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Rational Thoughts on Board Drama

ZDeac

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For anyone who cares, I thought I'd share my thoughts on all of this stuff going on between the different boards. I think I come at it with a bit of a different perspective since I haven't been a poster on the DeaconSports boards for 2+ years now. I'm sure I'll get plenty of "TLDR" for this post, but I guess that's the way it goes sometimes.

Over the last couple of days I've read a lot, both here and on DS, about everything that's been going on, and I think the real situation is probably a bit more complicated than people realize it is.

Consider the business model of DeaconSports, DeaconsIllustrated, or any other website dedicated to charging a subscription fee for insider recruiting information. That information has to come from somewhere, and most of it comes from off-the-record tips and conversations with coaches.

Now, we all love the idea of free and open discussion, but that could never really work at a site like DeaconSports. That inside information only gets passed along because the staff of those sites develop relationships with athletic departments and those relationships survive on mutual trust. Whether it is fair or not, that trust is going to be based somewhat on what is posted on their message boards, even if it isn't posted by them. By allowing it to be on their boards they are, to some extent, tacitly approving it.

I do not know (or care) whether or not DeaconSports has started moderating with such a heavy hand by their own choice in attempt to preserve their relationship, or whether members of the athletic department have asked them to do so. Either way, I have trouble blaming them for doing it. They have a business to support, and their business comes almost entirely from people paying them for their basketball recruiting info, not from people having discussions on their free board.

What does all this mean? That the creation of this board was an EXCELLENT idea. This board doesn't have any relationships to preserve or people to keep happy. There's no need to moderate because there's nothing to lose. It's like the Deadspin model of "sports news without access, favor, or discretion."

Let DeaconSports continue to exist to serve those who are willing to pay for basketball recruiting information. Let DeaconsIllustrated continue to exist for those willing to pay for football recruiting information. That information has value, as is clear based on the subscriber bases both of those sites maintain.

For everything else - your daily banter about Wake sports - come here and have at it without worrying about it. I truly believe that once everything settles down these three sites can coexist peacefully, each serving its purpose and doing so better than any one site ever did all three before.

I know many of you have legitimate beefs with the way things were handled over there. I think that's totally fair and you have every right to vent/make fun/poster poach as you see fit. In the end I expect that Wake fans will be much better off in general, I just don't see any of these sites disappearing entirely.
 
Good post.

The Wake Forest community is putting on its big boy pants. These are growing pains.
 
Hmmm.... F all that. I WANT TO RULE THE WORLD!!!


(great post)
 
that's all well and good but....
images
 
One time I drove Zach to a game so he could cover it. If you were wondering, Wake lost.
 
The discussion is better here. The information I've gotten on this board (1 week old) is better than any crumbs I've gotten on DS in the last year. Judging from the ghosttown that is DS, most people probably agree.

DS is a business. Their model is failing. The Wake Scout board will go out of business unless they change. That's the American way. I have no loyalty to Scout or Fox Sports, they are just big corporations who serve up a poor user experience. People will go to the best experience. Expecting people to just accept the status quo over there will not succeed when there is a better alternative product.

Like most, I'm not particularly interested in the war between the boards. I do think things got ridiculous over there and that's why we are where we are. I just want the best user experience, and that is OGBoards now.
 
One time I drove Zach to a game so he could cover it. If you were wondering, Wake lost.

Well can you remember the last time Wake won at NC State? I don't think it's happened since I've been a Wake fan.

Plus, I'm pretty sure I at least split the gas with you.
 
Well can you remember the last time Wake won at NC State? I don't think it's happened since I've been a Wake fan.

Plus, I'm pretty sure I at least split the gas with you.

TRUE. And the bbq wasn't half bad. But GOD James just biffing that rebound was frustrating.
 
Actually I think Rideaculous is forgetting which game he drove me too. We both covered the McCauley tip game, but we drove together to the '09 game Wake lost by 6.
 
DS is a business. Their model is failing. The Wake Scout board will go out of business unless they change. That's the American way. I have no loyalty to Scout or Fox Sports, they are just big corporations who serve up a poor user experience. People will go to the best experience. Expecting people to just accept the status quo over there will not succeed when there is a better alternative product.

Like most, I'm not particularly interested in the war between the boards. I do think things got ridiculous over there and that's why we are where we are. I just want the best user experience, and that is OGBoards now.

Agree 100%.
 
Actually I think Rideaculous is forgetting which game he drove me too. We both covered the McCauley tip game, but we drove together to the '09 game Wake lost by 6.

I'll defer to you on this one. My memory is terrible, admittedly.
 
I'm not sure you guys realize what DS's business really is, though. They may make a little bit of money from ads served on the free board, but the really money is in the premium subscriptions. As long as they can maintain the flow of insider recruiting information there are Wake fans willing to pay for it.

DeaconsIllustrated (Rivals) has never had a very active board, but they've stayed in business for a long time because Jared does a great job providing the insider football recruiting scoop that people want. They don't need the active board to make that work.

This is absolutely the best user experience available. It's the best free product available. Scout's free product may very well fail. But that doesn't mean DeaconSports will disappear.
 
The thing is that there just hasn't been much info flowing in the past year. Evidenly the new 'culture' of Bz is to keep things closer to vest. I enjoy the national coverage by Evan and company during the summer events more than anything Wake specific.
 
The thing is that there just hasn't been much info flowing in the past year. Evidenly the new 'culture' of Bz is to keep things closer to vest. I enjoy the national coverage by Evan and company during the summer events more than anything Wake specific.

Fair enough. I haven't followed their premium for awhile. If they can't deliver that stuff then yes, they're very likely to disappear.
 
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