Recent Locker Room Comments by insomnyuk

The Member Formerly Known as Terrapin

Now we just need to figure out a way to increase the user base.

posted by insomnyuk at 05:53 PM on January 20, 2012

Why did the Jay Mariotti post get deleted?

Oh yeah, duh. Brain fart. rcade you can delete this.

posted by insomnyuk at 04:09 PM on May 14, 2011

Spammers in the Works!

Remember that guy posting those crappy flash videos several years ago? I dissed him on this site and he found my phone number via AIM, and then posted a bunch of ads on Craigslist for free stuff using my phone number. They can't be as bad as him.

posted by insomnyuk at 08:26 PM on April 06, 2011

SportsFilter Has 2.37 Million RSS Subscribers

User registration with a valid email address can be a pretty high barrier to entry. I like Joel Sposky's take on the whole thing, but I think the barrier to entry is good. However, perhaps a script should be used where new users who post in ALLCAPS are IP-banned automatically, or given an intelligence test that requires knowledge of the shift key.

posted by insomnyuk at 03:44 AM on October 20, 2007

dns issue

Still getting the error here.

posted by insomnyuk at 08:26 AM on August 07, 2007

Weird Technical Issue

Yes, DrJohnEvans, it's exactly like that.

posted by insomnyuk at 07:35 AM on July 09, 2007

Weird Technical Issue

We’re sorry, but there was a server error. We’ll try to fix it as soon as we can. Please try again later. Diagnostics Variable ISANADMIN is undefined. The error occurred on line 14.

posted by insomnyuk at 04:20 PM on July 07, 2007

Link Dump

Yes, the Blue Jackets almost suck this much.

posted by insomnyuk at 12:25 PM on March 29, 2007

Thanks for closing the Hardaway thread...

I would like to see lil_brown_bat put a column up on this topic - it might provide some perspective that was sorely missing from the thread. I'm not sorry I posted that link, I thought Hardaway's comments were relevant and probably representative of many athletes, I just didn't expect to see that level of stupidity and vitriol on SpoFi, but then again, I haven't been commenting/reading threads here very much, fwiw.

posted by insomnyuk at 08:35 AM on February 16, 2007

RICKY WILLIAMS

Hey ledzep69 did you know if you type your password into a message it looks like ***** to other users? Admins, Please close new user registration. Sportsfilter has gotten too dumb. LEDZEP69 lol.

posted by insomnyuk at 03:41 AM on February 20, 2006

Gmail invites and new CD swap?

I still owe 3 discs. They will be sent ... eventually!

posted by insomnyuk at 09:22 PM on October 21, 2004

SpoFi CD Swap Update

Embarassingly, I am still working on my swap, but so far I am thoroughly enjoying what I've received (thanks samsonov and sashae). I still haven't settled on what I want to put on it, exactly. I will send a cd in, though.

posted by insomnyuk at 03:49 AM on July 18, 2004

Server funded

I VOTE YES. Sorry Jessamyn but this here's a boys zone :)

posted by insomnyuk at 03:10 PM on July 06, 2004

SpoFi CD Swap update

Ok, my swap isn't done yet, I still have 2 hours of music that I am trying to pare down, as well as working full time and various other projects. Soon tho, I shall be finished.

posted by insomnyuk at 12:18 AM on June 30, 2004

I for one love the new icon and horizontal line, I have been whining about somebody doing this kind of thing too, and I think it's sweet that someone actually did it. It looks good and helps to make the front page easier to understand.

posted by insomnyuk at 09:57 AM on June 15, 2004

Some suggestions. 1) Just put a little list next to the post box with the HTML tags people can use in their posts (for the uninitiated or people new to HTML who just wanna make a link). This would be in lieu of blogger-style buttons which let people add links and formatting easily, which would be the preference. 2) More 'community' features. Namely, if there was a place on our user profile to post a 60 pixel by 60 pixel image, that would be kind of fun and a clear departure from MetaFilter. This could get really complicated, so I'll leave it at that. 3) Templates: a slightly modified layout would be nice. Basically, better visual cues for readers to tell when a new post is starting on the page. To someone unfamiliar with this style, the front page of sportsfilter, and comment pages, can look like one kind of incoherent run-on. There are probably a lot of people with great sports knowledge that just hit the back button after 20 seconds of looking at the page and not being able to immediately figure out what it's supposed to be about. 4) Tagline: in line with user experience, a nice, snappy description or sensible tagline next to the sportsfilter logo (esp. on the first page) would be a good clue to new visitors of this site what it's supposed to be about. 5) Recruiting: MetaFilter provided a good early pool of people to recruit for this site, but clearly, the cross-section of MeFites into sports has been tapped out (as a slow rise in membership has indicated). If every really active member got a friend to join, we could substantially increase, well, that would be cool. This of course requires us to look at a few things. Do we want more new members? I say yes, the more people, the more interesting things we will see about sports. The thing is, so many people are members of highly specialized web groups (read: messageboards). The regulars on a sports messageboard typically don't blog or have any connection to the world most of the SpoFi or MeFi ilk are familiar with. The classic example is my college roommate, who is a fucking nutcase Hoosier fan. He spends hours on Peegs and I can't convince him to add a site to his sports reading regimen. I guess it's the only thing that fits when you want to talk about Hoosier basketball at 2 am during the off-season.

