Big Blue Huddle

This question is for marketing purposes. Also, please comment if you like the size of the group here or would like to see more participation from new members. Your opinion is important.

Thank you.

I came from the old board, as Rich gave me a heads up long ago that he was developing this one.
I must admit, he FAR exceeded my expectations with his goal of civility, and just good, healthy Giants talk.
This is light years better than the old board with respect to the stated goal (with all due respect and love to Adrienne)

Well done, Rich!

I got the personal invite from Rich. And I haven't gone back. after being a regular memberof  the BBWC in all its varied forms since Larry J and Adrienne started it up in the mid-90's, I left it in the rear view mirror when I came here and saw not only the kind of people I most respect and admire and the kind of talk that keeps me coming back every day.  We have have a circle of friends here that far exceeds anything that the BBWC ever had, with none of the "Trent", "Stonedinvestor", et al kind of sophomoric indecency and disrespect that we had to endure over there. 

I also think that the careful and deliberate measures to grow the membership here have paid off; we have had so many new people join lately, but the talk has been enhanced by their arrivals, and I personally believe that we are a better community with their input.  Too much or too sudden growth will detract from that and let the jerks filter back in.

Boog

I too was from the old board and invited by Rich to join this board.   

Ed, I don't see a problem with growth as long as the new members have the same love of the Giants and show the same respect for other members as the group does now.  IMO, varied and knowledgeable opinions always enhance the quality of the board.

In any case, Rich, and all admins, great job, this has to be one of the best boards in sports.

Rich invited me from the old board and I haven't looked back. I really only post during the off season and am very content with the way MightyGiants and the administrators run things and echo andrewnyg in that this site has surpassed my expectations. On the BBWC I swear guys were putting on beer muscles and coming on looking for an argument. As always thank you guys for keeping me informed and please keep up the great work!

I also, at Rich's invitation, came from BBWC.  I will occasionally look in on BBWC to see what is being said.  There are still some high quality posters over there that frankly I wish would come over here.  But they probably do know about this site and that is strictally their decision.

I would like to add my kudos to the job Rich and the mods have done.  This board is just fantastic.  By far the most civilized sports message board I know of.

And giantsguy said it perfectally.  I would love to see the board grow as long as they share our passion and civility.

Keep up the great job guys.

I was an early migrant from BBWC for reasons already mentioned and shared by others. I could not be more satisfied with what we now have in BBH, thanks to Rich and his able associates. Whatever you folks are doing to maintain the guidelines based on the understanding that participation here is not a right but a privilege seems to be working rather well. On that basis, I'm all in favor of an increase in the numbers.

Cheers! 

I ditto all the above feelings and sentiments.

Thanks Rich for it's creation and all mods who have helped watch over Rich's creation.

Every few weeks I check out the BBWC and see some "friends" that I still miss and others that remind me why I have delighted in my move to the BBH.

To continue to successfully survive in this internet world, we will need to have moderate growth with civilized posters like those that this board abounds with.

 I was a moderator on BBWC for some time, but many never really knew a lot of the behind the scenes back stabbing that went on over there, especially from some of the people at the top. There was a definite conflict of interest, especially as some just desired the power and never really knew what to do with it. While some of us petitioned to limit the people there and the quality of what was being put up, others didn't think that way, and just wanted numbers, of posters, of hits, of members. When Rich approached me, Kevin and Brian about starting a new board and breaking away from BBWC, we were all on the same page. We talked and talked about what we wanted in the new board and we were all on the same page. WE approached several other long time BBWC members about helping out and away we went. From then on, there was no looking back. We did struggle at the beginning, trying to get the word out to older members of BBWC about this new place, and we were rebuffed many times. But, with hard work, and word spreading, we were able to make this place a great place to be. And the rest is history. We will never get the numbers most of the other boards get, but who cares. We are among friends here, where we share much more than just being Giants fans. We may not agree on many things, but we do so as we would want others to do with us, with class, with understanding and being always able to listen to the other guys opinions.
The mods have talked many times about expansion, and we are all for it, but in moderation. Every new member has to be approved and cleared, and in all the time, since this place has existed, I think we have only banned 4-5 people. Maybe once guys are surrounded by great people, that sort of rubs off on them.
Thank YOU all for making this place exactly what we envisioned when we started it up.

