Think before you post

[JMW IV]

  I still tend to think of this place as small.

it is, in comparison to other Baseball Team Boards.

but within NatsTown, we're easily the biggest and most active.

Nats Journal runs #2, and that's not even really a message board. it's a Blog w/ Comments.

and I'd just like to say, in my own personal opinion, that I don't think we should judge solely by active posting. far more people simply read but don't post than we think.

[JMW IV]

It's gonna take a good bit of time and self-promotion (and perhaps some Nats Winning) to grow this board to be comparable to more established Team Boards that have been in business for a long time.

[The Chief]

it is, in comparison to other Baseball Team Boards.

but within NatsTown, we're easily the biggest and most active.

Nats Journal runs #2, and that's not even really a message board. it's a Blog w/ Comments.

and I'd just like to say, in my own personal opinion, that I don't think we should judge solely by active posting. far more people simply read but don't post than we think.

It's gonna take a good bit of time and self-promotion (and perhaps some Nats Winning) to grow this board to be comparable to more established Team Boards that have been in business for a long time.

These are all true, and I have no problem with that.  Well, I'm assuming your second point is true just because people keep saying so.  I honestly don't do a lot of comparison myself.  If people are happy here then I'm cool with that.  This whole thing is really just an elaborate RSS feed for me, and you are all my bookmarks

[houston-nat]

there are ways to do this, and we've discussed them before. but we're all lazy bastards.

There is of course the possibility that we are all the Nats fans out there.
Though there oughta at least be more young, female Nats fans ...

[hammondsnats]

I found this because of Hammonds: "Whats a good nationals / baseball forum?"

He gave me this along with 2 other pages that I dont check at all because I found home.

Haha yeah ... nationals.com board, ballparkguys (they've taken a turn for the worse), capitol dugout and a few others.  This is the best board by far with the most activity and some very good debates/news tidbits that take place. 

As I'm sure Chief will attest to, you'd be surprise at how many people lurk and read the boards. 

Chief, did you ever think of turning this board into a website (like a Orioles Hangout or NYYFans.com)?  I know you have a life outside of Nats baseball and probably don't have time for it.  But that's be cool. 

[JMW IV]

Chief, did you ever think of turning this board into a website (like a Orioles Hangout or NYYFans.com)?  I know you have a life outside of Nats baseball and probably don't have time for it.  But that's be cool.

yep, I bring this topic up at least once a season.

but like I said, I, and most everyone else here, am lazy bastards.

one of these days I'm going to put together a decent plan to make this happen, and actually try to get it done.

I got a few more pressing issues on my plate at the moment though.

[JMW IV]

I even made a sticky thread about it when I was a Mod, but for the life of me, I can't find it anymore.

[The Chief]

Chief, did you ever think of turning this board into a website (like a Orioles Hangout or NYYFans.com)?  I know you have a life outside of Nats baseball and probably don't have time for it.  But that's be cool. 

JMad has the drive, and I have the resources, but neither of us have the know-how or the time.  And he's not kidding when he said this comes up at least once a year

[hammondsnats]

yep, I bring this topic up at least once a season.

but like I said, I, and most everyone else here, am lazy bastards.

one of these days I'm going to put together a decent plan to make this happen, and actually try to get it done.

I got a few more pressing issues on my plate at the moment though.

JMad has the drive, and I have the resources, but neither of us have the know-how or the time.  And he's not kidding when he said this comes up at least once a year

totally understand.  i would love to help if we were to get something started.  i've been running boards and sites for 10-12 years now. 

[JMW IV]

well the way I see it, we need several things to make a decent start for something like this, some of which we have, most of which we don't.

1) Domain. (check)

2) Suitable Web/Server space (Check??? chief?)

3)News/Blog Aggregator that automatically pulls articles from the Times, Post, Nationals.com,  MASN(i guess), on a daily basis,  and a few blogs(specifically NFA, Nats Journal, and the Times Blog but perhaps say NOTLD's blog and some others as well) as they are updated. I'm sure there is a programmable aggregator that we can get for free, but I am unsure as to whether it is compatible with SMF.

4)A decent and appealing yet simple and user-friendly Web Design. (This, I have NO CLUE how to obtain. art and graphics = not me.) SMF may have an answer, though. looking at Indians 24/7, it seems they use the same tech that we do here for this message board, except theirs has a "front page" which is really more than enough, provided that the color scheme and layout is tweakable.

5) Original, WNFF-exclusive, Professional-in-tone and Nats-Focused Content. Whether it be weekly Opinion Columns a la  Boz/Loverro, Spring training Interviews w/ Players, Photo Galleries, Videos, Podcast, or what-have-you. The site needs to provide something beyond just gathering the news from the news sites.  This is the tricky part, as it will require some volunteers, man hours(which can't be paid for) and some access to the subject matter.

non of us here really have the access level required to get real close to the team to get everything necessary for #5, but we can start small and build. but everything else is obtainable. some of it may require additional funds that Chief should NOT be held solely responsible for.

[spidernat]

yep, I bring this topic up at least once a season.

but like I said, I, and most everyone else here, am lazy bastards.

one of these days I'm going to put together a decent plan to make this happen, and actually try to get it done.

I got a few more pressing issues on my plate at the moment though.

