things I never thought I would. Gary, you were the first person I actually got into a disagreement with on this site and I throughly enjoyed it. I love all the great stats that we get on this site and have to admit I use them on my friends all the time. Thanks to all of you stat geeks for making this easy for me. Sometimes there is alot of crap to weed through and you guys sure do have your work cut out for you but you do a great job of managing this site and thanks again for doing so! *quietly goes back in corner and secretly enjoys reading the Bonds thread.
posted by skydivemom at 06:43 PM on May 30, 2006
secretly enjoys reading the Bonds thread Pervert.
posted by Amateur at 09:12 PM on May 30, 2006
Gary, you were the first person I actually got into a disagreement with on this site and I throughly enjoyed it. I remember, and being such a momma's boy I kept feeling bad about arguing with you ;) Moms are always right.
posted by justgary at 12:54 AM on May 31, 2006
*quietly goes back in corner and secretly enjoys reading the Bonds thread. Which thread is that? He's been mentioned in about 10 of them, only 4 of the original discussions were actually ABOUT Bonds.
posted by grum@work at 06:52 AM on May 31, 2006
So, before we got off topic, we were talking about Barry... But, I was just going to sue you for child support! Come on, pookie, any child with our genes is never going to need support. He/she will be Fortune 500 when he/she strolls out of the womb.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 07:10 AM on May 31, 2006
Moms are always right. Ha!
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 07:47 PM on May 31, 2006
Anyway, thanks to justgary, kirk, and rcade for managing this site long enough for me to find it. Add me to the list of thankful web surfers. You guys rock! So in sporting terms, is this upgrade like going from the AHL to the NHL? Or is it more like going from JV to Varsity?
posted by MrFrisby at 06:51 PM on June 01, 2006
Well now isn't this quite the lovely little group hug! Seriously thanks to the three of you for keeping this place up and running for all of us to enjoy daily. I don't know where I would go to get my sports fix without it. Spofi is the best on the net!
posted by jojomfd1 at 12:48 AM on June 02, 2006
Well now isn't this quite the lovely little group hug! To the owner of the hand that is resting on my crotch ... what hand cream do you use?
posted by wfrazerjr at 09:12 AM on June 02, 2006
Don't keep me waiting!