The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

As the guy who started the Rivals site I know full well that keeping it current can become very tedious and time consuming. I get that it doesn't pay much. That said, when I signed on Rivals was clear about their expectations. They wanted an article a day, if not more. Initially I tried to do that, and during peak recruiting it was fairly easy to do. I eventually settled in writing about three articles a week and linking any Bronco related news to the site, such as Edgy Time, Michigan Preps, or WMU Press releases.

I'm not saying the stuff needs to be your material, or it needs to be constantly current, or that you need to have gobs of interviews with recruits. But it at least needs to appear active. Game predictions, game recaps and opinion, an occasional quote from a recruit, etc. It's not that hard to get filler up and to give the impression that it's an active site.

I know I, the next guys, and the current guys did that site because they wanted to promote WMU to recruits. And I assure you recruits look at it. Furthermore, they and their parents love having their name up on a well known recruiting site like Rivals.

There will always be a chore group of diehard subscribers who want access to Rivals daatabase. But new subscribers were ALWAYS the parents of recruits who wanted to read an article on their kid, but couldn't access the site without subscribing. Not a bad idea to get one of those interviews every now and then.

The bottom line is make the site at least appear active and relevant. If not it will become irrelevant to WMU fans, and more importantly to recruits and their parents. Perception is everything. EMU football is perceived as a dog because that is the perception it has at the stadium on game day, on broadcasts, in the media, and on social media and message boards. Dont let that site become a dog, it sends a bad vibe to recruits who may read it.

If and when they upgrade the message board, work to attract people to it. This place has become garbage, although it's not the fault of the owner. You have a chance to build a following there and to make it a go to site for WMU athletics.

A few suggestions.

The easy stuff. Sean Fegan sends out an email damn near every day relating to WMU sports or a recap of a WMU game. Post it, and credit Media Relations. The Illinois Prep site "Edgy Tim" and the Michigan Prep site regularly have articles on recruits we have interest in. You can post those articles on your front page. There Y tubes of WMU recruits and verbals all over the internet. Put the video on a front page article and add a few comments.

It's not like WMU athletics is everyone's minds. There's a small group of avid followers, and a group of parents and friends of players in various sports. Outside of Fleck, the world isn't beating down the door to talk to WMU coaches and players. You can tap that.

Do what others don't do. Get on the phone with the SID and see who is willing to do a Q & A. I'm guessing a guy like Shane Clipfell would love to do an interview. A guy like Larry Farmer is invisible, but he's a storehouse of basketball history. Dave Drew's not doing it, but you could. Robin Hook has a 35 year history of radio and Bronco Sports in Kalamazoo. Pick his brain and get it on paper, I guarantee you it would be a great read.

An interview with Javarian Franklin would be worth the $10 subscription fee. "Javarion, what were you expecting when you arrived at WMU? Did you see yourself having this kind of a season?

While I doubt they'd tell you much, an interview with KB regarding the scoreboard, or the stadium upgrades pictured in the Fleck video, that would be very interesting. "Ms. B, is this a pipe dream, a vision, a possibility. What would the cost of those kinds of upgrades be. What would need to fall into place for this to take shape? The talk of a new hockey or the downtown arena, where are those discussions?

Journalists need to stop treating WMU athletics as if it is a small, closed, secret society, as it's anything but small. They need to see it as if they (the journalists) are ESPN, and they need to view WMU athletics as if they are the Notre Dame of SW MI. Couch and Bowker did exactly that, and helped make WMU sports relevant.

There's are dozen of great story lines in any sports program, including WMUs. Couch was a master at creating story lines based on players and coaches backgrounds. You can create the story lines, or you can do what the rest of the media does and let them write them for you. Personally, I think you and Drew can do a little of both.

I don't think he reads this message board.

I don't want to speak too much on his behalf, but I do know he has run into a few obstacles along the way since taking over the site. But generally I agree, there are a few missed opportunities out there.

Getting the football record right at 8 - 5 might help.

(01-03-2015 01:10 PM)Chipdip2 Wrote:  As the guy who started the Rivals site I know full well that keeping it current can become very tedious and time consuming. I get that it doesn't pay much. That said, when I signed on Rivals was clear about their expectations. They wanted an article a day, if not more. Initially I tried to do that, and during peak recruiting it was fairly easy to do. I eventually settled in writing about three articles a week and linking any Bronco related news to the site, such as Edgy Time, Michigan Preps, or WMU Press releases.

I'm not saying the stuff needs to be your material, or it needs to be constantly current, or that you need to have gobs of interviews with recruits. But it at least needs to appear active. Game predictions, game recaps and opinion, an occasional quote from a recruit, etc. It's not that hard to get filler up and to give the impression that it's an active site.

I know I, the next guys, and the current guys did that site because they wanted to promote WMU to recruits. And I assure you recruits look at it. Furthermore, they and their parents love having their name up on a well known recruiting site like Rivals.

There will always be a chore group of diehard subscribers who want access to Rivals daatabase. But new subscribers were ALWAYS the parents of recruits who wanted to read an article on their kid, but couldn't access the site without subscribing. Not a bad idea to get one of those interviews every now and then.

The bottom line is make the site at least appear active and relevant. If not it will become irrelevant to WMU fans, and more importantly to recruits and their parents. Perception is everything. EMU football is perceived as a dog because that is the perception it has at the stadium on game day, on broadcasts, in the media, and on social media and message boards. Dont let that site become a dog, it sends a bad vibe to recruits who may read it.