The softspoken, darkly handsome man in the blue Giants tiesips his iced cinnamon Gevalia here at the elab at WLKY-XCBS. "I followed the rest of youse guys, cuz I was fed up with the stooge crew the Wrecking Crew had become. Once Adrienne, our Goddess, left, it deteriorated rapidly into sniping, and BS. Not that this civilised board cannot be spirited, especially arounf the last election, but it is more than just another Scout clone. I remember the Graffitti Wall....


Yah wanna expand? How about here comes fresh paint? An untopicized board for tweeting like we used to!

Thanks Rish, Lenn etc for putting up with me"

The tru blu fan performs his mystical handpasses and obeisances....

Hi to all,

I became aware of the BBWC because of my father's membership/friendship with many members from over there (who are now members here) after his passing a little over 3 years ago. Because of the love that was shown for my father and love that was expressed by many members to me and the rest of my family, I began reading over there at first. After a little while, I began posting long enough until Rich invited me over here. I still will always have a place in my heart for a few members over there and talk to them from time to time. I read this site everyday, sometimes I will post and sometimes I do not, but I check in daily. When threads are not appealing to me, I will check out the WC and post over there. This site is where my heart is and I love the relationships/conversations and debates  ;) that I have had many times with you guys here. This site is a family....and family members have agreements, and disagreements...and that's how you know you're family. The MOD's here have been outstanding, and is in no comparison to the other site. I feel that if my father were still present today, he too would be over here, and would have similar feelings with regards to certain members from the old board.

Keep up the great work,

peace to all,
Aaron

I made a comment on BBWC about some of the folks who weren't around any more like Painter and Boogman and some kind soul (sorry I don't remember who it was) sent me a private message telling me y'all were over here.  TPTB were kind enough to grant me access.

I still check out BBWC regularly but do most of my (sparse) posting here.

So long as the civil tone of this place weren't threatened I wouldn't mind more participants.  New blood keeps things from getting into a rut.

FWIW, I just got a solicitation in a PM inviting me to join some Giants board called  BigBlueOnline from a member here named nygdevils32. 

Same here guys. I was at BBWC also and one day I realized that the posters I enjoyed most were no longer posting there. I forget who it was but someone mentioned that a lot of guys went to this site and gave the web address, thank goodness.

I also got a PM from nygdevils32 inviting me the their site, whatever that means.

Good job guys, keep it up.

Came from BBWC as well.  I still like and appreciate many of the members there and still frequent their board.  Between the two, a lot of good stories and information is presented.  I try to fill the gaps if one forum, for example, does not have the same link to a good story as the other.   I hope that is acceptable as I dont view these two sites as competitive in any way.  Please do let me know if that is out of line.

Like a lot you, I think it was Rich who sent me an PM inviting me over here. Probably just in time because I was really getting fed up with the direction WWBC was heading.  I hope I don't come off sounding like an old codger because its not my intent, but I think a big reason this site is more civil than WWBC is that is that the average age is a bit older here than over on WWBC. 

As far as expanding membership or more exchange from new and/or current members - I'm all for it as long as the civility and charm that makes BBH so desirable doesn't erode the same way WWBC did.

Thanks for the replies and it's a great tribute to Rich and the guys who put it all together.

We were also looking for feedback from new members who signed up recently or within the last couple of months or years. We are very interested in how they found the board. Looking to see how the word is getting out there. When Rich and I spoke today, we both thought a trickle of new blood was healthy for the community. The fear is that this thing becomes too big and impersonal too fast. You all validated that it just isn't the case, at least at this moment in time.

You all answered in majority to being open to new members and their contribution as long as they conduct themselves appropriately and that proves to be the case. We all look forward to getting to know new fans and hopefully they feel comfortable reading, posting and being here. Some fans are at different stages in the learning curve of the game of football and should feel free to ask questions. Bottom line is don't be shy. The folks here are among the finest I know and I say that without reservation.

As for the sharing of board time, a lot of us read and sometimes post both boards. There's a lot of good people on both boards. Big city and the Small town. Another reason some of us are here, because we enjoy the camaraderie the smaller group.

