August 22, 2003

We need a Locker Room sidebar. It should contain links to active fantasy league pages. No need to clutter the front page but would make life simpler. For me at least, which is what's important. To me. That is all, thanks.

posted by billsaysthis to feature requests at 11:01 AM - 52 comments

We need a sidebar for bill...

posted by StarFucker at 11:14 AM on August 22, 2003

And lilnemo. And people are talking about a Rumors page. What this locker room needs is some lockers! A locker for bill, a locker for me, a locker for thee! We also need a shower. Fooker can post girlie pictures in there.

posted by worldcup2002 at 11:22 AM on August 22, 2003

In the shower?!

posted by StarFucker at 11:33 AM on August 22, 2003

While we're at it, I still think we need a Fantasy Sports category for the locker room. And maybe a Time-Wasting-Flash-Games cat for regular SpoFi. In the shower?! Hey it's clean, it's private, and there's soap handy. It's fail-proof.

posted by Ufez Jones at 12:18 PM on August 22, 2003

I'm pretty sure Jerseygirl is shaking her head sadly right now.

posted by Samsonov14 at 01:04 PM on August 22, 2003

She is.

posted by jerseygirl at 01:39 PM on August 22, 2003

Hey it's clean, it's private, and there's soap handy. Soap on a rope I hope.

posted by jasonspaceman at 01:42 PM on August 22, 2003

I'm shaking something...

posted by StarFucker at 01:53 PM on August 22, 2003

You make baby Jesus cry.

posted by 86 at 02:32 PM on August 22, 2003

*clunk* That was SpoFi hitting rock bottom. Oy.

posted by grum@work at 02:40 PM on August 22, 2003

Good point grum, what has happened to spofi? I guess it was never that good, but it's never been farther from intelligent dicussion as it is now. I'd point to the Kobe case as a turning point. I guess that's fine. Where's owillis? We haven't heard from him in a while.

posted by djacobs at 03:39 PM on August 22, 2003

Never that good? Get outta here.

posted by Samsonov14 at 03:40 PM on August 22, 2003

Never that good? Get outta here. I think maybe the decision to got to a *filter name was a bad one, although it was impossible to know at the time, because there are always going to be mefi comparisons. But check out frykitty's excellent mefi FAQ: http://frykitty.com/mefifaq/, especially the "Best of Mefi" column. Have any three threads on spofi approached this level of quality? Meanwhile the worst spofi threads and name calling is as bad if not worse than mefi's nadir.

posted by djacobs at 03:51 PM on August 22, 2003

I'm biased, since I participated in some of the worst name calling in SportsFilter history, but I don't think we've come close to the level of bad blood that the mothership has demonstrated. MetaTalk has featured some genuine psychotic episodes, online harassment bordering on criminal acts, and someone hinting that she would reveal the name of a member who gave her an STD. It'll be a while, if ever, before we're big enough to reach that standard of user enmity. As far as intelligent discussion goes, though, I think SportsFilter has more of it than any other sport discussion forum I've visited. (Incidentally, the secret overlords are discussing the possibility of adding a Fantasy Sports category to the Locker Room.)

posted by rcade at 05:02 PM on August 22, 2003

Djacobs gave me an STD.

posted by Samsonov14 at 05:09 PM on August 22, 2003

I think maybe the decision to got to a *filter name was a bad one There are times when I'd agree with you. There's been some confusion in the past about whether the two sites are related (they're not), and a little bit of the less-desirable MetaFilter/MetaTalk attitude and in-jokes sometimes crosses over. There's also the question of reaching a larger audience. I figure we've probably gotten as much crossover traffic from MetaFilter as we're going to, so we've gotten about as much mileage out of the similar name as we can expect to. That said, though, I've been suprised and delighted with how SportsFilter has turned out. Delighted because we're building a community of smart, sassy, sports-loving people, and it's really seemed to gel during the last couple of months, I think due to a combination of people establishing their personas here and a critical mass of site members. It started to come together once we got about 600-650 members. I've been surprised, and pleasantly so, because the site's evolved differently than I expected it to. It's more international and less focused on the big American sports, and those are both great aspects of the site. I completely agree with rcade's assessment of the overall quality of the discussion we generally have, even though there are instances where the commentary's a bit immature.

