The 2009 In Lou We Trust Feedback/Complaint Station
by John Fischer on Sep 12, 2009 10:20 AM EDT
21 comments
As veterans officially report for physicals today for the New Jersey Devils' training camp, now is a good time to bring up the issue of feedback. Training camp and preseason are traditionally times where we focus on players looking to earn or keep a spot on the NHL team, demonstrating their progress in their development, and making their case to be kept within the organization.
At the same time, I would like to know what you think should be done here to make this a better blog. The New Jersey Devils are a World Class hockey team. Therefore, the team deserves a World Class blog about them. But I can't be fully sure how to make that happen without your opinion.
Now, there will be some additions and changes soon enough. I just want to make sure there isn't something blindingly obvious that I'm missing that you'd want to see. Therefore, I want you to make your suggestions and thoughts about this site and what would like to see here at In Lou We Trust. Feel free to even complain about the site, perhaps you have a point that many others may share.
If you don't feel comfortable putting it into a comment, feel free to e-mail me your thoughts. And of course, nothing you say here will be held against you elsewhere unless you are outright breaking the rules. Some more detailed questions and some site information come after the jump.
For reference, since the opening of ILWT here at SBNation, there have been 149,897 visitors and 254,003 page views. Here's how it broke down by month. Apparently, the draft, Brent Sutter quitting on the Devils, free agency, and the hiring of Jacques Lemaire led to the most visits and page views in late June and in July overall. Hopefully, this will carry through the season when the Devils are playing (and winning) hockey games. Your suggestions could make this site even bigger - again a World Class blog for a World Class hockey team.
Here are a few questions to consider in case you're not sure what to suggest. Feel free to bring up anything else about the site that you'd like to talk or complain about.
- Do you prefer reading about my (or any of the writer's) reactions to Devils news; or do you just want the news presented so you can just comment on them?
- Time from time, I jump on a topic and delve into some stats, such as the Devils' power play or what penalties are being taken by a certain player. Would you want to see more of these or less of these?
- Comments are not as prolific as on other sites, even though I feel the quality of the comments are pretty good here. I make a point of it to read as many, if not all, comments made. Do I need to be less responsive to them and just "let them grow," or is it best that I (or someone else) respond to them? Is there something else going on discouraging comments?
- Should I put myself out there? I have no problem meeting anyone at a game - provided things don't too awkward or weird. But would there be any interest?
All FanPosts and FanShots are the respective work of the author and not representative of the writers or other users of In Lou We Trust.
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RUMOURS
I know obviously you dont want to put a hole bunch of untrue rumours on your site but im sure all devils fans with the lack of moves lou does would like a few rumours just to brighten our moods during free agency
Matthew Hunter
You sort of hit on the main reason why you really don’t see rumors here. I really don’t want to be wrong on 98% of the things I write like some other sites online.
The other main reason is, get this, I don’t have any sources. So I really don’t know what’s rumored outside of what you may know.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Sep 13, 2009 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions
If you run a tight ship and actually post some great stuff....
… after a while you will be respected by people in the industry. I think the guys at Mile High Report are now getting press invites to off-season workouts and the sort. Thye also got a press pass to the NFL Draft this season. All due to their hard work and awesome reporting/commenting/blogging/whatever.
Been coming to your site since it was on the old server. Its always been one of my favorite hockey blogs (of course being a great blog about my favorite team gives it a leg up). Like Mirtle’s site you do a lot of analysis and make use of a lot of statistics to support your point (as a social scientist I love reading the posts where you start with a question/hypothesis and then test it). I also think that the quality of comments on this blog is high, although Ive noticed that there isn’t the volume you’d expect with the traffic the site gets. Im not sure why this is, although it seems a lot of the comments from some of the other blogs on SB Nation (e.g. Broad Steet and the Canes Blog) occur while games are on, and I dont see that happening much here. Ive been surprised with the volume of comments over this summer so maybe we’ll see an upswing in the coming season. All in all, great job and Im sure any changes will make the site even better.
No complaints here
With a wealth of hockey resources out there on the interwebs, I consistently choose this site because I like the style, the coverage, the insights and the fan input best.
The only suggestion I’d offer, and this isn’t to sound like a jerk, is to proofread your posts a little more.
Outside of that, I think you’re doing a bang up job and hope you continue to do so for a very long time :)
Is it hockey season yet?
No, that’s not to sound like a jerk, it’s a fair point. How can we take anything we read seriously if it’s fraught with errors?
I will make a better effort to proofread my pots.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Sep 14, 2009 7:36 PM EDT up reply actions
I have no cowbell. And I prefer ripping guitar leads anyway.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Sep 14, 2009 7:36 PM EDT up reply actions
I'll start with the bad, then go to the things I'd like to see.
Too many exclamation points in weird places. Also, you either need to let people bash on the trolls or just ban them as they spring up (especially as the playoffs approach). On a site that has such a low comment volume, every trollish comment is magnified that much more.
Responding to every comment is not always necessary and sometimes a distraction, but doing so pads the counts a little bit and makes the site feel a little less empty, so I can’t complain either way.
I’d like to see a relaxing on the rules in game threads. I get excited, and instead of coming here to shout and celebrate (or wail and knash teeth, as the case may be), I tend to stay away from this site because I don’t want to worry about watching my mouth (fingers). Hockey’s a visceral sport, and disallowing the expression of fandom in visceral terms means that I’m more likely to celebrate in my living room than come here if I have to think about what I’m saying. I’m not saying you have to go full-out Lookout Landing, but pushing that line out might do some good.