Like a few have previously stated, I came here from BBWC after an invite via e-mail, wondering where all the BBWC old guard had disappeared to. I still post over on BBWC from time to time depending on thread subject but I if given the choice I choose here because of the friendliness and most of all MATURITY. Something I don't see on any other  Giants board

All I can say is thank you Rich for inviting me. That's how I got here from the old board BBWC. And thanks to the stalwarts of this board!

It is a great site!  =D>

Like many of you, Rich invited me over to this board.  I'm so glad that he did.  While I still occasionally go back to the BBWC board, this place is my "daily dose" of Giants information and conversation! 

I also moved from the other board after receiving an invite. This is by far the most civil of all the Giants boards. Rich and all who help are doing a terrific job. =D>

this site was recommended to me by another poster because of the quality of the people who post on here. I think most of us have been on other boards and know what a bad site can be like...

I was invited to the BBH by Terry, who reached out to me on the BBWC. He was also looking to get the word to Boog, who had at that time dissapeared into the mountains north of Worcester, MA, while persuing his Masters Degree, and was not to be found on-line.

I regularly visit the BBWC. I just visit the BBH first. There is plenty of duplication, but there are also plenty of posters at the BBWC who are worth reading, and who do NOT post on the BBH. However, there is a definite difference in the tone of the two boards, and I think I know why, but I'll get to that in a moment.

I think that what we have here at the BBH is special (many thanks to Mighty and the Mods) for a few simple reasons. We all comment on the Respect given from member to member, the Intelligence that we display when interacting with each other, the Civility we extend even when the topics become heated, and the Honesty in our fandome of the New York Football Giants (we are R.I.C.H. because of this). And, we are right to do so. But what we are commenting upon is the symptom, not the cause.

To get to the cause we need to ask not why we are R.I.C.H., but why the other boards are not? I think there are two major reasons: (1) There are fewer chest-thumping braggarts, who by virtue of immaturity can not recognize opinions other than their own as valid. And, (2) there are no direct links to sites from fans of other football teams.

In the case of reason number 1, I think that the profound lack of low-character, internet brawlers among us stems originally from the selective manner that many, if not most of us arrived: by direct invitation. But it is maintained because we are not actively reaching out through popular avenues to the largest possible audience in hopes of bringing in as many "hits" as possible, to support our advertisers.

It's like casting a net on the Amazon. We'll likely catch some beautiful and exotic fish. But we will just as likely haul in a tangle of vicious piranhas as well. Then, we'll all have to endure their snapping and biting and thrashing about, until they can be evicted, carefully, one by one. In the mean time several of us will certainly be bitten.

But, since there are no advertisers to appease, we slip quietly down a relatively small stream without having to raise the kind of "look at us" ruckus that would certainly attract the braggarts and otherwise maturity-challenged denizens of the cyber-world, while attempting to simply pay the bills.

If we would enter into the larger, main stream, we would almost certainly attract the attention of the unwanted as well as those who would become welcome additions. So, we need to ask ourselves: do we want to risk the piranhas or not?

On the second reason, the BBWC is a member of the Scout organization. A little tile on every webpage that part of Scout links the BBWC to every other Scout web site. Since Scout hosts websites for most of the NFL teams, there is always a lighted path that directs fans of other teams directly to the BBWC.

I'd like to think that every team has a core of good natured, mature and respectable people in their fan base. But I think we all know that every "river" has it's piranhas, doesn't it?

In my experience, the most heated, least civilized and immature arguments on the BBWC occur when chest-thumping idiots butt heads with opposition fans who come trolling for a fight. If the broad channels that allow this trolling were to be shut off, then the trolls who used them would have to look harder for their opportunities. Most of them simply don't have the patience to persue their trivial goals that far. They give up, and move toward easier avenues of childish diversion.

There was one other reason that the early days of the BBH remained blissfully free of braggarts and trolls: The original name was the Big Blue Gentlemens Crew. I think that most people probably assumed that this was some kind of upscale strip-club site.

Normally porn is a fabulous attractor on the internet. But, since we are "Gentlemen", and the site doesn't scream "College Girls Behaving Badly", the porn mongers just kept on surfing by.

