Sportsface? Facesports? A Facebook for Sports Lovers!
Have you ever spent time on Facebook? Well, I reluctantly signed on and have been pleasantly surprised by Facebook’s ability to mimic an old fashioned gathering place. Of course, it’s all digital or virtual as they say. Instead of seeing the real person face-to-face, you read about them. So, of course, it’s not the same thing.
Nevertheless, in these busy times, with friends spread around the country, around the world, it does offer a chance to chat across time and space.
Why am I writing about this on all4prosports.com? Well because I think it’s a model for those of us who play sports, who love sports, who watch sports to share our enthusiasm and experience about pro sports.
Now there are several sites claim to be doing this but no one has quite pulled it off with the combined simplicity and elegance of Facebook.
U.S. College Hockey Online, USCHO.com, based in Minneapolis, calls itself “The Online Sports Community.” It has a scoreboard, blogs, and sections on major college sports, and information about “off the field” issues like “Activism; Administration; Alcohol/Drugs; Campus Life; Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual; Money; Race/Culture; Recruiting; Sports Admin; and Television.” The site is particularly good on college athletics and has a series of up-to-the-minute news feeds about current happenings. From USCHO’s home page on March 31, 2008:
N Dakota’s Andrew Kozek winning goal vs. Wisconsin – Photo: Tim Brule
Great American Sports Fans, gasf.com, declares itself “Your Online Sports Community.” But it’s got a real old-fashioned look about it and, in the free-for-all section there are posts about a variety of non-sports issues. “447 of 830 Members have made 5508 posts in 5 forums.”
Some self-described online sports communities seem to be mainly designed to sell web design services and websites to sports teams and clubs. Eteamz.com offers a variety of packages to help teams create a presence on the web. “Since 1998, eteamz has been connecting coaches, players, families, friends and fans from teams in over 120 countries. Our resources and customer focus have enabled us to become the Team Sports Web Site Leader. eteamz is home to over 2 million teams and is the official online community of Little League Baseball and NFL Youth Football. This is just the beginning.”
Then there’s gymchat.com: “More than just sports chit chat (but that too!” Gymchat urges you to “Connect with other sport clubs and sport players, coaches, parents, and sport fans here on Gym Chat.” Gymchat offers a variety of options: “Make your own player website, find & rate a sport club/store, look up tv schedule, sports news, view/upload events, videos and photos for your favorite sports, plus lots more! The ALL SPORTS network: from gymnastics and diving to football and soccer, ballet and baseball…any sport you do, this place is for you.” But it seems that this too is mostly about you purchasing website packages ranging from $1200 on up to $2100.
Sportsclix.com has 1504 members who “Make Predictions. Answer Trivia. Write Blogs. Meet Fans!
A group of high-tech investors in San Francisco, who clearly understand the online social-networking experience, recently invoked the Facebook name.
The Oakland Tribune described their venture this way: “Intraware Inc. wants to do for sports what Facebook did for the world of colleges and universities.
“The software company’s new Web site, zAthlete.com, is designed to create a digital community for people who are interested in recreational or competitive sports. Anyone who is an athlete, or is actively interested in sports, is the target audience of the company’s online site.” The site is still in transition.
SportGist.com describes itself as a place “where athletes meet.” While it is a bit hard to navigate and search you can find some rare gems of advice and information about sports.
Johnny Newman when he played for the Bucks.
For example, former high-flying Jumpin’ Johnny Newman of the New York Knicks has a series of podcasts about the lessons he learned in the NBA.
Here are some of the topics:
1: Mental preparation for Game
2: What was the Recruiting process like for you?
3: Differences in recruiting then and now
4: What type of work ethic is required?
5: Typical game day routine
6: Music before the game
7: How do you handle distractions
8: Toughest guy to play
LB Morlon Greenwood at work.
Morlon O’Neil Greenwood, linebacker for the Houston Texans, also has a series of fascinating podcasts ranging from how he adjusted to the changes from his native land of Jamaica to Syracuse, NY, his experience as a wrestler and the challenges of balancing academics and sports.
Sportsgist has a variety of groups you can join, ranging from golf, Texas football, cheerleading, weight training/bodybuilding, softball etc.
Until Facebook for Sports comes our way, happy online communicating.