posted by kirkaracha at 05:19 PM on August 22, 2003

I guess it was never that good, but it's never been farther from intelligent dicussion as it is now Whoops, there goes the neighbourhood.

posted by Fat Buddha at 06:03 PM on August 22, 2003

Meanwhile the worst spofi threads and name calling is as bad if not worse than mefi's nadir. You gotta get to MetaTalk a little more often. No way it's come close. In fact, I'm always amazed at how friendly this site is (cue nasty comments). Then again, maybe the place went to shit at user #62. Whoever that asshole is.

posted by yerfatma at 06:22 PM on August 22, 2003

Oh. Definitely went to shit then. And how come I can't get no Tang 'round here?

posted by yerfatma at 06:23 PM on August 22, 2003

The one thing that saves SpoFi from degenerating too far is that politics have a slim-to-nil appearance in sports, UNLESS you specifically bring up a politcal subject involving a sports star or team. I think the most volatile topics on SpoFi are:

  • women and sports
  • Pete Rose and the baseball HOF
  • American "football" vs European "football"
  • NY Yankees and competative balance
And even then, it (usually) ends up being an argument about the topic itself and (rarely) degenerates into a verbal attack on the people making the argument. Over in MeFi land, it can quickly crash down into a war of words about someone's political bent, usually using the words "fascist" or "bleeding-heart" (those being the kinder choices). Most of the rest of the time here it's just a clash of personalities and idiosyncrasies. What I think could classy this place up a bit is less sexual/crude comments/content on the front page (bring it to the locker room instead) and definitely less deliberately inflammatory statements or personal attacks. Oh, and people have to cut out jumping into a discussion to simply state "I hate [topic]" or "[topic] is a waste of time". Show your displeasure with the subject (whether it's European football, women in sports or NASCAR) by just not commenting in the thread. But that doesn't mean logical discourse about a topic should be discouraged, but I'd just like to see less people being mean/insulting/annoying for the sake of a reaction. Oh, and less inline photos being used in the comments. I'm just as guilty as anyone else, but I think we should simply make them links to the photos instead. Oh great leaders: is there a way to disable the "img src=" tag in the comments section? And I want tickets to the 2003 World Series.

posted by grum@work at 06:54 PM on August 22, 2003

posted by Fat Buddha at 07:02 PM on August 22, 2003

posted by worldcup2002 at 07:40 PM on August 22, 2003

I think SpoFi is great, from the name to the posts to the comments, and you all are stoopid ass mutherfuckers if you don't realize that. Plus I save on the psychotherapy bills because it's a great place for me to release my psychotic outbursts!

posted by billsaysthis at 08:18 PM on August 22, 2003

Having said that, I still want a Locker Room side bar for links to the main pages of the currently active fantasy leagues. Not the posts about our activity in them. Do you see the difference now, childrens?

posted by billsaysthis at 08:19 PM on August 22, 2003

posted by therev at 12:21 AM on August 23, 2003

Why would we want to disable pics?! That is beyond my comprehension...

posted by StarFucker at 01:28 AM on August 23, 2003

I don't THINK thats going too far...i mean, its hardly visible from someone only glancing past your cube at work....right?

posted by StarFucker at 01:29 AM on August 23, 2003

Genius.

posted by Fat Buddha at 03:46 AM on August 23, 2003

You know, even if I'm at home, there is no explaining to the wife why a picture of a giant penis is on my monitor. "It's a sports site. Honest!"

posted by grum@work at 08:13 AM on August 23, 2003

SF, that's you in the picture, right? I'm not in the least surprised you're confused on confronting that monstrosity.

posted by billsaysthis at 01:36 PM on August 23, 2003

LOL, SF! Another winner. My wife just asked me "What is that?" And I said, "So that's why they did a plaster cast of my thing." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Again, I agree w/ FB: That is pure genius. If they disable picture posting, I'm going to quit SpoFi. You made my weekend. Hahahahahahahahaha.

