TalkBoard Topics - an OMNI/Sports forum?

There's now discussion in OMNI about an OMNI/Sports forum, and I'd like TalkBoard to consider creating a subforum of OMNI called OMNI/Sports (or something similar), where all sport-related threads would live. This would include threads about Olympics, football, baseball, etc.

The OP:
Am new to OMNI. Have noticed there are quite a lot of Sports threads. These seem to be popular.

Would it help to propose a new OMNI/Sports category header in OMNI? What do others think?

I do think this is a good idea, and follows the logic used in creating an OMNI/Games forum. There are 13 sports-related threads on the first page of OMNI right now.

There are 13 sports-related threads on the first page of OMNI right now.

Yes, almost all due to the Olympics. MHO is we do not need another OMNI channel any more than we would need another channel to house only political topics as they are currently dominating the OMNI PR forum.

As a regular FTer, I'm inclined to agree w/ tcook052.

Certain times of the year(s) we get an increase in a particular type of thread, whether it be sports around the Olympics or political threads around election years. After the events have passed, there are very few threads re: the topics. It's been that way for the 10 years I've been on FT.

But if you feel strongly enough about it kipper, I encourage you to do what we ask other FTers to do when creating a forum, which is make a case for it.

The following are qualitative criteria that the TalkBoard believes are useful to consider when evaluating proposals to create, close, split, or move forums. Whenever a forum change is discussed on the TalkBoard Topics, the TalkBoard encourages posters to fully address these criteria in addition to any other reasons supporting or opposing the change.

1. Will the forum be (or is it now) beneficial to FlyerTalk?

2. Will the new forum benefit a relationship with FlyerTalk? E.g., does the forum provide value for FT members, such as a friendly ear highly placed in the company

3. Is FT the best place to discuss this subject?

4. Is there a passionate following? This is essential in order to provide dedicated expert helpers to get questions answered.

5. Is a critical mass of posts and readers anticipated or existing? We need adequate traffic to keep everyone visiting frequently. One living forum is more valuable than two mostly dead ones.

6. Is this the best place on FlyerTalk for this subject? This is the classification issue. The answer depends primarily on achieving and maintaining critical mass. It also depends on whether or where the discussion might (or does) occur in the absence of the forum.

7. For proposals to split a forum, is the split expected to improve the signal to noise ratio? Why?

Cheers.

I do think this is a good idea, and follows the logic used in creating an OMNI/Games forum. There are 13 sports-related threads on the first page of OMNI right now.It's a silly idea.

The world's largest sporting event is going on now. There's a major college scandal going on in the U.S. We just had Wimbledon, the UEFA Cup, and the Tour. Of course there is a lot of discussion on the topic of sport.

Normally there are 2-4 threads that contain posts about a particular sport - not individual threads about each game, etc.

Right now there are many threads about the Olympics which will go away with the Olympics.

I don't think there's a need to further breakdown Omni any more than it is.

As a regular FTer, I'm inclined to agree w/ tcook052.

Certain times of the year(s) we get an increase in a particular type of thread, whether it be sports around the Olympics or political threads around election years. After the events have passed, there are very few threads re: the topics. It's been that way for the 10 years I've been on FT.

But if you feel strongly enough about it kipper, I encourage you to do what we ask other FTers to do when creating a forum, which is make a case for it. Cheers.
I'll work on that later today, unless someone else wants to tackle that.
It's a silly idea.

The world's largest sporting event is going on now. There's a major college scandal going on in the U.S. We just had Wimbledon, the UEFA Cup, and the Tour. Of course there is a lot of discussion on the topic of sport.
There are usually at least a few threads discussing sports on the front page of OMNI, whether or not the Olympics are taking place or not.

While it may not seem like many to most people, I do ask that everyone remember that an OMNI/Games forum was created not long ago, even though there were typically only 2-3 game threads on the front page of OMNI at any given time. Why should the standards be different for that? Likewise, why were the questions listed above not asked and answered for that forum?

Normally there are 2-4 threads that contain posts about a particular sport - not individual threads about each game, etc.

Right now there are many threads about the Olympics which will go away with the Olympics.

I don't think there's a need to further breakdown Omni any more than it is.

Consistency, Mary, consistency. We split the games threads into their own forum, even though there were usually 2-4 game threads on the front page of OMNI. Why not do it with sports too?

Since sports are, technically, games, why don't the sports threads just get moved there? There isn't too much activity in it, and almost no new threads posted at the last I looked in there.

One of the main reasons we created an OMNI Games sub-forum was for a place to put games that required little to no human interaction and thus were not deemed worthy of post count credit.

