Six Months Later
by cocknfire on Apr 2, 2009 2:59 AM EDT
in General
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PrintUnless you were surfing the Interwebs particularly late on the evening of October 1, 2008, the first time any of you likely saw this site was six months ago today. Since then, we have logged nearly 33,000 hits -- not a terribly impressive number by the blogosphere's standard, but not too bad for an SEC blog that started in the middle of one of the worst football seasons the league has experienced in some time.
I'm not going to lie to you: I think we've done pretty well here -- myself, Year 2 and a couple of others here and there along the way -- and I think you, the readers/commenters have been wonderful. But I'm not satisfied yet. I won't be until this is one of the most vibrant SEC communities on the Web, and with some of the recent improvements to the already spectacular SBN platform and a major push to promote the site over the summer, we'll be working toward that goal.
As part of that effort, and as we do periodically, this is your open thread for suggestions. (I know, I know, basketball -- if you know any good bloggers willing to shoulder the load, let us know.) Do you like Sprints, our daily news feature, or not? What have been your favorite posts? Is there a particular type of feature you would like to see?
It's not just lip service when I say this is your blog, too -- we're just the inmates running this asylum. Any suggestions (offered constructively, of course) are welcome.
Mostly, though, I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you. Thank each and every one of you for the contributions, complaints and corrections of my sleep-deprived mistakes.
You are the ones that make whatever time and energy we put into this effort worth it.
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You may already have something like this in the works.
But I think it’d be great if you had some kind of regular input from the bloggers of each of the respective SEC SBNation blogs, perhaps email interviews or something along those lines.
Anyways enjoy the blog, keep it up.
Agree
Batting stuff back and forth with other SBN blogs seems like a very good idea.
http://anythingbutgatorade.blogspot.com - yet another SEC sports blog
by Anything but Gatorade on Apr 2, 2009 9:56 AM EDT up reply actions
I like Sprints...
I think one of the great things about this blog is that it serves as a hub of sorts, so the conference-wide link dumps are a good feature.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans. http://www.garnetandblackattack.com
The West
I think it would be good at some point to recruit a fan of an SEC West team to become a regular contributor. I do the best I can to keep up with the whole league, but I have a Gator bent and all the natural analogies I come up with deal with eastern division teams.
Some representation from that side would be good, I think.
Agreed
Sprints is a daily must-read. Definitely keep it.
Interviews with S.E.C. bloggers from within and without the network would be welcome, as long as used judiciously. There’s a point at which it becomes too insular. Interviewing both SB Nation team bloggers the week before a key conference game would be good, though.
C&F, I enjoy and respect your work, but I would appreciate it if the Bulldog-bashing was a bit less constant. I wholeheartedly approve of rival-bashing on team-specific blogs (I hate Auburn), but you rarely miss an opportunity to malign my alma mater and it becomes tiresome after a while at what might fairly be called a “neutral site.” (See what I did there?) I’d be grateful if you could contain, if only slightly, your glee at any misfortune that befalls Georgia.
Otherwise, you’re doing fine work all the way around.
Go 'Dawgs!