posted by worldcup2002 at 02:00 PM on August 23, 2003

*cues the Mefi-esque "I'm leaving and never coming back!" music for wc*

posted by jerseygirl at 02:56 PM on August 23, 2003

We can't have worldcup leave! He is our quonsar!

posted by BigCalm at 05:44 PM on August 23, 2003

I thought he was our MiguelCardoso.

posted by jerseygirl at 07:17 PM on August 23, 2003

Yes, if Big Mig hadn't posted here several times I would have thought wc20002 was a nom de plume, which is most definitely a compliment. Starfucker is our Quonsar. Not that we have to define ourselves in relation to Mefi, of course.

posted by Fat Buddha at 08:19 PM on August 23, 2003

What is a Quonsar?

posted by StarFucker at 01:25 AM on August 24, 2003

What's a Nubian?

posted by therev at 08:24 AM on August 24, 2003

Meanwhile the worst spofi threads and name calling is as bad if not worse than mefi's nadir. As others have, I'll have to disagree with you. Metafilter, imho, is almost unusable as far as discussion goes, though I still go for links. Even as a link provider its importance has lessened now that everyone and their mother has a blog. I use to see links appear on mefi all the time that were new to me. Now it seems interesting links appear on metafilter at least 3 days after I've seen them elsewhere. As far as negative discourse, spofi doesn't, nor do I ever think it will, appoach the antics of metatalk. I think for what it is, a discussion board for sports (this isn't brain surgery afterall), I couldn't be happier with the progress the site has made, and due to the nature of the beasts, I feel spofi has a much brighter future than mefi. It doesn't depend on being the first place to find links, deals in more specificity than mefi (much easier to manage/fix ect), and isn't as limiting as blogroots, which despite its A-list pedigree and more members, seems to be great at collecting cobwebs. I especially enjoy how international it has become. It's not just baseball/football. If I could have just one wish it would be for more female members. Hopefully, over time, that will change.

posted by justgary at 01:53 AM on August 25, 2003

If I could have just one wish it would be for more female members. Hopefully, over time, that will change. Less posts like this might help... ;)

posted by grum@work at 07:02 AM on August 25, 2003

I've just found a new sports blog. What do people think?

posted by BigCalm at 08:23 AM on August 25, 2003

I think it looks a lot like Spofi... except we have comments and more than one member.

posted by jerseygirl at 09:44 AM on August 25, 2003

I'm satisfied with my one member, thank you very much!

posted by worldcup2002 at 09:55 AM on August 25, 2003

I'm in favor of the fantasy sidebar!
Who's with me and Bill?

posted by lilnemo at 11:31 AM on August 25, 2003

damn. i the minute i hit "post" i knew i was going to regret using the term "member"

posted by jerseygirl at 03:51 PM on August 25, 2003

BC, im in.

posted by garfield at 04:20 PM on August 25, 2003

That's me, Bill, and Garfield. Anyone else?
"Come on. Who's coming with me?"

posted by lilnemo at 04:55 PM on August 25, 2003

Good on you for the Jerry Maguire reference. I'm in. If Metafilter has taught me anything, it is "you're not important unless you have a low user number"

posted by jerseygirl at 05:45 PM on August 25, 2003

lilnemo, quotes from semi-obscure (ROFL) 25 year old movies are of doubtful rhetorical value. How about this? "Anyone who votes with us gets free tickets to a 2003 World Series game.*" That's how you win people over to your cause! . . . . . . . . "* No travel, hotel accomodations, or expenses included. Taxes are the responsibility of the winner. Prizes may be hid under a small rock in an unnamed park. Prizes must be collected by the winners in person in a small town in southern Alaska."

posted by billsaysthis at 05:46 PM on August 25, 2003

...in a thong. Bill.
jersey.
garfield.
me.
Who's next?
Fantasy SpoFi, you want it on that sidebar, you need it on that sidebar!

posted by lilnemo at 06:06 PM on August 25, 2003

OMG, you do not want see garfield in a thong!!! OMG!!!

posted by billsaysthis at 06:30 PM on August 25, 2003

"Oh Garfield, how are you going to eat all that lasagna?"

posted by therev at 06:41 PM on August 25, 2003

what's the topic of this thread again?

posted by danostuporstar at 07:23 AM on August 26, 2003

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