A Sports Board?????

Yes, my mind has been really moving with new ideas this week. Don't really know why. What would some of the users in here say to creating a sports board? I figure since we have a politics board (The Senate Floor), an artistic board (The Amphitheater), why not try making a sports board (The Podrace Arena) and see what happens? I think it would be awesome to have a focus group discussion on whether this would be a feasable and worthwhile thing to do. We would have to look at things like:

1. Is there enough interest in sports throughout the JC to warrant having it's own seperate board? (I think there probably is. I know a lot of sports discussion goes on in many different places in the JC. I've seen frequent sports discussion from YJCC to the 3NSA. And I think there is an interest in so many different kinds of sports that putting all that in one place would cause a lot of good discussion)

2. Would having a sports board influence more posting concerning sports? (Again, I think it would. Having a seperate place for people to go and ramble about sports without having to make threads in the YJCC or elsewhere and concentrating sports discussion in one place will increase posting)

3. What types of threads would be posted there? (Obviouslly anything related to Sports. I see a Sports board being used for many different types of threads, ranging from team fan threads to general discussion about a particular sport to major headlines from the news concerning sports. I also think that having a sports thread would open up a lot of varied discussion about a lot of different sports/topics.)

Before venturing further with this proposal, I'd like some feedback on what you guys think. And please don't just bash the idea because you personally don't have an interest in sports because I know there are quite a few JCers who do. Should this be something we should look into further? I think we should. This would do for the YJCC what Amphitheater and Senate Floor did.......

 

Yes, my mind has been really moving with new ideas this week.

I'm assuming you're not a Comms regular then. The idea's been brought up a number of times, and each time it's been deemed that it's not a good idea. Personally, I think that the JCC has already lost some of what makes it an interesting place to visit, and a sports forum would further reduce what content remains.

On a positive note, though, you're the first person I remember who has brought up the idea of more sports discussion being spawned from a sports forum, which I think is true. One of the bigger arguments against it is the potential lack of discussion that would happen there, but I've always considered that somewhat tenuous. I would expect it to stabilise at about the same level of activity as the Amphitheatre, possibly slightly lower.

 

It's a nice suggestion. And one of the best written I've ever read on this request before. But they always end up arguing no, and the issue is dropped.

It's felt the forum wouldn't be that active enough to create one. And I agree with that. Again, great idea though.

 

There were very strong reasons for creating the Senate forum. Namely that it moves religious and political threads out of the JCC which are typically very heated debates. Having a separate forum allows the Senate mods to have a separate set of rules (much stronger) than we have in the JCC which results in heated, but tolerant debates.

Separating the Amp from the JCC allowed a dedicated forum for indepth discussion of the arts. Some threads still exist in both forums (ie some movies or bands), but the discussion in each is very different, and works well in each forum.

Sports is one of the remaining strong points of the JCC. We have very active football, NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL threads. At the right time we've had great Olympic, tennis and golf threads. It's one of the few things that everyone agrees works well in the JCC.

Firstly, there isn't enough interest in sports to have a dedicated forum. Secondly, this is starwars message board, and can't have a forum for everyone's favourite topic. There are countless sports message boards on the net that you could sign up for.

 

How many times has this idea been brought up in the past. Just curious? Cause if this idea has kept getting thrown around over and over, maybe THERE IS enough interest out there to actually warrant having one made. I'm not looking to pressure the JC into creating a new board or anything. I just think we should leave the concept open for a while, let some more users voice their opinions on the matter, and maybe make a focus group to really discuss this in depth. Also, I'm not sure comms is the best place for a proposal thread like this, as not everyone frequently visits comms as often as boards like YJCC.

 

Cause if this idea has kept getting thrown around over and over, maybe THERE IS enough interest out there to actually warrant having one made.

Interest shouldn't be the primary reason for creating a new forum, as there has also been interest in a Games/Social threads forum and a non-SW fanfic forum. Necessity to the JC as a whole and its effect on other boards within the JC should also be taken into account. Is a sports forum really necessary on a Star Wars message board? How is the JCC not able to handle all sports talk? All you'd end up getting with a sports forum is significantly shorter, much more specific versions of the threads found within the JCC. Is a forum where everyone starts a thread on their favorite team or athlete really worthwhile? The threads in the JCC seem to handle the traffic pretty well and taking even more out of the JCC will only hurt it more.

Amazing.

 

Heh, now that you mention it, there is a gaming board as well already in existance. It's called Games: Boards and Videogames, and non star wars discussion concerning games goes on in there as well. Seems like a Sports board is the only thing lacking from the JC IMHO. All the other major areas of culture are covered with Politics, The Arts, and Video Games.

 

Heh, now that you mention it, there is a gaming board as well already in existance. It's called Games: Boards and Videogames, and non star wars discussion concerning games goes on in there as well. Seems like a Sports board is the only thing lacking from the JC IMHO. All the other major areas of culture are covered with Politics, The Arts, and Video Games.

By a Games forum, they mean a place to move all of the on-board games (such as the Gauntlet, Mafia, etc), not a place to discuss various games.

Also, since you are not a Sentate regular, I can understand why you are so confused over the purpose of the Senate. The Senate is not designed as a political forum, but it is designed for in-depth discussion of more mature issues. This includes politics, religion, social issues, or other, similar topics. However, this is not to say that those topics are not allowed in the JCC as well. They are (for example, there was a major election thread there). The differntiating factor is not the topic, but the type of discussion.

The important thing to consider is what would be gained by creating this new forum, and what would be lost. WHat would its purpose be? In-depth discussion of sports? You can do that in the Senate (and we have had such threads in the past). Gathering all the sports threads into one place? You can still do that in the JCC by creating an index.