posted by insomnyuk at 09:53 AM on June 08, 2004

Spofi Chat! You should be able to drag this link to your links toolbar or add it to your favorites. Clicking it will launch your IRC client, connect you, and drop you into the channel. But you will still need to download and install an IRC client for it to work. ChatZilla is an easy one that installs as a plug-in for the Mozilla browsers. If there is going to be a dedicated page on sportsfilter.com that all depends on the Founders putting it up.

posted by insomnyuk at 05:38 PM on June 07, 2004

Grum, you cannot resist the power of the dark side! squealy, I will test something like that out at home where I can actually connect to IRC. Oh, and Game 7 will definitely be under discussion on #spofi, since the beer is always cheaper at home.

posted by insomnyuk at 04:33 PM on June 07, 2004

If you want to join up, first get an IRC client. There are lots of clients for every platform, a few good ones include mIRC, BitchX, and IRCLe. Then, join the server irc.turlyming.com and then join channel spofi example, in the IRC program type /join #spofi Hope to see you there!

posted by insomnyuk at 08:59 PM on June 06, 2004

Sportsfilter: We're Open 24 Hours a Day and We Don't Card

posted by insomnyuk at 08:33 AM on May 06, 2004

Blue Jackets 2, Wild 1 (Anders Eriksson scored in OT for the win). Before that I saw the Bengals sadly defeated by the Browns in Cincinnati for the last game of the season. Also, a big drunken brawl broke out in my section. Exciting times, that. And before that I saw the Jackets play in October and slaughter the Rangers 5-0.

posted by insomnyuk at 10:32 AM on February 05, 2004

The floodgates have been opened (and I just started doing sports reporting at school)

posted by insomnyuk at 08:59 PM on September 03, 2002

That's it Samsonov, it's time to throw down! Everybody knows Mats Sundin is the best... aww, who the hell am I kidding (*cries self to sleep*)

posted by insomnyuk at 03:07 PM on August 17, 2002

I don't mind misspellings in comments, but misspellings in posts are particularly bad as they appear on the front page and look rather unprofessional. Not that this is a profession or anything, I'm just in favor of looking sharp, you know.

posted by insomnyuk at 08:52 AM on August 08, 2002

and now because I post messages when I'm drunk I understand samsonov, we all do it occasionally :)

posted by insomnyuk at 08:39 PM on July 25, 2002

I guess I'm a demi-athiest. :P

posted by insomnyuk at 03:33 PM on July 25, 2002

Does someone want to set up a free private league on Yahoo?

posted by insomnyuk at 10:17 AM on July 19, 2002

Well, their traffic only counts people on Windows machines with IE with the Alexa toolbar installed... so obviously its a biased demographic.

posted by insomnyuk at 09:36 AM on July 19, 2002

I'm in, but I really don't know what I'm doing. It should be fun.

posted by insomnyuk at 10:24 PM on July 18, 2002

I think the football seasons will be crucial in garnering new members. We already have strong representation in hockey, world cup football, and even football, but I think we should push for expansion at the start of every season and major sporting event. Good discussions will always exist for these issues, so long as there is a half-way decent link to spark discourse. Also, more links about obscure, lesser known sports and events hopefully will become more frequent, that way sports fans who aren't into the Big 4 will have something to look forward to.

posted by insomnyuk at 09:27 AM on July 17, 2002

Sportsfilter has some interesting material, but not enough of it. After the death of Ted Williams, for example, it had exactly two links in ensuing days, one to ESPN.com and one to the Boston Globe, not exactly hidden resources. He has a good point, but the author ignores the dual nature of SportsFilter. While I do come here to find interesting news and info about sports, I more often come here to discuss interesting things I have already seen on ESPN.com or other sports news sites.