I like things the way they are. I don't know how we can bring in more people without risking a replay of the BBWC situation. But right now, I have to go log onto CGBB and get my fix before lunch.

pagan43

I was a relative newcomer to BBWC when the sniping began,  and I followed the posters who seemed more reasonable than the others on BBWC,  Rich was kind enough to invite me to join here and although I will occaisionally post on allthe boards (BBI included), I consider this board the best and my home of Giants friends

I think the title of the post says it all, "To All Members." It doesn't say, "To All Posters."

As American Express likes to say, membership has its privleges, but it also has responsibilities for appropriate conduct and decorum. I still stop by other boards regularly but rarely post anymore. The responses aren't as knowledgable and respectful as they are here. They are often ill-informed but more importantly they can be condescending, rude, or worse on those boards.

I've had several instances here where after much heated debate in a thread, a fellow poster and I started to get a little rough with each other. In every case we took it off the board and discussed our conduct in personal messages, often trading apologies, and left the discussion with a good ending - even if we still disagreed. That level of class and tolerance just doesn't exist anywhere else. This board is one-of-a-kind, and it is the Members of it (with the help of an appropriate level of moderation from those running the Board) that make it so.

i came over from bbwc and i am like many here and visit other boards, but this is home and has been since its' inception....kudos to rich and the mods for a job well done ....go Giants!!!!!

I just followed who I considered the good and civil posters from the BBWC board to here. I know I don't post much, but I do enjoy reading all of your comments.

Like most others came from BBWC. The tone of that site had changed over the years and many of my old buds came over here.

pagan

You think the rediculous head butting arguments on BBWC are the worst? You need to go to BBI when someone posts a thread someone finds fault with in some degree. Instead of ignoring said thread and moving on like one should they go out of theor way to belittle the person that started the thread and more people pile on and it starts an unneccasry argument. And for the most part that site is supposed to be mostly mature adults and if that's true it's sad. or even better a few years back when they had so called "insiders" to feed the masses tidbits of info especially around the free agent period. Doubters would be raked across the coals

I came from the BBWC board soon after Rich and the others started this board.  When this one was starting the BBWC had turned into a board that was way out of control.  It seemed to me that the "old timers" were being trashed by a whole lot of new posters.  I still go to the other board and it does seem to have settled down with a bunch of regular posters.  As you can see by my stats, I only post on rare occasions but I consider this board home and I am here reading every day.  For that I thank you all.

Bill

I was signed as a FA from BBI.  Relative noobie to boards at the time....somehow found myself on BBI for a little while and was noticed by Mighty....all the stars were aligned and there quite possibly was a little divine intervention involved...

Have seriously never looked back until this evening (because if this thread)....still have BBI saved in My Favorites, but have not been there once since becoming a Member here.

After reading many of the other posts, I feel extremely fortunate to be able to call myself a Member.  I love the level of discussions that I have access to here.  Like most posters, I have been in some "semi-heated" conversations....I always try my best to preface most of my comments with IMO....that's all I have, is my opinion.

I like the idea of controlled growth.  In most cases it proves to be the best path.  But I also recognize that with all growth comes new questions...

Quote from: vette5573 on May 17, 2009, 10:56:33 AM
This question is for marketing purposes. Also, please comment if you like the size of the group here or would like to see more participation from new members. Your opinion is important.

Thank you.

I met someone who posts here on another board and was invited to check this place out.  I love this board.  More people woudl be great, as long as the character of the board does not change too much. 

I'm reluctant to express my views because next to Painter, MightyGiants, Spiderblue43, etc.., I sound like Jethro Bodine.  Well, got to go and practice my goesintas and then Ill take a dip in the cement pond.

I'm happy with the board as it is.  New poster are fine just so long as they are civil and courteous to others.

While going on to the other site I notice that the people that I like and considered friends from visits to camp, I received a note from someone about this site and I have been here since.  I consider the current group to be more then just Giant fans.  They are friends and associates that I have come to respect as people.  You should all be proud of yourselves.

I'm from the old board.  Don't post much, but read everything.

This place is great, thanks to all! 

I'm late to the discussion, but would like to see more well-informed posters from other teams like [pardon spelling] Leviathan from the Cowboys, and CapitalD56 from the Redskins.  There were also some other really good posters (one from the Titans?) that I haven't seen around much.  I enjoyed their perspectives.  Hope to see more growth without any change in the quality level.