Some games are still in regular OMNI as they combine fun and/or some sort of interaction with their posts.

Posts get counted in OMNI and OMNI/PR. They don't get counted in OMNI/Games.

As to yet another sub-forum for OMNI/Sports, I'm currently neutral on the idea. If someone could point to some solid benefits for creating the sub-forum, I might be convinced to support it.

Since sports are, technically, games, why don't the sports threads just get moved there? There isn't too much activity in it, and almost no new threads posted at the last I looked in there.

That could probably work too, although that's probably more of a moderator action?

One of the main reasons we created an OMNI Games sub-forum was for a place to put games that required little to no human interaction and thus were not deemed worthy of post count credit.

Some games are still in regular OMNI as they combine fun and/or some sort of interaction with their posts.

Posts get counted in OMNI and OMNI/PR. They don't get counted in OMNI/Games.

As to yet another sub-forum for OMNI/Sports, I'm currently neutral on the idea. If someone could point to some solid benefits for creating the sub-forum, I might be convinced to support it.
I'm working on it, but that's not going to happen until at least tonight. :)

I do have to ask why the OMNI/Games forum wasn't held to the same standard, by having those questions answered before it was created?

I'm not seeing the games as quite the equivalent of the sports thing. The games threads continually bounced up on the first page because the people posting in those threads were well - playing games, such as counting, etc, and the game posts were considered by some not to bring any value to FT (outside of those playing).

The # of sports threads (outside of big sporting events) aren't very many & don't get bumped up like the games threads did, just as outside election years there aren't as many political topics/threads in Omni PR.

I'm not seeing enough of a problem w/ sports threads to justify a separate sub-forum. Heck, if we base it only on 1-2 types of threads per topic, we'd have separate sub-forums for workplace topics, real estate topics, which also get separate threads & can be displayed on the same page. ;)

Cheers.

That could probably work too, although that's probably more of a moderator action?
All the mods have to do is move the threads into the games forum, as well as any future misplaced threads.

But I really don't think it's necessary. I hate to see the living room broken out into more rooms. It's the off-topic area and should be a catch-all.

I'm not seeing the games as quite the equivalent of the sports thing. The games threads continually bounced up on the first page because the people posting in those threads were well - playing games, such as counting, etc, and the game posts were considered by some not to bring any value to FT (outside of those playing).

The # of sports threads (outside of big sporting events) aren't very many & don't get bumped up like the games threads did, just as outside election years there aren't as many political topics/threads in Omni PR.

I'm not seeing enough of a problem w/ sports threads to justify a separate sub-forum. Heck, if we base it only on 1-2 types of threads per topic, we'd have separate sub-forums for workplace topics, real estate topics, which also get separate threads & can be displayed on the same page.

Cheers.
During football season, there's usually a college football thread, a Washington Redskins thread, and the fantasy football thread at a minimum. Add to it baseball playoffs, and then hockey, and that's probably 4-5 that get bumped at least weekly, if not 3-4 times/week just to discuss games.

Again, I ask the question of why was the OMNI/Games forum not held to the same standard? Did anyone answer the questions you asked me to answer about it?
All the mods have to do is move the threads into the games forum, as well as any future misplaced threads.

But I really don't think it's necessary. I hate to see the living room broken out into more rooms. It's the off-topic area and should be a catch-all.
Yes, it should be a catch-all, but then why is it broken into 3 subforums now?

Cholula explained it above.

I do have to ask why the OMNI/Games forum wasn't held to the same standard, by having those questions answered before it was created?

As you know, the games thread sub-forum was part of a bigger overhaul of Omni wrt posts counting, a separate games sub-forum, & then making that forum a non-post counting forum. There were long & lengthy threads on each of the topics, probably more than any other topics ever brought up for TB consideration (other than mileage run being kept open to all), so I think the case for/against were made, even if not in the 7 questions format.

Answering the questions is a way to help make a case for a new suggestion (whether that be a new forum or something else), especially if it's an area TB members might not be familiar with. It's not the only thing we take into consideration, but it's a good start.

Cheers.

In June, the following threads were active (I probably missed some). I think the people who believe there's usually only one or two threads about sports active in Omni are mistaken.


