Giving up footy, thus this forum

[1eyedog]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

Yes I also haven't attended a game this season except for the Richond home game at the G. That was good. The Marvel experience is horrendous and I won't be returning.

I also find games quite stressful and would prefer to watch at home on the tele with my kids and the wood fire cranking.

Last three weeks have been tough. I turned it off prior to the end against Geelong.

[DOG GOD]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

Living in Tassie I only get to Melb once a year to see the team play, and I dont mind the marvel experience to be honest, probably coz I’m only watching the one game.
I also like watching the team live because you can see where the players are at all times over the ground. You can see the play unfold, whereas you can’t see that on TV. I feel more stressed watching a close game on TV than I do at the ground haha.

I totally get what others are saying though. I think most thought the dogs would be top 4. Personally, I just couldn’t see it. I didn’t expect us to make the 8. This is probably why I’m not feeling as disappointed as a lot on here.

The thing that just makes me a bit down about this team is the fact that we don’t seem to want to improve as a team. I’m talking about playing guys out of position which isn’t good for their development. Picking guys over others that makes no sense. The club just seems a little dysfunctional.

[Sedat]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

Last three weeks have been tough. I turned it off prior to the end against Geelong.

You've done better than me. I haven't given up on footy, but I have completely given up on watching any part of Dogs v Geelong matches. The result is as close to an absolute mathematical certainty as there is in the modern game.

[mjp]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

You've done better than me. I haven't given up on footy, but I have completely given up on watching any part of Dogs v Geelong matches. The result is as close to an absolute mathematical certainty as there is in the modern game.

I wish I could like this.

In a text thread before the game I said "None of that matters...we NEVER beat Geelong."

They OWN us. We just have to accept it..

[D Mitchell]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

I wish I could like this.

In a text thread before the game I said "None of that matters...we NEVER beat Geelong."

They OWN us. We just have to accept it..

I once attended a match at Kardinia Park where we Won, it would have been in the late 80s

[anfo27]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

I wish I could like this.

In a text thread before the game I said "None of that matters...we NEVER beat Geelong."

They OWN us. We just have to accept it..

Thats the problem. The players from both sides actually believe this.

[Hotdog60]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

Just to cheer people up Vs Geelong Round 16 1982
Simon Beasley 12 goals 4 behinds
Footscray 25-7-157 v Geelong 17-13-115.

It can happen

[Bulldog4life]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

Just to cheer people up Vs Geelong Round 16 1982
Simon Beasley 12 goals 4 behinds
Footscray 25-7-157 v Geelong 17-13-115.

It can happen

Beaser was a gun.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

If everyone hates the flashing lights, who are they for?

I actually see far fewer young children at matches lately due to our time slots so I don?t think it?s for them.

It was refreshing at Ballarat to just chat about the game before and at half time without the endless assault on our senses.

Whenever I am asked in surveys by either Marvel or our club about my ?match day experience? I raise the relentless screeching and the horrible distractions of the lights. It evidently falls on deaf ears or is filed away under Negative Stakeholder Engagement Feedback never to be seen again.

Exactly this.

The EFFING MATCH DAY EXPERIENCE.

Filled out another survey today. Ticked the box so they better call me.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

Just read Tex Perkins did the same thing with St Kilda last year. Seems like maybe a thing, post lockdowns and life self evaluation on what footy is meant to provide.

(Q) The dumbest thing I used to do was …

(A) … put my mental health and wellbeing in the hands of the St Kilda Football Club. Last year, I decided I'd had enough, after being a supporter since the early 1990s.

Once you start believing, you feel like such an idiot when they just piss it away. "How could this have happened? They were up by nine goals!" (laughs) Only this club could do this. I felt really stupid putting my heart, my mind and my soul in the hands of this entity that I had no control over. So I had a year off, and I think I got a lot of shit done.

[GVGjr]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

Well it's confession time or perhaps it's time for an announcement from me. At the very least it's time to share.

Despite my absolute enjoyment of following the Dogs through many good and testing times and and how much I enjoying discussing the Bulldogs with other supporters I've really been considering closing the site down.

