The season is a month away and as always we want to solicit some feedback… I’d love to hear what you guys like and don’t like about our content and what you’d want to see more of.
We always try to keep growing and have taken steps in the past to try to act on your feedback. Starting the podcast last year was one new feature and I think that you guys are really going to like what Max and Ethan bring, both are very talented writers and I think their style can really complement some of the areas where we already do a lot (analytics, analysis, etc.)
Of course only if you’re comfortable, but a paragraph or at least an acknowledgement talking about the spread/total in your game previews would be cool.
You and BQ are sneaky good when that comes up on the pod and I’m sure most of us are paying attention to that part of the game too. With your pace/shooting profile breakdowns seems like there’s actually some opinions to be had especially on over/unders
I love the Podcast exactly as is but would be open to other people doing guest appearances. Maybe Ethan and Max occasionally if they have an interesting tidbit? Or a writer from a different publication who focuses on a different big ten team- especially if it is a week where Michigan is about to play them. Either way I love your dynamic with Brendan, especially when you give each other shit haha
Also, selfishly it would be interesting to hear a random fan’s perspective on the pod. I humbly nominate myself lol.
But the interaction could be what a fan perceives as going on and then you & BQ responding to that opinion with stats and/or knowledge from inside the program as a rebuttal or confirmation of that particular opinion. Similar to a reader mailbag, but with audio as the medium. A voicemail box could also work for this function.
Can try to incorporate that more… Nothing really against it, just haven’t found a way to make it useful. The KenPom data is basically equivalent to what the spread is. I don’t usually share picks or anything like that against the number if that’s what you mean.
A behind the scenes article on each opposing team the week before we play them. The human interest type that can add more enjoyment when watching the game. Another way to get more Big Ten content into the stream.
That’s something we’ll try to do from time to time when there’s an angle or some kind of connection, but it usually requires a fair amount of advance work. We don’t usually have direct access to opposing teams before the game unless we were to try to travel there early and attend their media (not quite in the budget) or set something up ahead of time. Becomes tricky within the ebbs and flows of a season.
We do a lot more of that during the postseason when we do get that kind of access ahead of the game.
I could be totally wrong in how things have been in recent years (and these may have been behind the paywall), but I do recall back in the Zack Novak-era, you were able to get some post-game interviews on video. If you haven’t been doing that, that would be a nice thing to bring back.
Just like players talking after games? We still have those fairly often. Not sure if you mean something more specific?
Video is a tough thing to balance because most quotes that kids give are far worse when on camera, which makes it harder to write great articles. It also is something that doesn’t do particularly well traffic wise but also has a group of people who really like them. Always tough for us to balance that one out.
All of the replies about things people like are a reminder of how great the site already is.
My suggestion/comment would be more general: you (Dylan) were maybe rightly cautious about advancing your own views during the first few years of the site, but have been slowly becoming more outspoken. Keep it up–you’ve got insight and you have earned it. Whether we agree with every assertion doesn’t matter–it gives the place a little more spice.
Also, if you want to knock a few heads when people get ridiculously negative in the thread during games that’s alright with me.
That’s funny…if I had any feedback, it would actually be the opposite. I would say that Dylan can trust that his community can storm from time to time without needing to be kept on so tight a leash so long as people aren’t being disrespectful. That applies to disagreeing with each other and with Dylan. In the big picture, that would make this a more vibrant forum that allows for more wide-ranging and varied conversation. As it stands, Dylan keeps a much tighter hold on the opinions discussed than other Michigan forums do (and, for better or worse, I’m on a lot of them). Dylan having strong opinions is obviously fine (it’s his site, after all) but when he presents himself as the sole authority, which happens from time to time, I think that actually diminishes him and what he’s created here (which we obviously appreciate and value in the aggregate). Just my humble $0.02.
I generally don’t hold back from sharing my opinion, so I guess if you are happy with how I am sharing my opinion now you will continue to be happy.
As far as moderating the forum, I only think about behavior not opinions. I generally moderate/delete threads when the behavior gets out of hand and impacts the actual ability to have a civil conversation. I generally only ban people when they take that to an extreme (insults, attacks over private messages, consistently causing issues, etc.) and that rarely happens (there are a total of five people suspended).
