I would pay for
- Thread starter wvpaper
- Start date
Oh.... ...you were referring to media premium services like Rivals that have recruiting/news sites that cover specific teams.
Well, may I ask with how many of them do you subscribe ? It'll help evaluate and respond to your original post now that I understand it better,
Ha.
Ok, I'll play along.
None, but I can read the titles of all the subscription only articles.
You know both that I've subscribed to several sites (three..one not being 24/7) and you're putting me in an awkward situation because now for some reason I'm defending a product as a customer.
...but here we are....
I wasn't satisfied by the recruiting/news coverage from the other two sites I payed good cash to get but this place is pretty good with premium content and exceptional with info provided on the premium forum (Blue Lot). Basketball is EASILY given do coverage on that forum...I mean damn even baseball gets plenty of attention.
I mean even when I take involuntary vacations I keep paying to read content....for whatever that's worth...
Lol. I won't argue your gibberish just to please you. I'll end this by suggesting you count the football articles in basketball season and the basketball articles in football season. Then make your own determination.
I already expressed my 'own determination'.
I suggest you actually subscribe to a (any) 'service' before reviewing (and certainly before comparing) it. I made it clear that I have done just that.....and you wrote about seeing article topics (but can't actually read the articles)....
Are you really suggesting that your review of their services is more accurate than what I've actually experienced ??
I don't like the idea of anyone suggesting that Paper is cheap and wants things for free. No sir................I don't like that one bit.
agree. this is a golden era too.
in March, hoops coverage blows up, but it altogether doesn't equal football otherwise. WV hired DougityDog to do football videos, win or lose, which are cool, but hoops is behind despite being superior.
basketball recruiting stories are extremely hard to come by unless hoops recruits are accessed in person. the nature of it. AAU coaches will sometimes spill the beans to get their own attention. so few scholarships & tight-lipped is the general consensus. players will talk after signing & it's fun to read their in-season stories & see their videos.
would love a regular podcast, radio show, or YouTube show on Press Virginia. WVI has the Huggs' show here & there, which is okay & a bit PR advertising-like, & Tony C, Jacobs and Huggs do the in-season weekly radio show at Keglers where Huggs & others will dish out truth on all things. even Huggs said this time a year is hard with the radio show gone.
this is the best site hands down for WV coverage & fan discussion in its market. as a hoops diehard, would agree with any possible additional content on the bball side. that goes for content on former, present and future players, coaches, opponents, whatever. might be in the minority though -- I'm one who rewatches bball games multi times, even the tough ones. getting ready to take in the Gonz game again.
It's simply a matter of time and resources. I'll come right out and tell you that football and even football recruiting are on a completely different level when it comes to what people read when we produce content. The numbers show that fans read a football based article more than three times as much as men's basketball. So when I'm pushing the staff to produce more content I'm obviously going to want them to lean toward what the majority of fans want to read.
A few other things to consider would be the fact that we have access to 100+ football players and a dozen coaches and in basketball you have around 15 players and 3-4 coaches. That alone makes a huge difference in what we put on the site. And then there is recruiting, they couldn't be more different. You can interview football players all day, every day and still not get half of the ones available to you. In basketball your team is not recruiting nearly as many and then there's the fact that basketball players rarely do interviews.
We could always do better and it's my job to see that we do. I always appreciate the feedback and it's a big part of how we plan our content.
BTW, one thing I would add is this thread has a little chicken and egg feel to it. Paper says he would subscribe if a publication had more bball coverage and as an owner I can say that we would produce more basketball content if people like him were subscribers.
Ok, I've been on this site for 6/7 years. This is by far the best site when it comes to basketball. We have excellent discussions and down right arguments on the blue lot all the time about basketball. I've always been a BB 1st FB 2nd fan but love both..........I'm just a college BB junkie. We have quite a few BB junkies on the BL.
Besides what we get from staff we get great inside from Blue lot members that is worth the price of subscription. Like any other board, we have dust ups from time to time but Vernon allows great leeway for issues to resolve themselves instead of censoring people. I also like that aspect.
@wvpaper
Besides what we get from staff we get great inside from Blue lot members that is worth the price of subscription. Like any other board, we have dust ups from time to time but Vernon allows great leeway for issues to resolve themselves instead of censoring people. I also like that aspect.
