Today marks a pretty huge change in this website.
Last October, the company SportsBlogs Inc., creators of the blogging network SB Nation got a pretty nice chunk of investment money from a venture capital firm to try and expand their sports blogging network. One of the areas SB Nation has tried to jump into is hockey, and more specifically, college hockey.
I was offered the chance to move my blog to SB Nation last December and decided to accept. So from now on, WCH can be found at http://www.westerncollegehockeyblog.com/
Why make this move? I have received several different blogging offers of varying quality over the years and have been reluctant to change how I do things. But there were a couple different reasons I decided to make this move.
1. I get to maintain complete editorial control. This was my first question when I was approached about signing on. This is always been a hobby for me, and if it ever stopped being fun, I'm not sure how much longer it would last, so it's best that I keep writing what I enjoy. So basically, the content is going to be the exact same as it is here(except I'll probably start posting nothing but funny YouTube videos and embarrassing pictures of celebrities. Super sorry.) It's still going to be the WCHA, CCHA, recruiting, HS hockey, USA hockey, whatever I feel like. So from that aspect, nothing is really changing.
2. A more interactive community for readers. This is actually something I've wanted for some time, but never had the technical acumen to pull off. Most newspapers in the country are in serious financial trouble at least in some part because they've failed at making the transition to the internet. The thing they've missed, at least in my mind, is that the internet was practically built on people being able to interact with one another. The problem with the comments section on most blogs or newspaper articles is that they get so cluttered with noise that there's little room for quality discussion. SB Nation has some tremendous opportunities for user-generated content that I outlined in the new blog's first post that should make this blog even better.
3. It's good exposure for college hockey. Even in the occasional emails I get from hockey people telling me what an a-hole I am, most are at least polite enough to thrown in a "While I appreciate what you do to promote college hockey..." before it. Being part of such a major network allows a different set of people to experience and learn about college hockey, who might not have otherwise, especially since there are many NHL blogs and blogs for other major college sports.
4. They have a pretty nice support staff with people that understand more about computers than I could hope to know. So now WCH will have, like, a logo, and a nice site design, and some colors that aren't a hideous shade of orange.
So overall, I feel like there are a ton of benefits to this move, and no real downsides. I'm pretty excited about it, and hope that the people who frequented this site will enjoy the new site even more.
Once again, you can find the new site at http://www.westerncollegehockeyblog.com/
Last October, the company SportsBlogs Inc., creators of the blogging network SB Nation got a pretty nice chunk of investment money from a venture capital firm to try and expand their sports blogging network. One of the areas SB Nation has tried to jump into is hockey, and more specifically, college hockey.
I was offered the chance to move my blog to SB Nation last December and decided to accept. So from now on, WCH can be found at http://www.westerncollegehockeyblog.com/
Why make this move? I have received several different blogging offers of varying quality over the years and have been reluctant to change how I do things. But there were a couple different reasons I decided to make this move.
1. I get to maintain complete editorial control. This was my first question when I was approached about signing on. This is always been a hobby for me, and if it ever stopped being fun, I'm not sure how much longer it would last, so it's best that I keep writing what I enjoy. So basically, the content is going to be the exact same as it is here(except I'll probably start posting nothing but funny YouTube videos and embarrassing pictures of celebrities. Super sorry.) It's still going to be the WCHA, CCHA, recruiting, HS hockey, USA hockey, whatever I feel like. So from that aspect, nothing is really changing.
2. A more interactive community for readers. This is actually something I've wanted for some time, but never had the technical acumen to pull off. Most newspapers in the country are in serious financial trouble at least in some part because they've failed at making the transition to the internet. The thing they've missed, at least in my mind, is that the internet was practically built on people being able to interact with one another. The problem with the comments section on most blogs or newspaper articles is that they get so cluttered with noise that there's little room for quality discussion. SB Nation has some tremendous opportunities for user-generated content that I outlined in the new blog's first post that should make this blog even better.
3. It's good exposure for college hockey. Even in the occasional emails I get from hockey people telling me what an a-hole I am, most are at least polite enough to thrown in a "While I appreciate what you do to promote college hockey..." before it. Being part of such a major network allows a different set of people to experience and learn about college hockey, who might not have otherwise, especially since there are many NHL blogs and blogs for other major college sports.
4. They have a pretty nice support staff with people that understand more about computers than I could hope to know. So now WCH will have, like, a logo, and a nice site design, and some colors that aren't a hideous shade of orange.
So overall, I feel like there are a ton of benefits to this move, and no real downsides. I'm pretty excited about it, and hope that the people who frequented this site will enjoy the new site even more.
Once again, you can find the new site at http://www.westerncollegehockeyblog.com/
