Top ten reasons to hate realgm.

[shrink]

Thanks for the PM rooster. I wanted to respond privately, but ironically for this thread, posters aren't allowed.


To be fair, I haven't looked for a RealGM article in a while so if there has been improvement, then it may have been something I overlooked.

However, as a fan of a small-market team (MIN) from an active RealGM forum, I have to say that I've found the rare reporting on the Wolves to be infrequent and generally uninformed.

This season at RealGM, do you know how many articles that mention the Wolves we've seen (setting aside the preview that every team requires?). One. And that article was extrapolations based on a national rumor that was pretty much dismissed by local sources (for whatever that's worth). Klomp wrote an article in 2007 about the KG trade, and since then (aside from the mandatory preview and lottery summit), there have been four articles.

http://timberwolves.realgm.com/articles_archives.phtml

Since 2007, they were:
1. 2007 About a pre-season game in England
2. 2008 An incorrect conclusion by Andrew Perna about the Gerald Green - Kirk Snyder trade
3. 2009 A rookie report (filed under MIN because of Love led FIC - no discussion of him)
4. 2010 A Jefferson trade breakdown after the yahoo trade rumor.

I think if RealGM wants to be a serious content provider, they need to provide more content than an annual shout-out.

The site brings together thousands of passionate, articulate people who are willing to write about basketball. Why not use them, and invite them to write for your site? Simply reading the message boards would introduce you to hundreds of posters that have information that would make insightful articles. In fact, perhaps you could use some of the best posts as the basis for articles?

I greatly enjoy the discussions on the RealGM message boards. They provide a connection to others like me that are interested in the grander scheme of the NBA and their front offices, and they also provide local information that major media centers simply overlook. However, I feel the blogosphere has certainly eclipsed RealGM for providing content, and as more blogs appear and increase in specificity and ease of interaction, I think that RealGM's message boards will be eclipsed as well.

It also seems to me that it would be a very easy improvement for RealGM to make. There is talent here, and you have 10,000+ potential mini-bloggers that could build your content.

[Rooster]

Thanks for the reply. I'll tell Chris to read it. As I said, I don't represent the site and I certainly don't make any of the decisions.

I wrote the Jefferson article. You're very right in mentioning that the rumour was shot down by local sources, and I never intended to give the rumour more credibility than it deserved. The piece was designed to take a theoretical look at why such a rumour would occur, why Minnesota could hypothetically consider trading Jefferson (whether it's right or not), and why Indiana would be willing to turn down a player of Jefferson's calibre. If anything, the article should've reinforced your (correct) view that the Yahoo rumour wasn't a very good one. In light of that, I hope you thought the article was well-written and made its points well. (Feel free to tell me if you disagree - I'm not above criticism.)

I've tried to make the front page as interesting as I can by writing many different types of articles. I've written everything from a rumour breakdown like you mentioned, to a detailed game analysis, to an article addressing how a situation can impact multiple teams, to a jocular list. My email is usually at the bottom of whatever I write. If there's a type of article you'd like to see more or less of, or something you think needed to be emphasized or de-emphasized, don't hesitate to tell me.

In terms of new writers, people who are interested are encouraged to email Christopher Reina, the editor, at christopher.reina@realgm.com. You're right in saying that RealGM's coverage is a little light in some areas, so if you want to write or know someone who does, by all means, contact Chris and see what he says.

The site's PM feature has been screwy for a while now. You're not the only one who would like to see it work better, I assure you.

[shrink]

In light of that, I hope you thought the article was well-written and made its points well. (Feel free to tell me if you disagree - I'm not above criticism..

Your Jefferson article was by far the best article about the Wolves in years.

[CR Reina]

Yeah, the lack of a search feature is ridiculous and inexcusable. The reasoning for it being gone is BS and everybody knows it.

Can we know what's going on with this? It's been a while now without the search feature- when is it going to come back?

I'm not sure about this, but will check in on it for you guys. I do know we'll be doing some upgrades shortly.

[CR Reina]

In light of that, I hope you thought the article was well-written and made its points well. (Feel free to tell me if you disagree - I'm not above criticism..

Your Jefferson article was by far the best article about the Wolves in years.

Focusing more on specific teams is something that we'll be sure to do a whole lot more of in the coming months. It is inexcusable that certain teams haven't received a balance of attention and I take the blame for that.

We initially setup the team sites to have a dedicated writer(s) cover that team on a daily basis, but it didn't work out for us for a few different reasons.

I think we're more of a national site, so competing with blogs and beat writers that watch every single game of a specific team is difficult for us given the fact that we would need 122 different writers to do that for every team in every sport.

As I mentioned above, recruiting new writers to cover a specific team, or even checking in on each team myself on a frequent basis is something that I vow to work on.

Ironically, Brian Reynolds covered a Minnesota/Atlanta game this week and wrote a piece on the Wolves that I hope you guys will read.

[Devilzsidewalk]

can I write for the Timberwolves

[shrink]

Thanks for the Wolves articles on Hoarding Assets by Brian Reynolds, and on the Darko article by Sven Coburn. Both are excellent.

[Rooster]

^This kind of reply makes me happy.

[Munchlaxatives]

1-9. Canadians
10. Raptors fans outside Canada

[disoblige]

Before I could search my previous posts. I missed that feature.

[disoblige]

Yeah, the lack of a search feature is ridiculous and inexcusable. The reasoning for it being gone is BS and everybody knows it.

most likely the reason is budget.