@wvpaper
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Thanks for the endorsement. :smiley: Seriously though you mentioned something I should have earlier. The basketball freaks on the Blue Lot add some serious value. Guys like Thick and NJMountie drop some stats and info that everyone loves.
More than just them, but those two are the best by far. Thick gets paid by basketball teams all over the country for his services and drops great insight on the BL. Cthru also brings great insight. And NJgman always knows the good word on everything WVU basketball.
oh man, my bad, no complaints! didn't mean anything negative. this site is my top recommended & frequented.
it's always a football first University for sure. Huggs has the hoops program testing that adage. great that there's success, interest & coverage in both major sports. not many have that.
like Bobby said, there's top shelf hoops content & discussion here no doubt. it's hard to come by & nice to have an outlet for it.
I didn't take it as a complaint at all. Even if it was that is the right of any user, although I would hope it would be constructive criticism. I've wanted to cover other sports the same way we do football but I know it's not realistic for us.
I could open up another can of worms and tell you guys that schools are making it so difficult for the media to cover their teams today. The schools used to work at helping us but today it's as if they are competing with us, well actually they are competing with us. It's probably the most frustrating thing we deal with anymore.
Trust me I will say this I would LOVE to do more basketball recruiting but outside traveling to AAU circuits it's almost impossible to get. It's not like football, there are limited numbers and players wall themselves off from talking to the media by the time they are freshmen for the most part. It's just a different game and a tough nut to crack. As for our coverage here, I do get updates with as many of the new offers as I can and try to hit it hard. I personally broke the news on several of the commitments in this class including Wesley Harris, Brandon Knapper and D'Angelo Hunter. And as @BobbyBoucheer can vouch for I kept everybody abreast on the situation with Derek Culver before he committed when many people thought he was going to end up elsewhere.
I think when it comes to actually covering the team, you won't find better elsewhere. I break down stats, numbers, trends almost immediately after every game and provide features and other content as well.
you guys kick ***. know firsthand how difficult recruiting coverage is, esp basketball.
some of us are probably a little addicted at times. & it's heightened a bit at least to me when the early withdrawal begins after march madness concludes.
keep it up - I'm glad to donate a little something, buy someone deserving a subscription perhaps, spread the word, etc.
some of us are probably a little addicted at times. & it's heightened a bit at least to me when the early withdrawal begins after march madness concludes.
keep it up - I'm glad to donate a little something, buy someone deserving a subscription perhaps, spread the word, etc.
Actually he's been sending me his weekly allowance from his parents and I appreciate it. :grimace:
Personally I think they all have something to offer when it comes to basketball and do a pretty good job.
One more thing I thought 24/7 did cover basketball?
One more thing I thought 24/7 did cover basketball?
IMO, WVPaper is one of the most well informed posters on this particular forum, and that includes both football and basketball. If some of you would pay attention to paper, you could likely learn quite a bit.
No one likes criticism, constructive or not. So it's a good thing I don't care about that
Track down Wesley Harris or d'angelo Hunter for an interview and I'll fork over the big bucks. What is that now, $8.95 a month?
Football has been boring for years. I don't have the web click analytics but I believe folks are hungry for basketball news. Everyone likes to follow a winning program.
Track down Wesley Harris or d'angelo Hunter for an interview and I'll fork over the big bucks. What is that now, $8.95 a month?
Football has been boring for years. I don't have the web click analytics but I believe folks are hungry for basketball news. Everyone likes to follow a winning program.
I did have interviews with both and will try again for updates, but the second part of your statement isn't true. Football always will be the big draw and the numbers prove that.
I didn't say you don't get more hits for football, just that I believe a lot of people are hungry for basketball news now too. I know a large percentage of WVU fans don't follow, care for, or even understand basketball. But the WVU football news market is saturated.
My suggestion, if you want to call it that, is there's a market that someone could make money in if someone could produce basketball content at something close to the current football levels. But, as you said, that may be impossible.
Thanks for all your hard work, Keenan.
I'll have that Hunter update in about an hour, Harris is a tougher nut to crack only spoke with him once on the phone but I'll try to get that one as well. Had one with Knapper last week and obviously Culver's situation.
Updates from both Harris and Hunter from this afternoon here: https://westvirginia.forums.rivals....-two-junior-college-wvu-hoops-signees.143080/ ($)
I'll have articles with both later this week.
Thought of this for you...
"Better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."
-Abraham Lincoln-