Topic of merging this site with Disciples of Uecker

[molitor fan]

As someone that has been on this site for a decade and a half...holy crap....I hold genuine affection for the people that have poured such intense energy into it and the Brewers in general....I honestly think the Brewers should have a fan plaque at the stadium honoring the efforts of Brian, Jim, Patrick, Toby and others over the past 15 years - they have done a great deal, I believe into helping produce a true attendance anomaly in Milwaukee as it does not make sense that out attendance over the last decade has been so strong....

 

Life and circumstances has made it increasingly difficult to put new articles and opinion pieces as well as an independent power 50 onto this site....however the forum has stayed quite strong and is set up extremely well and the link report is beyond outstanding - what Jim does for us as prospect fans will be very important for us this year, and I don't think I or others can thank him enough for what he does.

 

With that as sufficient preamble I hope, I come to the crux of my idea, which is to take the strengths of this site and meld it with the strengths of Nicholas and the others at Disciples of Uecker....they have outstanding content, and their site clarity is way above other Brewer sites that are also quality. Not sure if this is an idea mentioned previously by others or if the vision for the site is to just keep plugging along...if that is the case, I will be a very willing daily visitor....but as someone that holds genuine sentimentality for brewerfan.net, I want it to thrive and be something that I can point with pride to when I want to refer others in my dynasty leagues or others I know from coaching to get Brewer information....Not sure if the D of U people would have any interest in joining and this might be an idea that is met with ridicule, but I come at this looking at the future and recognizing the tremendous resources here and not as a criticism.

 

Thanks.

[And That]

We actually tried doing this very thing with DoU about five-six years ago after I wrote some stuff for them, but it never got legs. There was even a Brewefan wiki idea tossed around. Which again, obviously did not happen.

 

That said, we are still trying to figure out a way to push Brewerfan towards its next incarnation. I spoke with Brian about an idea this past Friday, and we'll see where it goes. I think it is pretty safe to say that there needs to be some sort of revamp in order to keep the site viable in the long term. If and when those decisions are made, we'll pass them on.

 

Please feel free to post any ideas anyone may have about what they want to see Brewerfan look like and/or how to add additional value to being a Brewer fan. The goal is to keep the site as simple and maintenance free as possible, but we're open to anything.

 

Thank you for the kind words and for coming back for 15 years - it has been a trip.

[Outlander]

If it means keeping a forum and adding content I am all for it. There are some pretty good articles up on DOU but very little discussion so it might be a good fit. Isn't there some affiliation with ESPN that has to be considered? Brewcrewball has articles and discussion but I have been reluctant to signup on their site.

[Crash2303]

yes- whatever it is that keeps this forum alive and vibrant I am all for. whether it is continuing as is or merging another site- whatever, but this forum is something I value deeply and check often. There are lots of sites to receive brewer info, articles, and interviews. However, there is NOWHERE that provides this respectful, knowledgeable, data driven argument based, insightful, welcoming, fun, and engaging forum for discussions. Especially surrounding the minor leagues and great linked resources like alumni trackers, transactions, link reports, and the community prospect list. although I have only started posting regularly in the past year, I've been here since the ESPN forum days (if some remembers that) and can credit Brewerfan for satiating my brewer obsession with endless hours of procrastination and providing a community of people who affirm my (dare I say) more comprehensive understanding and perspective of the brewer organization than others I talk brewers with who are more concerned with how many "Ribbys" braun knocked in last night mentality.

[molitor fan]

As the season approaches rapidly, I just wanted to revive this....I think that the link report this year is going to be insane, and the increased popularity of flagpolesitting our milb system indicates to me we need to value our resources as Brewer fans and not double up our work.....

 

D of U and brewcrewball do a nice job on the daily minor league reports as well, but the discussion of each days events is amazing on this site - a 35 post thread on any given day on the merits of Dustin Houle's athleticism speaks for itself

 

I don't want this idea to get buried if it does have some legs- i thing merging, or at least coordinating resources seems like a worthy effort

[And That]

Still working on it. Not forgotten.

[reillymcshane]

Still working on it. Not forgotten.

Nicholas Zettel is leaving Disciples of Uecker to take over Baseball Prospectus Milwaukee from JP Breen.

 

http://milwaukee.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/21/changing-directions-at-bp-milwaukee/

[jerichoholicninja]

I guess the only issue I see with BF.net are some of the new posters the last few years that are combative and hostile. I don't see how merging with another site would help that.

 

I think this place is great as is but it would be nice to see a little more content that's not just the forum. A thought I had over the winter would be if there were any of the more ambitious posters that would be interested in writing longer pieces or if any of the well-connected posters could get interviews with relevant interesting individuals. These wouldn't even need to be on the old site, they could be sticky's on the forum.

[Mass Haas]

Between Disciples of Uecker, BrewCrewBall, MillerParkProspects, and BPMilwaukee, there has been a ton of daily fan-generated content this past offseason, and surely those sites are prepared to generate a ton more in 2016's regular season, almost to the point of saturation already. All are strongly suggested. "Reviewing The Brew" is currently on a bit of a slide with several of their lead writers now submitting elsewhere, yet every once in a while throws out a nice nugget such as their recent Kodi Medeiros Q&A.

 

Brewerfan long ago realized its focus needed to be on the discussion forum, and, within that forum structure, a site to keep everyone aware of news and analysis from around the web. Humble opinion, we do that very well. As the folks on those other sites would tell you, generating consistent original content is a tremendous grind and once established, an ongoing persistent commitment. From an editorial standpoint, you need to review and maintain a respectable level of both quantity and quality.

 

Could that happen here down the road? Perhaps, but it would require major commitments to do it properly.

[logan82]

I guess the only issue I see with BF.net are some of the new posters the last few years that are combative and hostile. I don't see how merging with another site would help that.

Yup. This.

[1992casey]

The best thing to do for new members is to be welcoming and to be patient if it appears that they don't quite know the ropes. Many new members have lurked, gotten a feel for the board's etiquette, and fit in quickly. Others may go through an adjustment period, then ultimately turn into valuable contributors.

 

Member post counts appear next to messages, and join dates appear in profiles. These can be helpful tools to help veteran posters gauge how to fashion a response. As an example, "oh no, not again" certainly wouldn't be an appropriate way to respond to a member's third post.

 

Of course, there's the occasional "bull in a china shop." We certainly don't want to be told collectively that we're all a bunch of idiots. In situations like this, you might find that you're in the position to give some reasonable guidance. But if you find that tough to do that without coming off like a jerk yourself, the best thing to do is PM a moderator who tends to be around regularly. That person can alert the rest of the moderating team, and we can monitor the situation.