Meta: HTTV Kickstarter
I'm here to discuss the 800 pound gorilla on the right side of the Blog. We're several days into the kickstarter for HTTV 2014, and we're still sitting at around 70% funded. I don't recall the exact figures, but it seems to me that in years past, the kickstarter has been fully funded shortly after the link went up. So I'd like to ask the board, have you participated in the kickstarter in prior years and are holding back this year? If so, why? Is this just part of the general malaise that follows a 7-6 year? Is it too early in the year to be excited about football?
I'd embed the Good Will Hunting Clip here, but I realized that came out the same year as Austin Powers, so I'll refrain to prevent a continued lack of hipness.
The first one did indeed shoot up faster. The second one got their quicker because there were two magazines. This is a considerably less interesting football team, and the site's numbers have reflected it. Anyway the good news is kickstarters make their money at the beginning and the end.
I would stress that it's very important we hit the goal this year of all years. I can say no more on that yet. But I do have an extra incentive:
JOHN U BACON is in. His article's 90% done--it takes off from where 4th and Long left off to discuss all the changes happening in the basic structure of college football and predicts where it will be when it all shakes out.
You keep banging the 'site goes as the team goes' drum but 7-6 hasn't taken the wind out of the competition's sails like it has yours. You do realize that we all continued to read this blog and buy HTTV after The Year of Infinite Pain, The Horror and RR's three-year Campagne de Russie, right?
That's all well and good, but six-ish years of pain (aside from 2011) is more likely to take the wind out of our sails than three years of pain.
The Year of Infinite Pain was 2005. That's more than six-ish years and the point I was making is that bad football isn't affecting other sites like it is mgoblog. The blog became popular during a massive downturn in the football program. The blog is less popular now despite the team about to have a good-ish year.
You do know you're replying to Magnus, who just said the traffic to his blog has ebbed a bit, right?
You do know you're replying to me who is saying there's something wrong with your site that isn't the football team, right? He might disagree but I would say his site is an offshoot of mgoblog like mine is. His site would barely exist without his mgoboard presence and credibility. It's not like mgoblog could ever hope to compete with Attractive Michigan Girl of the Week. As mgoblog dies slowly, so will his site and mine.
Any season before 2012 was Maple Street Press, and they refused to share how many copies they sold. From the royalty checks it appeared to be 20,000, but that was with a national distribution deal. There have only been three kickstarters and three that I've published, and the first one was coming off an 11-win season and BCS Bowl victory.
Are you sure about the competition? We are friendly with The Wolverine, who took it in the teeth this year when the alumni association decided not to send members a copy anymore. They're also a very different animal, from content to layout to structure. I've bought that thing every year since 2000, and recommend it to every Michigan fan, but it's still really just a very large program. And the Lindy's book last year--which let's admit, was pretty bad--is now combining Michigan with Michigan State.
The RR years coincided with a massive growth in readership for MGoBlog. Actually the coaching search for RR kicked it off, followed by record and steady growth for those three years. Part of that was saturating the market, part of that was when the whole controversy of that period--nothing generates readership like an angry, ongoing debate between apparently entrenched enemies. The coaching search for Hoke was the peak, with another short peak around the time Kalis committed.
Understand, there are readers who've been here since before Rich Rod who will buy the book if Michigan goes 1-11 and then announces a name sponsor for it. Speaking personally, I am both one of, and profoundly appreciative of anyone who is still a Michigan fan after a Belle Tire 1-11 season. I'm also aware of the fact that not everyone is like us.
So I guess what I'm saying is thank you for sticking around, both for my livelihood and for showing me that I'm not the only nutjob around here.
I bought it last year. I'm not buying it this year even if it gets funded somehow. Most of your traffic is from people on the board who haven't discovered Twitter. The front page is dead. You either re-invent the site or Brian is a clean-shaven engineer in five years. Webb, Lorenz, Baumgardner et al. are kicking your ass.
"The front page is dead. You either re-invent the site or Brian is a clean-shaven engineer in five years. Webb, Lorenz, Baumgardner et al. are kicking your ass."
That all depends on what you're searching for. Baumgardner doesn't do anything for me, and Lorenz is good at getting recruiting news but doesn't have a whole lot of heart, humor, or interesting opinions behind his inside info. Don't get me wrong - he has his niche and fills it well. But the Wolverine 247 info is pretty bland.
I have a membership to 247 Sports and Rivals, and I obviously visit MGoBlog a lot. I still use this here site way more than the ones I pay for.
