Seriously, I'd vote, "no" until such time that there appears to be a regular sustained multi-topic group of posters that would best be segregated from the league forum. Obviously there'll be a little uptick as the team launches, but come back in September and I doubt the post rate will be outside the margin of error. I'm also unconcerned about whether other teams have forums or not. Purely on the question as to whether the Courage need their own forum or not, I doubt the traffic would call for it. And I suspect the traffic would be a lot less if it was directed towards an isolated team forum. I also personally don't think all teams need to be treated identically, but apparently I'm in the minority.
@dark knight --> I agree wholeheartedly with Holden's 2nd paragraph on how to move forward in the NWSL subforum. When I first joined it was difficult navigating the forum, trying to find discussions, which were relevant to me.
IMO, having one thread with 20 people in an active conversation is better than having a conversation in a thread in a specific board with 3-4 people. For example, the NASL and OKC collapse. IMO, the general NASL thread was better conversation than the OKC specific one once more people discussed it.
I definitely post more in MLS N&A than I do in the SKC forum (though I do visit). I even was a regular in the RailHawks forum - until it died. Speaking of which, the RailHawks forum should probably be renamed.
@holden , @BlueCrimson , @cpthomas ,@MiLLeNNiuM ,@babranski @Blaze20, @CrankyDefender. @AndyMead @dark knight,@MRAD12 ,@Airox , @Mr. Warmth,@Myrtle , and everyone else who would like to weigh in: Hokay, I think we have mixed approaches/preferences to managing the NWSL forum. I also think that changing the forum/sub-forum structure is hard &/or time consuming to do . If that is true, then I make a motion (call it Motion #3) to do the following: A)Moderators should move the most recently active thread(s) from each NWSL team sub-forum (including the Expansion sub-forum) to the Main NWSL forum. Lock all the other threads in the NWSL team and the Expansion sub-forum. If a whole sub-forum can be locked, then do that. B) I think that approach means sub-forums do not need to be created or moved or deleted, and at the same time puts every team on even footing; also it makes for more flexibility when we do have new teams; it will be easier for posters to jump from main NWSL discussion to team-specific discussion it keeps the previous threads in the old sub-forums readily available to consult when needed (I personally look back fairly frequently). It recognizes the reality that each team has normally just one active thread at a time. Do I have a second? -CJ
I agree with any idea that keeps things uniform for ALL teams. Not sure what planet Andy is from with regard to this issue. Also, can team subforms be archived into one (and I agree with the idea of locking them)? This way active threads for each team show up on the screen when opening the NWSL forum (without having to scroll down).
I think that's too much work. But if the mods prefer, that's fine with me. I don't think all teams need to be treated identically, but the rules need to be applied identically. You refuse to answer my question about how many posts warrant a subforum. Since you seem to think that at least one NWSL team actually deserves one, that clearly means there's some post level one of them that reaches that cutoff in your opinion. So here, I went to the effort to compile these stats. I included the RailHawks as a reference and a mythical NC Courage forum based on it's posts: Forum NameThreads 1YPosts 1YPosters 1YThreads 6MPosts 6MPosters 6M Boston Breakers2279121 Carolina RailHawks1452013918 Chicago Red Stars3115183 FC Kansas City13791379 Houston Dash121121 NC Courage12981298 NJ/NY Sky Blue01811000 Orlando Pride35716021 Portland Thorns FC052052 Seattle Reign FC2821726916 Washington Spirit0128022 Western New York Flash2691814415 So as you can see, in the last 6 months the Courage would have the 4th most active subforum and they haven't even been in existence for a whole month yet. So if they don't deserve one, then neither do any of the teams with less posts. And if the RailHawks don't deserve one, the only teams that could possible warrant one according to you are Seattle and WNY... wait WNY doesn't exist anymore, so that means only Seattle... I mean, I guess Seattle being the only team with one is fine, right @Blaze20 ?
This typically has been our policy - if there are enough fans of the team who post regularly we can start a new forum. Sometimes we'll make exceptions if it's a new team but that's usually more for supporters groups.
So long as we have the current structure, I too request a separate NC Courage subforum. I'm getting tired of having to treat them as WNY. Plus, newcomers to BS will be under the impression there isn't a place for fans of the Courage.
I might be the only one. (excepting inherited WNY fans and the fans of specific players that happen to be wearing Courage jerseys this season).
BTW, WNY will now be playing in the UWS. So the mods really should at least move the WNY sub-forum to here: http://forums.bigsoccer.com/forums/us-womens-lower-divisions.69/
As it has come to pass, it looks like I was the only "Courage fan" posting in the "Courage thread". I certainly don't want, nor do my postings, warrant a separate subforum. Thanks for not creating one.
I'm pretty sure you'd get a second for that - if I was restricted to just that forum. I miss the gold old days: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/andimead-is-destroying-americans-image.247057/ There's also this gem (from when I was blogging from WC06 for BigSoccer). I caught some kids being kids, and posted a couple quick photos before heading back out. When I'd gotten back, half of Argentina wanted me dead: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/burn-baby-burn.377231/ The missing photo in question is this one: http://andymead.photoshelter.com/ga...wFIoHSTWvf8/I0000DPCz.PR1E7c/C0000zLe0ndKYt44