My aim is irreverency
And I hope I tweak all teams about equally. Examples:
Tennesee fans: Jonathan Crompton will be your quarterback. Do not panic. No, see, running from the room with your hand over your ears going “Nah! Nah! Nah! I can’t hear you!” is exactly the kind of thing hooper is talking about … [Sprints // 03.30.09]
At least it’s not 9/11. Nick Saban now sees games more like hurricanes. Nick, some unsolicited advice: Stay away from metaphors that involve, you know, people dying. [Sprints // 03.25.09]
It’s not that I doubt Boy Wonder means to say some or all of what he says. It’s that he doesn’t realize what he’s getting into. No, Urban Meyer doesn’t need the taunting to want to hang 50 on the Vols. But the prodding by Kiffin gives Meyer yet another reason to try to score half a hundred. [Sprints // 03.19.09]
Chizik vs. Bill Stewart. Now there’s a clash of the game’s mental giants. [Sprints // 03.12.09
Apparently, Ed Orgeron is up to his old tricks again. Coaches, taking off shirts. The Tennessee football program has officially become the world’s most expensive frat party. [Sprints // 03.02.09]
When they gather near Birmingham next year, the assembled media will likely once again scribble Kentucky’s name in the fifth slot on their SEC East ballots, once again behind South Carolina and ahead of Vanderbilt. They might be off a spot or two in a muddled division that will soon be known as “Florida … and everyone else.” It will be hard for those reporters to break their habit. So far, Kentucky has given them no reason to. [We Were Wrong, But No Need to Apologize]
Why on earth would any self-respecting football program fire Tommy Tuberville and hire a guy who went an astonishing 5-19 in the atrocious Big XII North, ending his tenure with a 10-game losing streak? Chizik, after all, went 2-4 against non-BCS foes, including a 1-1 record against the FCS. His largest margin of victory against a conference foe was 11, which came last year against woeful Kansas State. [Auburn Goes with Chizik, Because … um, Because …]
Even South Carolina has taken a few lumps.
And, why is this Stephen Garcia’s best spring practice ever? (Answer: So far, he’s remained sober.) [Sprints // 03.18.09]
Actually, there are a few optimistic scenarios for South Carolina in 2009 — almost all of which begin with “If Stephen Garcia can remain sober …” and very few of which end in “South Carolina will finish in the Top 10. Okay, none of which end in "South Carolina will finish in the Top 10. [”http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2009/3/3/778590/sprints-03-03-09">Sprints // 03.03.09]
And i’ve said nice things about Georgia:
And the smart money is on Richt to turn things around. He has always done best when his teams are counted out. [Boulevard of Broken Dreams]
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
So, to continue, I don't think I've been way out of line
I do make the occasional reference to the fact that I don’t like Georgia, but I do the same for Boy Wonder (Lane Kiffin), the Gypsy Coach of the South (Bobby Petrino), etc. And I don’t see it as much different than Orson, at a national blog, taking his shots at Tennessee.
But I’ll keep it in mind.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Just to be clear
I don’t think you’ve been way out of line, or even out of line, necessarily. If it was a big deal, I’d have e-mailed you about it privately to address it. I only offered it as a constructive criticism in response to a request for feedback.
I see your point about it being spread around among all the teams, and perhaps I’m just a bit sensitive to it because I’m shocked at the level of vitriol there is from the South Carolina side of the rivalry, since it largely isn’t reciprocated from the Georgia side. (I have much stronger feelings about the Bulldogs’ rivalry with Clemson, and we’ve only played the Tigers four times in the last 17 years, a period during which we’ve played the Gamecocks annually as a division rival.)
In short, I hope I didn’t overstate the case. I’m not losing sleep nights or contemplating boycotting Team Speed Kills or anything; I only answered because you asked.
Y’all are doing a fine job here, though. Keep up the good work.
Go 'Dawgs!
And I do appreciate the feedback
Like I said, I’ll be mindful of it.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Thanks
As far as driving traffic is concerned, we SB Nation bloggers need to be mindful not only of our team-specific blogs, but of our league-specific blogs (Big Ten, S.E.C.), as well.
Many of us think to link to, say, Rocky Top Talk when referencing Tennessee, but it’s easier to forget the conference-focused weblogs in the network. We simply need to make it our practice, whenever referencing the Southeastern Conference, to drop a link to Team Speed Kills. It’s a little thing, but it creates a habit of checking.
Y’all do good work here and it’s a useful aggregator of information that is neither too narrow (focused on a single team) nor too general (focused on college football as a whole). The more folks make the first stop here, the more folks will keep coming back.
Also, y’all need a theme song. I suggest taking the “Teamocil” song from “Arrested Development” and changing it to “Team Speed Kills.” Whether you want to include a disclaimer listing possible side effects is your call.
Go 'Dawgs!
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