What problems would be solved by creating a Sports forum? Would it make known troublesome threads easier to moderate? Is there a need for different rules for sports threads?

The "neato" factor ("it would be neat to...") isn't enough to create a new forum. It has to have a clear purpose and a driving need.

Kimball Kinnison

 

Thank you Kimball. That is honostly the most useful post I've seen yet. I'll have answers to those questions in depth shortly.

I will say however that creating a seperate sports board WOULD do the following:

1. YJCC mods would have less on their plates as far as threads to sift through.

2. A lot of the time, sports threads get lost in YJCC along with all the clutter that goes on in there. I know a lot of sports discussion goes on not only in YJCC, but in other places. Local Fan Force boards etc. Creating a seperate board would make discussion of sports easier and more accessable to users.

3. What would it be taking away from the YJCC? Not much. The YJCC is still going to get the same usual number of goofy posts ranging on all different kinds of topics.

4. A sports board would allow for broader discussion of topics and issues.

5. As I've said before, we have senate for political in depth mature issues, amphitheater for in depth arts issues, and the games board where people discuss non star wars games like Half Life 2, Halo etc. In all honosty, sports is the only major category being left out.

6. What would we have to lose from having a focus group, or doing a trial run of the board? If it flops, we would lock the board up permanently. Simple as that.

 

1. YJCC mods would have less on their plates as far as threads to sift through.

The sports threads require little (if any) moderation by us. They typically run perfectly fine because of their nature.

2. A lot of the time, sports threads get lost in YJCC along with all the clutter that goes on in there.

But thats why we have the JCC index thread, which links to all of the official threads. IIRC I have not locked a redundant sports thread (ie a recreation of the NFL etc) in my as moderator. The sports threads have a huge number of regular posters and the threads are rarely off the first two pages.

3. What would it be taking away from the YJCC? Not much. The YJCC is still going to get the same usual number of goofy posts ranging on all different kinds of topics.

But what you are taking away is one of the last few remaining legimate JCC subject areas.

4. A sports board would allow for broader discussion of topics and issues.

There's nothing stopping that happening in the JCC, or better still the Senate (as KK has explained)

5.... In all honosty, sports is the only major category being left out.

We'd also need a Science forum, and a Financial forum, a Comic Book forum, a Forum for pregnant mothers and a forum dedicated to your pets and how to own them. "Major" is very subjective, and the JC can't be everything for everyone (to steal Jefffffff's sig).

6. What would we have to lose from having a focus group, or doing a trial run of the board? If it flops, we would lock the board up permanently. Simple as that.

I don't think it needs to go that far - Comms has a very high profile, and is read by a huge number of members. If this really was an important issue, and there was a high demand then that would be apparent in this thread.

(ie, see previous issues such as slash fan-fiction to see the number of posts a thread with real important gets)

 

But it's not as simple as that. It would take away valuable admin/mod time from things that have to be resolved now, like the PT merge. It's just not that important in the scheme of things.

 

I agree with malkie (for once) on this issue. The sports threads in the YJCC are suffice enough for discussion, and they normally run smoothly enough. In the extremely unlikely case that a sports forum was made, the whole thing would just be a mess.

 

"Seems like a Sports board is the only thing lacking from the JC IMHO. All the other major areas of culture are covered with Politics, The Arts, and Video Games."

The four major areas of culture are sports, politics, the arts, and video games?

The only thing a sports forum would successfully do is add another non-Star Wars forum to the list of forums that people constantly reference as precident as to why they should be able to create another non-Star Wars forum.

 

Wow, thanks Jeff for another good laugh. I nearly lost it when I read your post. lmao! I'd like to thank everyone for at least argueing and argueing well the other side of the issue. You guys bring up good points and while it seems unlikely there will ever be a Sports board, I stand by my original opinion.

 

> The four major areas of culture are sports, politics, the arts, and video games?

Absolutely. Welcome to the new millenium, Jeff.

 

I agree with JP30

 

We'd also need a Science forum, and a Financial forum, a Comic Book forum, a Forum for pregnant mothers and a forum dedicated to your pets and how to own them. "Major" is very subjective, and the JC can't be everything for everyone (to steal Jefffffff's sig).

Don't forget a Star Trek forum.

 

And, if we're going off the number of threads they get in the JCC as some sort of basis... a relationship help forum, a computer help forum, and a "random story from my life that nobody else seems to care about" forum.

 

...the Homework Help forum, the Game forum, ect.

 

"random story from my life that nobody else seems to care about" forum.............."

True in so many ways, but now your just trying to make up jokes cause I found your first one funny...........

 

Sorry, Typho, I gotta agree that it's just not the right place to have a sports-specific forum.

Quite honestly, if I want to discuss the NBA, I'll go to an NBA forum, not the JC.

 

As many have said before, It's a Star Wars forum, not a forum about current day events. That said, these boards should specialize in discussion about the 6 Star Wars movies and the marketing/commercialism that surrounds them.

It's almost amazing that we have a Community forum, the Amphitheater, and the Senate. 3 forums that do not discuss Star Wars at all are enough for a Star Wars board.

In conclussion, it's a good idea, and you ever have a neat name picked out, but it just doesn't fit the atmosphere that these boards are supposed to provide.

 

These boards should keep as much focus on Star Wars as possible. Anything detracting from the focus of Star Wars is off topic and therefore isn't a requirement on these forums. Be glad for what you have, and keep the sports discussion to the appropriate JCC threads.

 

I'm pretty sure he's glad for what he has.

 

I was speaking more to people in general than any one person in particular.