Before the season kicks off tomorrow in Philly, I just wanted to throw out some admin stuff related to the site and some ideas about how we're hoping to make the site even better in 09/10.
One of the best parts about blogging for Sports Blog Nation is the platform itself--the gang at SBN HQ have put together a terrific system that makes it ridiculously easy to share information, giving everyone a chance to have their opinions heard. Unfortunately, we've often been pretty lazy about encouraging its use and explaining everything you can do with it. That's our bad, and this year we want to put more of an emphasis on hearing what YOU have to say. Here's how:
Sign up for an account. There are lots of ways for you to interact with us, and most of it starts with signing up for an SBN user account. It's free, you won't get spammed, and you can even use your Yahoo! or OpenID account to do it. With it you can comment on posts as well as write your own stories (FanPosts) and posts links (FanShots) on hundreds of SBN blogs--including our in-state friends at Brew Crew Ball, Acme Packing Company, and Bucky's 5th Quarter.
Game Threads. For every game we'll try to have a preview (which we'll call a "Game Thread") up at least a few hours in advance, with up-to-date info on lineups, stats (off/def efficiency, pace, rebound rates), etc. That's what we've been doing for the past couple years, so no change there. If you have ideas for other things you'd like to see, just give us a shout.
This year we're also hoping to encourage more in-game commenting. Because priceless moments--you know, a Dan Gadzuric jumper, a smile from Scott Skiles--are more fun when you share it with other people, right? So stop on by as much as you want and let us know what you're thinking. SBN's comment threads also update automatically, so you don't even need to refresh. Score.
Twitter. I mentioned we had an account at twitter.com/brewhoop a long time ago, but only in the last couple months have I started to actually use it a bit. Aside from my inane banter, I also update our Twitter feed everytime we post a new story.
FanPosts and FanShots. I'm not sure we've ever explained this well, but here goes: FanPosts are the blog within a blog--anytime you have some thoughts that don't relate to a story that's already up, go ahead and put it in a FanPost. You can also throw a poll in.
FanShots are meant for links--to latebreaking news, funny/cool videos, or interesting stories you find. You can also throw in your two cents.
Contact us. If you have any other ideas or comments, by all means drop us an email (brewhoop(at)gmail.com), a tweet, or a comment.