posted by insomnyuk at 11:58 AM on July 16, 2002

I wouldn't know, I only played the Yahoo version sparingly. It was easy to use, and it had decent stats, but I have no reference point, as I have not played in any ESPN league, or any other fantasy league for that matter.

posted by insomnyuk at 03:23 PM on July 15, 2002

Sure. I was on one on Yahoo! I got a middle of the road score, and I still don't understand how the fantasy thing works, exactly. But I'd love to.

posted by insomnyuk at 12:55 AM on July 15, 2002

Yeah, when are we going to get the Foodsports category?

posted by insomnyuk at 11:23 PM on July 05, 2002

US Centric? What about the constant World Cup posts dominating SportsFilter for the last month?

posted by insomnyuk at 09:44 PM on July 03, 2002

Zulu time! (Greenwich Mean Time, I know). It's the best compromise for this international crew, if customizing the timezone per user is too much of a burden.

posted by insomnyuk at 11:51 PM on June 30, 2002

Well, that looks like enough of a consensus to me! I second the motion to appoint owillis as "researcher".

posted by insomnyuk at 04:47 PM on June 27, 2002

We should have regular columns, like weekly or bi weekly or something, and they should be about Anna Kournikova or other attractive up and coming athletes getting more attention than they would otherwise(male or female), with the theme being the relationship between sports, sex, and entertainment (ostensibly).

posted by insomnyuk at 11:41 AM on June 27, 2002

I would love to pontificate on the state of professional hockey, especially the Toronto Maple Leafs, if I had the time. Maybe even talk a little basketball :)

posted by insomnyuk at 10:05 AM on June 27, 2002

I agree with rcade and jacknose, with one proviso for a spoiler warning, maybe set in the posting guidelines. It would go something like this: "Feel free to post a link about the results of a big game, but know that you will be criticized for your decision. Instead, insert a meta refresh to espn.com within your post."

posted by insomnyuk at 03:26 PM on June 17, 2002

Actually, I've been getting some completely new spam from "The Porn Lottery" and a lot of unsolicited stuff from nexdeals. I have no evidence that they are related to sportsfilter, though.

posted by insomnyuk at 05:15 PM on June 12, 2002

Heh, me too. At first I was worried it was an indictment of one of the SportsFilter members.

posted by insomnyuk at 10:09 PM on June 02, 2002

I've had to relogin occasionally too, but that's my own fault. I screwed around with IE cookies for a while, and now it's sketchy. As for features.... I can't think of any. I'm trying too, but I don't know if you can really code into existence flying monkeys (I just want to continue the Oz theme). Would it be possible to somehow use SportsML or XML to parse sports news and statistic RSS feeds? I don't know if you want to portalize SportsFilter, but it would be kind of cool to be able to come here and see a quick newsbit on my four or five favorite teams at the top of the page. It might also provide inspiration for posting, and save me from multiple visits to espn.com, nhl.com, and what have you. Maybe it's unneccessary, but I think it would be a nifty feature.

posted by insomnyuk at 07:39 PM on June 01, 2002

Dammit, there goes my proposed SportsFilter tag line: "come for the discussion, stay for the giddy towel-snapping."

posted by insomnyuk at 07:23 PM on June 01, 2002

Those world cup mascots look like neon gremlins. Creepy.

posted by insomnyuk at 12:34 PM on May 30, 2002

Good choice of a name. I'm in, although I know nothing about the teams in World Cup Soccer.

posted by insomnyuk at 12:26 PM on May 30, 2002

Yes, we definitely need more balls. You can never have too many balls.

posted by insomnyuk at 04:31 PM on April 01, 2002

Seemed like an inside joke or something. I would maybe object to it if GYC was offended. I dunno, it's one of those 'moments of passion.'

posted by insomnyuk at 09:32 PM on March 21, 2002

Which was the first thread (maybe it was in MetaTalk?) to mention the website after it had been put online? I know after that happened, user signups quadrupled. It's also interesting to note that SportsFilter is running on Central Standard Time, as opposed to MetaFilter running on Pacific. When will there be a *filter running on EST for the love of God?

posted by insomnyuk at 09:57 PM on February 10, 2002

Mkn: pronounce "Sports" like you were from Minnesota and it works (KIND OF)

posted by insomnyuk at 11:03 PM on February 09, 2002

Yeah me too. I kept trying to login, even.

posted by insomnyuk at 01:31 PM on February 04, 2002