The challenge is mainly in two area's
1) Attracting new members who want to join in discussions has been very challenging over a long period of time.
We had an exceptionally good rate of new members joining when supporters wanted access to the content of the Preseason training threads, and we did pick up some good contributors in the process, but most people made it very clear they just want to read and not participate in discussions. That's great for a Blog set-up but not so for a discussion forum.

2) Many of our longer term WOOF members don't have the time and perhaps the interest in participating with discussions and to me that's like having to watch the Dogs with many injured players sitting in the stands. You're constantly hoping they make a come back but they're more or less on the bench for significant chunks of the season.

I reached out to a lot of members, some responded and confirmed they don't have the time or the interest anymore and some read the message and didn't respond. One or two indicated it was a short term distraction while most others indicated they wanted to be readers not contributors.

So when you can't really attract new members who want to join in and it's hard getting some of your best contributors motivated the quality and quantity of discussions starts to decline to the point when closing the site down becomes something to consider.

A few months ago I switched off the option for people to join the site, we only had a few token members anyway, and I also switched off the option for guests to view the forum content if they aren't logged in. This gave me the chance to see how many members logged on for a read.
My view is that it wouldn't be right to have someone join the forum only to have it close down a couple of months later.

So what's next and what does it mean for WOOF members?
I'm probably in a holding pattern at this point but closing the forum or modifying it in some form is definitely an option.
A lot of very vibrant club forums have closed in recent years as the forum set-up isn't what most supporters want. They get a lot more from FB, Instagram, WhatsApp and Twitter than having to read through some discussions on a forum.
I'll give plenty of notice and won't leave you high and dry.

Finding the right time for an announcement like this is a particular challenge in itself.

I'll keep you all informed.

[macca]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

I am really sad to hear this as woof has been my goto forum for club and footy news and discussion.
The member discussion has been great and free of any trolls . Maybe it has inherited the no tools recruitment culture from the club.

Just want to thank all the contributers as your inisght of the game has been educational and lots of fun . Been living overseas , woof offers armchair view of the club.
Many thanks gv for hosting this medium .
I do hope if can continue but understand if it needs to close

My fav threads:
- weekly game commentary
- 3 things i learnt
-ekers
- vfl reports
- early trade rumours
- bt draft calculations and strategy

[ledge]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

I was asked to join this site years ago it’s been awesome I got to go to Rockets 50th due to this site and I got off fb and other social media pages as they are mostly over emotional people who believe anything they read and then turn to abuse of club , players etc . Disgusting in my eyes . The rubbish rumours etc, enough was enough.
This site has given what real forums should be . Proper discussions , no abuse and grounded thoughts on what the club is doing or should be doing.
This site gives proper insight and valuable information when all around the media it’s a circus of rubbish.
It also brings us together telling our stories and experiences over the years .
I hope you don’t shut this site down as its probably the most respected off all forums.
You have done an amazing job and it would be really sad and leave some sort of hole in my football life.

[azabob]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

GVGjr I know the lack of contributions and new members has been a concern of yours for sometime.

I for one am much 99% more active on woof than I am interacting on other social media platforms and when the time comes for woof to end I certainly will miss it.

I can’t imagine the time, effort and $ required to host and maintain the website which I’m sure can be challenging.

[GVGjr]

Re: Giving up footy, thus this forum

GVGjr I know the lack of contributions and new members has been a concern of yours for sometime.

I for one am much 99% more active on woof than I am interacting on other social media platforms and when the time comes for woof to end I certainly will miss it.

I can’t imagine the time, effort and $ required to host and maintain the website which I’m sure can be challenging.

I'm not really on FB, I only occasionally look at it, Twitter is like a click and collect experience to me. Most just want to read or ridicule on there and that doesn't appeal. I look at Insta on occasions but I don't participate and I'm fortunate to be on a couple of WhatsApp groups with like minded supporters.

The decision that I'm weighing up isn't about the money to run and maintain the site and it's very much more about not wanting to see the site die a slow death. The reality is that most Bulldog supporters outside of WOOF just want to read content than make a contribution to the discussions and that is a problem for a discussion forum.

As they say in the classics.."The tribe has spoken"