If and when they upgrade the message board, work to attract people to it. This place has become garbage, although it's not the fault of the owner. You have a chance to build a following there and to make it a go to site for WMU athletics.

I agree. He seems like a nice guy, and he obviously cares about WMU athletics, but I am giving him until signing day to get more content up, or I am cancelling. It's not worth paying for what I can get on Twitter. The whole point is to get us info on recruiting that we can't get, which would include interviews. He just typically finds excuses. I get that there is no glory in it, or money, but if you are going to take it on, at least give an effort.

Funny, I canceled my subscription yesterday due to exactly what you speak of, lack of content. When I realized I was not visiting the site like maybe once a month or so I gave up. I may come back. It depends on when the site gets thier act together. If you going to charge for premium content, at least put some content on.

A hero emerges

(01-04-2015 01:31 PM)Hiller4Hyz09 Wrote:  A hero emerges

Yep, it's really that easy. You or I could have written that...........or did you?

(01-03-2015 01:10 PM)Chipdip2 Wrote:  If and when they upgrade the message board, work to attract people to it. This place has become garbage, although it's not the fault of the owner.

CD, can you elaborate on this? Because if the goal is to have a site that appeals to potential recruits and their parents, I can't think of a worse representation of WMU then a lot of what went on here at the height of the Stampede Civil War.

(01-04-2015 01:49 PM)The Colonel Wrote:  

(01-03-2015 01:10 PM)Chipdip2 Wrote:  If and when they upgrade the message board, work to attract people to it. This place has become garbage, although it's not the fault of the owner.

CD, can you elaborate on this? Because if the goal is to have a site that appeals to potential recruits and their parents, I can't think of a worse representation of WMU then a lot of what went on here at the height of the Stampede Civil War.

Colonel, you're living in a bubble. A successful board is about traffic, not happy talk, and speech codes. This place is like an old folks home compared to most of the P5 message boards. Being a mod on some of those Rivals boards is a full time paid position. You've got Bama and Auburn fans threatening murder, and they probably mean it.

Traffic means you have a fan base. For example, I've seen the Boise site on Rivals with over 4000 people signed in online. The Central Florida message board routinely has hundreds posting. A big day for us is what.......50? The only MAC board that really has traffic here is the NIU board.

I don't know if there's a correlation between a fan base and the traffic on the their message board, but UT (who has several active sites) and NIU are consistent winners in one or both major sports, have pretty active message boards, and tend to lead the league in attendance.

(01-04-2015 01:45 PM)Chipdip2 Wrote:  

(01-04-2015 01:31 PM)Hiller4Hyz09 Wrote:  A hero emerges

Yep, it's really that easy. You or I could have written that...........or did you?

Not me. Love that someone's making the effort. Reminds me of hoejke's old blog

(01-04-2015 02:05 PM)Chipdip2 Wrote:  

(01-04-2015 01:49 PM)The Colonel Wrote:  

(01-03-2015 01:10 PM)Chipdip2 Wrote:  If and when they upgrade the message board, work to attract people to it. This place has become garbage, although it's not the fault of the owner.

CD, can you elaborate on this? Because if the goal is to have a site that appeals to potential recruits and their parents, I can't think of a worse representation of WMU then a lot of what went on here at the height of the Stampede Civil War.

Colonel, you're living in a bubble. A successful board is about traffic, not happy talk, and speech codes. This place is like an old folks home compared to most of the P5 message boards. Being a mod on some of those Rivals boards is a full time paid position. You've got Bama and Auburn fans threatening murder, and they probably mean it.

Traffic means you have a fan base. For example, I've seen the Boise site on Rivals with over 4000 people signed in online. The Central Florida message board routinely has hundreds posting. A big day for us is what.......50? The only MAC board that really has traffic here is the NIU board.

I don't know if there's a correlation between a fan base and the traffic on the their message board, but UT (who has several active sites) and NIU are consistent winners in one or both major sports, have pretty active message boards, and tend to lead the league in attendance.

Traffic on message boards comes down to winning and relevance. The more you win, the more relevant, the more the casual observer becomes a serious observer. WMU football or their sports in general have always been good enough to keep die hards interested, but never good enough for a long enough period of time, or make a big enough splash to generate traffic.

(01-04-2015 02:05 PM)Chipdip2 Wrote:  Colonel, you're living in a bubble. A successful board is about traffic, not happy talk, and speech codes. This place is like an old folks home compared to most of the P5 message boards.

Traffic means you have a fan base. For example, I've seen the Boise site on Rivals with over 4000 people signed in online. The Central Florida message board routinely has hundreds posting. A big day for us is what.......50? The only MAC board that really has traffic here is the NIU board.

In your original post, you described the idea of posting content that would appeal to potential recruits and their families - along with the comment about the message board. If you were describing the two as separate issues, that was my misinterpretation and I apologize for the confusion. That was why I posted asking for more detail.

FWIW I am against the idea of a board of "Happy Talk." IMO my posts to this point support this - I've had criticism for P.J. and the teams when I've felt it's appropriate. That's just my opinion. You and other posters can disagree, and that's fine. I do think, in general terms, that improved decorum on the boards would be more likely to attract fellow Bronco fans beyond just the handful of hardcore fans who are regularly here.

Hey! By no means ROI yet, but an article today on Chris Daniels! Look him up if you have the means!