Yeah, me too. I still check mgoblog 100 times a day. It just seems like it's mostly whiny takes on stuff that was already live tweeted by 10 people and discussed by thousands yesterday. Most people, the people who pay the bills for sites, aren't like you and me. I think the Kickstarter will probably get funded but Brian was apparently already withholding food and razors from Ace this year when they raised $67,000 so I'm really worried about his well being going forward.
I don't think mgoblog ever tried to be first with information, especially recruiting information. We go for the final word, not the first one. And we moderate the discussion so the idiots don't poison it.
$15 is all it takes. Come on, people!
I had forgetten my Kickstarter password, but managed to overcome. I also saw that you guys had a sponsor, so I assumed that all the funding stuff was taken care of. Not true?
FWIW - I wish you guys had opened up the MGoShirt options a bit more. There is only a certain number of shirts I can own with Brian's face on it. (That number is one and I still have the photobomb shirt.)
with the posters saying its partly because the team is not good and is not very likely to be good anytime soon.
And yet when you come on here and make very benign comments about it....you are attacked and negged for stupid shit like your comments not being reflective of your USER NAME fer-gods-sakes!!
This place is not as much fun as it used to be and if you are not a Hoke cheerleader you are treated like crap.
I bought in last year....and i can sure afford to do it again. But i wont. Its my silent protest against the current atmosphere around the team and this blog in general.
Both have went seriously downhill. Its just that simple.
Do you really view this blog's editorial stance as being pro-Hoke? I am talking about the folks who run the actual blog (Brian, Seth, et al.), not the masses who simply comment. I have the opposite view. I think that the folks who run the blog have run out of patience with Hoke and have not been shy about their views.
By the way, other than pos-banging someone to show appreication, ignore MGoPoints. They really don't matter. They are simply a way of preventing random trolls from signing up and immediately starting 53 "scUM Sucks" threads. Once you clear that level, no one really cares.
I have almost the exact opposite view as you. In fact, what has kept me from pledging (I probably will anyway) is that Brian seems to share your attitude toward Hoke and the team ("the team is not good and is not likely to be good anytime soon"). I can go to RCMB for that perspective. I'm not saying Brian has to always be overly optimistic about the team, but I do get tired of some of his negativity towards Hoke and Dave Brandon.
That said, I do expect the latest version of the mag to be far better than any other print source available, which is why I will probably go ahead and buy it. But, as a friend who struggled to get his business off the ground complained to me once, "people are cheap and lazy," which might explain why print media in general is dying off. As others have noted, much of the info available in the mag will be free online (and more current) by the time the season rolls around.
The issue with people getting negged/"attacked" for their opinions typically (and not saying it is necessarily true in your case) is because most of those arguments read as #HOTTAKES from sports radio, based not in fact or coherent thought but simply "this guy sucks" and "why can't we win like we used to." I've negged people even when I agree with the premise of their argument because the tone is so deaf and incoherent it weakens the point. Similarly, I've upvoted people I don't agree with because they make a strong argument.
Also, points don't really matter, so whatever. I'd be fine if mine disappeared tomorrow.
For me, I'm not purchasing HTTV this year because I think the blog has cannibalized the content that HTTV would normally contain.
With each year, the amount of new content on this blog has increased (as has my year round viewership of it) and by the time HTTV rolls around, I feel like it's predominately a printed (and repurposed) export of the blog with just a sprinkling of brand new ideas / pieces.
I should clarify that last year was the first time I had this feeling and this year will be the first time I'm not purchasing HTTV (won't stop me from dropping some coins into beveled guilt).
My father, who does not read MGOblog (or the internet in general) would be thrilled with HTTV as it truly does destory all other "preview" publications and he has no access to the content otherwise.
Just my thoughts. Niether team performance nor alleged bullying from Brian (or whatever the claims) play into my decision at all.
I understand Father's Day is coming up.
You make good points on both issues.
I guess i just get sick of the constant hand-wringing over a career sub .500 coach who is simply regressing to the norm of his career after taking RR's players and going 11-2.
I said when he was hired that it was silly to think a less than .500 coach was going to come to Michigan and somehow become a world beater while now having to play the big boys of college football.
We had to take what was available. Hoke is so badly over-paid for what he has done. I believe he is like the 8th or 10th highest paid in football. (i could be wrong on that...but he is waaaaaay up there in salary). Does anyone REALLY believe he is the 8th or 10th best coach in the country?? Hell.....there are 6 or 7 better just in the big ten. Starting in Columbus and East Lansing....
He is a terrible coach in way over his head who has bought himself some time by hiring Nuss. I watch this team under him and i see almost nothing that tells me we are going to be contending for any sort of championship in the near future.