I'm pretty much clueless outside of this message board as to how big these other boards are or what is so cool about a place like OH or the others that haven been mentioned. I joined here in the early days because when Chief came to the MLB board to say there were game threads here I came to find out what a game thread was.    Can anyone tell me why or what it is about these other sites is so cool?

[hammondsnats]

I'm pretty much clueless outside of this message board as to how big these other boards are or what is so cool about a place like OH or the others that haven been mentioned. I joined here in the early days because when Chief came to the MLB board to say there were game threads here I came to find out what a game thread was.    Can anyone tell me why or what it is about these other sites is so cool?

haha learning of game threads, i remember when i broke my cherry.

as j-mad said, you get not only news updates, but additional content/features etc.  i think it's a pretty cool.

i really think we could make this work.  j-mad/chief i'll be in touch with you guys via pm, we should start talking about this sometime down the road. 

[spidernat]

That didn't tell me very much hammonds. 

[sportsfan882]

I think it would be cool to get people to write columns and pieces on the team. I don't know if people would read them but it sounds like a neat idea.

I wouldn't expand the site too much but we could add a few sections but again it's kind of limited what we can write since we don't have direct access to the team.

I'd definitely write some stuff for the site.

[JMW IV]

I'm pretty much clueless outside of this message board as to how big these other boards are or what is so cool about a place like OH or the others that haven been mentioned. I joined here in the early days because when Chief came to the MLB board to say there were game threads here I came to find out what a game thread was.    Can anyone tell me why or what it is about these other sites is so cool?

well it isn't so much about being "cool" as it is about bringing as much Nats Coverage as possible to the fans. we all know the level of Nats coverage is less than desired.  the other sites that are mentioned bring a lot more to the table *in addition* to (not instead of) the message board.

as much as we hate the Orioles, take a look at the front page of Orioles Hangout, and then keep in mind that there is a full message board behind it.

http://www.orioleshangout.com/

ignore the layout, and the coloring(and the google ads lmao), and just focus on the amount and variety of content provided.

[spidernat]

OK I see what you're saying. They even have a hot chick's ass in an ad for something called Red Energy Patch on the front page. 

[hammondsnats]

well it isn't so much about being "cool" as it is about bringing as much Nats Coverage as possible to the fans. we all know the level of Nats coverage is less than desired.  the other sites that are mentioned bring a lot more to the table *in addition* to (not instead of) the message board.

as much as we hate the Orioles, take a look at the front page of Orioles Hangout, and then keep in mind that there is a full message board behind it.

http://www.orioleshangout.com/

ignore the layout, and the coloring, and just focus on the amount of content provided.

Exactly.  Tony is a hero over there, as chief is to us, for setting it up and going the extra mile to cater to us nats fans.  they have "reporters" (i'm 99% sure unpaid) who go to their minor league games, fan events, etc.  They have in-depth farm coverage - much like NFA Brian does - and plenty of exclusive interviews with players, etc.  What I'm thinking is something along the lines of combining Nats Farm, this WNFF message board and what they have @ NationalsPride.com (but with our own touches/design/content/etc).

They have Roy Firestone and we have AirZimmerman.

[spidernat]

Careful with what you say about AZ. From now on I'll just refer to him as a Freaking Awesome Guy.   

[hammondsnats]

Careful with what you say about AZ. From now on I'll just refer to him as a Freaking Awesome Guy.  

Haha.  AZ's a stud, he's a good kid.

[The Chief]

Careful with what you say about AZ. From now on I'll just refer to him as a Freaking Awesome Guy.  

[houston-nat]

Careful with what you say about AZ. From now on I'll just refer to him as a Freaking Awesome Guy.  

cross-posting to another thread...

[JMW IV]

ALSO...as a side effect..

making this into a full site will give a SLIGHT bit more legitimacy to Nats fans in regards to their unhappiness with the way the team is being run.

no, Stan's not going to change the team just cause we say so, if we are a full website.  But having a full website that is respected as something other than "just a message board" within the circle of NatsTown will add *just that much more* weight to what is said here, particularly if our writers can convey things in a well-written and professionally-toned manner. (i.e. if he can translate the "OMFGfreakMANNYFIREHISASS" into a coherent and rational calling for his head in column form).

[cruiser]

There is of course the possibility that we are all the Nats fans out there.
Though there oughta at least be more young, female Nats fans ...

My almost-3 daughter is a young, female Nats fan, but I won't let her post here until she actually learns how to write - unless you guys want to see a lot of posts that say things like:
kawhn 234fgpahh;i ,./,.dg jl; []vnczjsa fkljkl900
;j vbnjkfnlbk;hdfsghjkl;msdfkl ;jkl  j

[Obed_Marsh]

My almost-3 daughter is a young, female Nats fan, but I won't let her post here until she actually learns how to write - unless you guys want to see a lot of posts that say things like:
kawhn 234fgpahh;i ,./,.dg jl; []vnczjsa fkljkl900
;j vbnjkfnlbk;hdfsghjkl;msdfkl ;jkl  j

As long as posts in her own thread. Fine by me. Probably more insightful than some of the knuckledraggers around here.

[PANatsFan]

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/4b0a16ff71/casey-wilson-reads-internet-comments

You never know who could be reading - this one's for sportsfan

*Language*