Also, I want interviews. With anyone. Find a way to get a hold of the equipment manager and ask him about the differences in sticks that players like, or how to properly re-blade a skate, for all I care. Start sending questions to the other SBN sites when we play their teams. If you can get a Zajac or Brodeur, I wouldn’t complain, but it’s a feature that I would like to see regardless of who is interviewed.
Them’s my thoughts, take em or leave em. I’ll still stop by and read and comment off and on no matter what, but above is what it would take for me to take more interest in the site. I’m not sure I’m in the majority, but I know I’m not the only one that feels this way.
Thanks for this thread, John. I didn’t really think about why I don’t come here as often before, but just asking the question made me think about what it takes for me to really like a forum-based website.
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
These are all fair points and the sort of feedback I’d like getting.
With respect to trolling, I’ll be more direct at it not being allowed. As a tip, any user can “flag” a comment that may be breaking some of the rules.
With respect to GameThreads, I see your point. Truth be told, it’s not as if I have a perfectly clean mouth (I certainly do not) and I understand it’s about the heat of the moment. That said, I pride myself on running a clean blog that all can enjoy for the most part. Don’t expect it to change too much, but I’ll think about it.
Interviews? OK. At a minimum, I can try and get something with the other SBNation hockey sites.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Sep 15, 2009 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Mile High Report is the best there is
Those guys run the show great over there. Awesome posts and insight from true Broncos fans. Maybe a bit too much orange koolade at times, but it’s a great place to read about my favorite NFL team.
I think what they do takes a lot of time and dedication. I also love it because they do a great job with killing the trolls and flamers in the comments section. If some d-bag posts garbage, it doesn’t last very long on the board. Negative posts are allowed, but only if they are backed up with some thoughful insight, aren’t full of expletives and not just state “The Broncos suck!” or etc.
If you want to comment on MSM articles and the sort, I’d look forward to reading it.
This is where I go for my Devils news
NJ.com/Devils – Okay stuff, but the comments section and message board are the worst. There are a few good regulars there talking bout the Devs, but too many Rag$ trolls and there’s a certain idiot there with 5 different user accounts that has conversations with himself everyday on the board about why the Devils suck. Ugh. Avoid those message boards at all costs.
nypost.com/sports/devils – I read it more for a laugh really: This is the Rag$’ rag through and through. If it were a little softer, I’d use it for toilet paper. But that’s what Avery jerseys are for.
devils.nhl.com/index.html - Home team website. Not much else to say.
northjersey.com/sports/pro_sports/hockey/devils/ – Slow in the off-season, but not bad. Mostly the same stuff you can read from the MSM with a Tom Gulitti twist.
sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/teams/devils/ – They do a good job pulling Devils news and stats, and etc. Out of all the MSM sites, this one is the best.
Um, thanks for that SinDonor, but I don’t understand your point here?
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The Devils SBN Blog
Which point?
The one about posting the Devils’ sites for news? I dunno, just it’s where I go to get my Devils fix. If you guys already hit all these sites, then sweet, it’s gonna save me some surfin time.
Before I became a reg at MHR, I had to go to a bunch of different sites to find Broncos’ news. Now, I don’t have to bc the guys over there not only corral all the news for us, but they also provide their own take on many of the columns and opinons, etc.
Just spreading the info to the people who post here….
Right. Well, given that this is a comments thread/post about what to suggest for this site – a site that has been, does, and will continue to feature commentary on news as well as Tibbs’ posting up news links from those sites and others.
To me, what you’re saying is, “Hey, this is what I read,” which is all well and good; but I don’t see how it fits? Maybe I’m being dense and I’m not understanding something?
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Sep 15, 2009 7:00 PM EDT up reply actions
I guess I am being a bit vague...
My point was to post the sites I know of that contain regualr Devils news. From the sound of it, you go to all of these sites already. I dunno, just trying to be helpful I guess…
Devil's Pride
One thing I’d like to see is on occasion this site make it a point to call out experts who make it a point to call into question this team and the players accomplishments. You have been doing a good job of that with your 2009-2010 Preview analysis posts but for example…
When Marty got the wins record last year, THN had the audacity to post an article about how Roy is truly a better Goaltender than Marty will ever be the very next day! That’s just tasteless for a site like THN to do. Especially when ALL of hockey should be celebrating Brodeur’s accomplishment.
I’d love on occasion for In Lou We Trust to make it a point to publicly comment on articles like that as the voice of NJ devils fans.
Definitely. Though the beauty of FanPosts is that you can easily do that yourself. So if I – as well as Tibbs and Steve – miss something, you can state your piece about an article or an opinion.
I have no problem with an alternative opinion provided it’s reasoned, follows the rules, and makes some sense.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The Devils SBN Blog
by John Fischer on Sep 20, 2009 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Interaction
Although I am fairly new to this site I knew from the beginning it would be a fixture in my daily distraction from work. I probably read my Hockey News for the feel and smell of newsprint and check NHL.com for my general news and fancy photo spreads…but I feel at inlouwetrust.com I am part of the process. (Albeit a small part of the process…a part nonetheless). Which is important because we are all here for the same reason…but do not necessarily all have the same views,feelings etc. Hence here we can all agree to disagree or agree or even have no opinion or comment whatsoever. That being said all of this ability to interact with the site would be pointless if it wasn’t as thorough and insightful as it is. So far I can’t really see anything that needs improving at all….
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