So...in a nutshell....thats why the "malaise" for the football sesaon and HTTV. Just nothing to be excited about.
As for the MGO points....they dont matter at all to me. Its the IDEA that you can have your comment down-graded over something as silly as your USER-NAME.
That is the height of absurdity.
Yeah...go read my other comment. This post kind of embodies why people "attack" you for not liking Hoke.
And yet your signature specifically refers to auto downvotes based on what could be your user name?
Or am I just missing the sarcasm on that?
you are childish 77.
how you knew who i was talking about.
Here's why I may not buy HTTV and my overall blog reading has decreased...
-Info overload: Now that I have twitter on my phone, I check it every half hour or so and get all UM info as it happens, which involves clicking links to stories at various sites. Honestly, by the time it hits MgoBlog (board, UV, or whatever), I've already seen it. Rather than read about it again, I'd rather watch twitter for "new" news. The society we live in now. Have page hits trended lower over the last year or so as twitter has got more popular?
-Mobile MgoBlog: I dont see the Kickstarter reminder on the mobile app everytime I open it like I used to when I accessed mgo through an actual laptop. I'm sure this is true for others as well.
-Lack of optimism and excitement: This has been covered already, but I think it's compounded by the fact that MSU had a great season and is now recruiting very well. A lot of the 2015 and 2016 in sate kids lean MSU, which is just hard to take. Add in PSU and Franklin killing it in recruiting.
-I think a lot of people are turned off by Brandon and the politics/marketing of college football in general. Big rivalries being cancelled, weak schedules, conf realignments, lack of NCAA enforcement, etc. We're all realizing that UM has fallen back and probably won't get back to the old glory days as long as the SEC and current NCAA structure exist.
There's more but these are all key reasons for me.
I bought one the past two years the first chance I could, but I haven't made the pledge this year. I'm not at all excited about football season which is a big change. Last year had to be the least exciting iteration of Michigan football I can remember (bend don't break defense, running into the line of scrimmage), so it dampens my desire to read long in-depth articles.
Also, I agree with some of the previous comments that almost everything from last year was printed on the blog anyway. The position groups and predictions are reprinted with more up-to-date information. Besides, I feel that there isn't much "new" to this year's team. The Nussmeier information is about it. What else is there to be excited about at this point? Everyone is waiting for the team to prove it on the field.
Brian's comments or attitudes during any union or Purge discussion had no impact whatsoever on my lack of enthusiasm about ordering HTTV. However, I'm of the belief that athletes should get better health care and guaranteed scholarships, so whatever method they wish to pursue to achieve those things is fine by me. I guess I wasn't in the crowd that was offended by Brian's take on the subject.
I'll probably end up ordering it, but I'm in no rush. This is the same attitude I had towards my season tickets this year. It took an e-mail after the deadline for the tickets. I should be able to order HTTV on time. I would've already ordered it if the "Sports" shirt was an option.
I know I'm gonna do it and probably pick up a new shirt in the process (still wear my photobomb shirt to every game), but my level of enthusiasm for next year is as low as any time I can remember.
I'll still get excited in August when breathless reports of so-and-so blowing up two-a-days start trickling out, and I consider we've got a returning 5th-year senior QB (holy crap), but expectations were just so battered by last season and the offseason of decommits and recruiting near-misses... I don't know man. It's only May and just can't get up for Team Whateva for a while.
The blog is as good as ever. But I would rather have a good OL and a lousy blog than the other way around. Unfortunately, that's not the world we live in.
You know, with the way the blog has developed, it seems like the general stability of the program (few coaching changes outside of Nussmeier's hiring, decent-but-not-great football seasons) has affected the site negatively.
The Nussmeier hiring is probably a good thing, but he isn't introducing much that we haven't seen at some point or another. There seemed to be a huge boom during the Rodriguez years because all of us who grew up on heavy doses of Big Ten football were intrigued by so many shotgun snaps, bubble screens, running quarterbacks, etc. For better or worse, the graduation of Denard Robinson and the return to a more traditional style of offense seems boring, even if it results in better football teams. Throw in the fact that we're running roughly the same defense for the fourth year in a row (instead of that funky 3-3-5 whose deployment confused us), and there's just not a whole lot of "news."
If Michigan hires Gus Malzahn or moves to a 3-4 defense in the next year, we might see a similar jump in interest. But we're going to be running zone, power, and a 4-3 with fewer new faces on the field (zero freshmen are likely to start this fall). *yawn* That's a recipe for boredom but perhaps a 9-3 year or so.
