Message Board

[tornado]

I have a few thoughts -- and the first & foremost is that I am appreciative that BU's most knowledgable sports guy Bobby Parker
is now posting up to the minute BU news and info -- thanks Bobby...

The second thing is that we know that players as well as BU personnel watch and read the boards
so keep that in mind when posting -- I know we all have opinions but slams should not be allowed on this board
(even tho I know they are routine elsewhere on other boards).

BradleyFans.com has 132 people currently online and viewing...
This is solid evidence of an amazing level of interest even in the off-season in Bradley basketball....
amazing how the board always seems to stay busy even when things are slow.....
but in BF's case I think it is clearly because of the tremendous info on the team, on recruiting, on the contributions of people like Bobby
and other fans, and as a factor of Bradley's super fans base that wants to talk BU basketball all year long.
In an average workday of mine I encounter a number of people who want to strike up a conversation on BU basketball, this year's team, and current events.

[mexicobufan]

Bradleyfans.com is the first place I go to every morning when I get up and hit the lap top. I would say I average checking in each day about 15 times...........I need to get a life.

[LittleBrave]

Bradleyfans.com is the first place I go to every morning when I get up and hit the lap top. I would say I average checking in each day about 15 times...........I need to get a life.

Not just you, MX-BU...not just you.

Somehow I lack oxygen when I go a day without BradleyFans.
Goes nicely with a prayer and a cup of java in the morning.

Kudos to our mods here too - their insight, updates, and moderation (while difficult & thankless most times) are appreciated and keep BF running on all cylinders 24/7/365
T & DC - You guys rock!

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

The second thing is that we know that players as well as BU personnel watch and read the boards
so keep that in mind when posting -- I know we all have opinions but slams should not be allowed on this board
(even tho I know they are routine elsewhere on other boards).

With this in mind I would really like the political discussions on this board to stop. It is easy to offend people, and there are plenty of other boards on the internet to discuss politics. It would really be a shame to lose a recruit from some of the over-hyped political discussions here.

Despite my SN I do not discuss religion here.

[tennymf]

With this in mind I would really like the political discussions on this board to stop. It is easy to offend people, and there are plenty of other boards on the internet to discuss politics. It would really be a shame to lose a recruit from some of the over-hyped political discussions here.

Despite my SN I do not discuss religion here.

I don't mind the political discussions, but that's not why I visit the site. I'm personally interested in Bradley basketball almost exclusively (although I do get pulled into some of the other threads occasionally). I think a reorganization of the forums would be nice. There are only 3 active forums. The "Basketball Fan talk" forum contains 94% of all posts in those forums, but a vast number of those posts deal with topics other than basketball!

I suggest reorganizing the forums as follows:

1. Bradley Basketball - For discussions exclusively and directly regarding Bradley basketball, including recruiting.
2. Bradley Sports (Non-basketball) - For discussions regarding sports at Bradley other than basketball.
3. Bradley University (Non-sports) - For discussions regarding Bradley University that aren't related to sports at all (e.g. academics, campus issues, non-sports activities and news, etc.)
4. Missouri Valley Sports - For discussions related to sports at other Missouri Valley schools (e.g. recruits and activities at other MVC schools, etc.)
5. General Sports (Non-MVC) - For sports discussions outside of the MVC (e.g. local high school sports, Illini, NCAA, NBA, ABA, MLB, Peoria Chiefs, etc.)
6. Miscellaneous Topics - For discussions not related to Bradley or sports (e.g. corruption in schools, birthday wishes, Peoria City Council, riots, etc.)

This would personally save me quite a bit of time. I could read all the Bradley Basketball posts. I could peruse the other forums, and only read those that look interesting. I personally would probably never even visit the Missouri Valley forum, because I simply don't care what Drake and Evansville are up to in the summer.

Just my 2 cents.

[tennymf]

Here are a couple other ideas that I know won't fly with the moderators, but I thought they were good and interesting ideas nonetheless:

1. Create a forum for Conspiracy Theories. My mind often conjures up images of Mel Gibson from the movie Conspiracy Theory when I read some posts.
2. Create a non-moderated forum. It would be no-holds-barred, where anything goes. We could berate, flame, troll, argue, accuse, rant, rave, and post unsubstantiated opinions... utterly without fear that our posts will be deleted. It could be an "enter at your own risk" type of thing with a virtual sentry at the door, forcing each visitor to acknowledge that he or she is over 18 years old. Just imagine: A place where we could freely and unabashedly express our true thoughts and feelings. Freedom!

[Buesch N Chips]

I appreciate this site. DC does a great job. This is the place to be.