I haven't got to it yet, but I'll buy again this year. T-shirts do leave something to be desired.
but I'm just tired of getting pumped about the football team and saying "Oh this is totally the year we'll stop embarassing ourselves. Yeah!" only to see us fall flat on our face for like 6 straight years (2011 excluded).
I'll start getting excited about reading really in depth stuff once they start figuring out how to win. I know that sounds fair-weather but I'm tired of getting hyped up about "omg Joe Football is going to BREAK OUT this year" and having the team underperform again. I'm just tired of it
FWIW, I think Joe Football is going to have a very disappoiting year. That guy's gettin' a little too big for his britches.
FWIW, I've seen pictures of Joe Football without his shirt on, while skimming through his Twitter posts. Dude is gonna have a monster year.
The whole football team sucking while our rivals all have great success thing is what's doing it for me....
I started a few different posts, got a few paragraphs in, and erased them all. In addition to being not that coherent, I realized I just don't care as much right now. Not because I don't care about M football, but because I have so little time and I don't want to spend it on something I don't enjoy that much.
Thinking about football right now is a slog. Family and friends know I'm a huge fan -- as a result, I'm constantly being asked what I think about the team, the season, Hoke, Nussmeier, etc. It feels like another job sometimes.
I contributed my $15 early on expecting that the kickstarter would fund quickly like it has in the past two years. Then I figured I'd throw some money at the blog through the beveled guilt button (thinking more would then go to the blog as opposed to t-shirts I don't want).
I believe in paying my own way, so I'll probably contribute some more as the deadline gets closer -- I've been watching. And I do want the KS to succeed. There's something nice about spending time in August reading the preview and getting excited about the season.
There is an interesting sub-text going on, though. The blog has always been at the leading edge. This situation, coupled with the AD struggling to sell seats, is a reminder of where we are as a fanbase. Brandon wanted to extract the maximum dollars for a premium entertainment product. When that's your goal (instead of selling tradition and feelings), this is what you get. Several posters seem to feel the same way about the blog and preview. Careful what you wish for...
It's the team (football). It's not good and until they show otherwise, for me it's just a dissatisfaction with them and it's getting tiresome. Even the damn basketball team, who is bringing in and/or developing awesome players and doing awesome things (Last March was unbelievable), sees said guys gone within a year or two; the main one after just a quarter of a season of really good basketball, never to be seen again in a Michigan jersey. Sparty sees a guy like Payne stay for 4 damn years. Ohio gets a Deshaun Thomas for 3-4 years. We get a skinny dude out of Canada who should develop nicely over 4 years and play some good ball, bolt after 2 (good for him, though, honestly).
Shit just fucking sucks right now. Come August I'll perk up but I already know it's going to be a lackluster year with more time and emotional investment wasted...wasted is a bad term, how about, not fully compensated?!
Maybe I haven't been paying attention but aside from the Purge stuff, which whatever, some of those dudes sucked ass it seemed like, I've not a clue what the gripes are with the blog staff. Calling people out? I don't remember that. I'm guessing it wasn't meant as some have taken it but again I'm not sure what happened.
JUST WIN FUCKING FOOTBALL GAMES AND BEAT THE TEAMS THAT MATTER AND ONES WE DESPISE
Our football team may be in the dumps, but MGoBlog is still in great form, and I really appreciate everything Brian & Co does. Sure, I'll bite the bullet and get HTTV.
I guess I look at the situation a bit differently. I view HTTV sort of like Girl Scout cookies sold by my friend's kid. I dont make a purchasing decision based on the quality of the cookies - rather I do it to support my friend's kid because 1: He's my friend and 2: she's his kid.
I dont get the financial analysis of the decision (especially at the $15 level) by people spending hours and hours on a free site. It's supporting the blog and the people who run it - that in itself makes it worthwhile IMO.
I was speaking to my buddy (909 Dewey) who was purged last fall about this thread.
We shared a good laugh about how basically Brian has become his own Dave Brandon; the first kickstarter was done in three days and now he may not even get it published. Of course there will be HTTV but will there be one next year? I would like to know where the money from the kickstarter goes. Remember when that question was posed and never answered?
As for the purges and the other crap, when you attack your fan base they tend to respond in negative manners.
How can you expect to build a business when you cut out the diehards anyway?
Or when you flood the pages with soccer/B1G draft?
Or when you bail on the hockey team two seasons ago? (that was my end with supporting brian or this page)
I enjoyed this thread tremendously... I come here for the comments more than the front page. I find the everyday posters to be enlightened and entertaining. For my part, if there were no comments I wouldn't even read...
jdon