[TheAsianSensation]

I wouldn't necessarily split into a whole bunch of forums, but a forum dedicated to all non-basketball BU-sports would really help increase the exposure of those sports instead of mixing them in here or in the general sports forum. And in fact, as far as I can tell, this is the only forum in the MVCverse that doesn't include at least one forum for BU-related talk about sports other than basketball and football. To be honest, it looks pretty bad.

You could have:
BU basketball forum
BU sports forum
General sports forum
Off-topic/lolpolitics forum

And fold some of the current forums (like the recruiting forum) as a subforum under the basketball forum or other relevant forum.

Occasional disagreements I have aside , the raw information provided by everyone is solid and reorganization would highlight it better.

[Da Coach]

I don't mind the political discussions, but that's not why I visit the site. I'm personally interested in Bradley basketball almost exclusively (although I do get pulled into some of the other threads occasionally). I think a reorganization of the forums would be nice. There are only 3 active forums. The "Basketball Fan talk" forum contains 94% of all posts in those forums, but a vast number of those posts deal with topics other than basketball!

I suggest reorganizing the forums as follows:

1. Bradley Basketball - For discussions exclusively and directly regarding Bradley basketball, including recruiting.
2. Bradley Sports (Non-basketball) - For discussions regarding sports at Bradley other than basketball.
3. Bradley University (Non-sports) - For discussions regarding Bradley University that aren't related to sports at all (e.g. academics, campus issues, non-sports activities and news, etc.)
4. Missouri Valley Sports - For discussions related to sports at other Missouri Valley schools (e.g. recruits and activities at other MVC schools, etc.)
5. General Sports (Non-MVC) - For sports discussions outside of the MVC (e.g. local high school sports, Illini, NCAA, NBA, ABA, MLB, Peoria Chiefs, etc.)
6. Miscellaneous Topics - For discussions not related to Bradley or sports (e.g. corruption in schools, birthday wishes, Peoria City Council, riots, etc.)

This would personally save me quite a bit of time. I could read all the Bradley Basketball posts. I could peruse the other forums, and only read those that look interesting. I personally would probably never even visit the Missouri Valley forum, because I simply don't care what Drake and Evansville are up to in the summer.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I know the site doesn't always work perfectly for every member. And I'm sure most members could think of some adaptation they might like to see. But I think overall it works well for most, as demonstrated by the millions of page views per month, and the tens of thousands of unique visitors per month. So it's unlikely there will be major changes coming. The site needs to be easy to use, as well as easy to run and moderate since we all have jobs we need to do on the side and we don't need something that takes up more time.

One problem I see on other boards where a larger number of forums are created (check out the UNI board for example) is that fewer people over time ever visit the forums not dedicated to the main interest (basketball). So most of those forums rarely get any visitors and many go months without any posts. Also, if anything important ever did get posted in one of those rarely visited forums, nobody would ever see it.

[Bradleyguy10]

If it ain't broke don't fix it. We don't need 20 different forums. Just title the threads better and leave your mouse over the title for a couple of seconds to get a glimpse of what the first post is about..if it doesn't interest you then move on..that's how you can save time.

[mrcoachdude]

like it the way it is....

[InMnBob1]

How about a Jim les and sam m forum too? Seems we enjoy beating those old drums

[thefish7]

I wouldn't necessarily split into a whole bunch of forums, but a forum dedicated to all non-basketball BU-sports would really help increase the exposure of those sports instead of mixing them in here or in the general sports forum. And in fact, as far as I can tell, this is the only forum in the MVCverse that doesn't include at least one forum for BU-related talk about sports other than basketball and football. To be honest, it looks pretty bad.

You could have:
BU basketball forum
BU sports forum
General sports forum
Off-topic/lolpolitics forum

And fold some of the current forums (like the recruiting forum) as a subforum under the basketball forum or other relevant forum.

Occasional disagreements I have aside , the raw information provided by everyone is solid and reorganization would highlight it better.

I personally think this structure would work the best.

[ancona flash]

I appreciate this site. DC does a great job. This is the place to be.

I second that emotion. Glad for all the work the mods do, it's kind of like officiating, you never hear much feedback about your job until some disagrees with you. So thanks for keeping the site running!

And as much as I love summer, reading this board gets me ready for cold winter nights in Carver.

[wizard1]

Message Board

DC & t---I for one think you guys do a terriffic job with the message board. If it ain't broke, don't fix it so I feel the format is just fine, as is.

Your investment of valuable time and mucho $$$ gives all of us an opportunity to get the latest BU news, learn what is going on in the basketball world, exchange thoughts and viewpoints, and occasionally vent some of our very strongly held opinions.

While we don't always agree, our discussions are always interesting and often challanging.

and---our one abiding interest is BU and the success of its athletic programs.

Keep up the good work!!
Wiz