2011-12 NBA Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2011-12 NHL Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2012 MLB Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2012 NCAA Baseball: Regionals to the CWS ( 1 2)
2012 U.S. Open (golf) ( 1 2)
Any member who bodybuilds?
Anyone else following Lin-Sanity???? Jeremy Lin #17 NY Knicks ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
ATP rankings (tennis) ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
ESPN: 'Woman hit by ball sues little leaguer'
EURO 2012. ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
How many hours does a National League baseball game usually last?
is Tiger Woods the most overrated sports star? ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
It's Soooooooo Hard to be a Washington Redskins Fan ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Madrid tennis Open (WTA and ATP) ( 1 2 3 4 5)
No Triple Crown at the Belmont tomorrow
Official 2010 College Conference Realignment Rumor Thread ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Red Sox Tickets in August - How to best get them?
Roger Federer ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Roland Garros (French Tennis Open) ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
The downfall of Penn State football and Joe Paterno + Sandusky trial [merged threads] ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
The Pavilion: OMNI Cricket Thread ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Tiger Woods is amazing!!! ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Two NFL cheerleaders arrested at Tampa bar... ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
US Tennis Open (Flushing Meadows) ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Where will LeBron end up? ( 1 2 3 4 5)
will Phelps bomb in London? ( 1 2 3 4)
Wimbledon Tennis Grand Slam tournament ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
WTA (Tennis) ( 1 2 3 4 5)
Yankees Vs. Red Sox - 2012.(.1.2.3.4.5.....Last Page)

In June, the following threads were active (I probably missed some). I think the people who believe there's usually only one or two threads about sports active in Omni are mistaken.


2011-12 NBA Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2011-12 NHL Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2012 MLB Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2012 NCAA Baseball: Regionals to the CWS ( 1 2)
2012 U.S. Open (golf) ( 1 2)
Any member who bodybuilds?
Anyone else following Lin-Sanity???? Jeremy Lin #17 NY Knicks ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
ATP rankings (tennis) ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
ESPN: 'Woman hit by ball sues little leaguer'
EURO 2012. ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
How many hours does a National League baseball game usually last?
is Tiger Woods the most overrated sports star? ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
It's Soooooooo Hard to be a Washington Redskins Fan ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Madrid tennis Open (WTA and ATP) ( 1 2 3 4 5)
No Triple Crown at the Belmont tomorrow
Official 2010 College Conference Realignment Rumor Thread ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Red Sox Tickets in August - How to best get them?
Roger Federer ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Roland Garros (French Tennis Open) ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
The downfall of Penn State football and Joe Paterno + Sandusky trial [merged threads] ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
The Pavilion: OMNI Cricket Thread ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Tiger Woods is amazing!!! ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Two NFL cheerleaders arrested at Tampa bar... ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
US Tennis Open (Flushing Meadows) ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Where will LeBron end up? ( 1 2 3 4 5)
will Phelps bomb in London? ( 1 2 3 4)
Wimbledon Tennis Grand Slam tournament ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
WTA (Tennis) ( 1 2 3 4 5)
Yankees Vs. Red Sox - 2012.(.1.2.3.4.5.....Last Page)
Thanks for compiling that. It looks like in June, that's 29 threads, only one of which was related to the Olympics.

The following are qualitative criteria that the TalkBoard believes are useful to consider when evaluating proposals to create, close, split, or move forums. Whenever a forum change is discussed on the TalkBoard Topics, the TalkBoard encourages posters to fully address these criteria in addition to any other reasons supporting or opposing the change.

1. Will the forum be (or is it now) beneficial to FlyerTalk? Yes, it will give those in OMNI a separate sports forum, so they don't have to search nearly as hard for the sports-related topics.

2. Will the new forum benefit a relationship with FlyerTalk? E.g., does the forum provide value for FT members, such as a friendly ear highly placed in the company It's OMNI, so it's off topic anyway.

3. Is FT the best place to discuss this subject? It's OMNI, so while it's not the best place to discuss sports, it's not the best place to discuss anything in OMNI, necessarily. :)

4. Is there a passionate following? This is essential in order to provide dedicated expert helpers to get questions answered. Considering there were 29 sports threads in June, most of which had more than 1 page of posts, and many of which have been going on for months, if not years, I'd say so.

5. Is a critical mass of posts and readers anticipated or existing? We need adequate traffic to keep everyone visiting frequently. One living forum is more valuable than two mostly dead ones. Again, there were 29 threads in June, a month where football hasn't started, hockey was only occurring for less than half of the month, US Open tennis isn't until the end of August, etc.

6. Is this the best place on FlyerTalk for this subject? This is the classification issue. The answer depends primarily on achieving and maintaining critical mass. It also depends on whether or where the discussion might (or does) occur in the absence of the forum. This is the best place on FlyerTalk for this subject, as it obviously doesn't belong in any of the other forums, other than OMNI, but this will be a sub-forum of OMNI

7. For proposals to split a forum, is the split expected to improve the signal to noise ratio? Why? In a relatively light sports month (no NFL football, no Olympics, only regular season baseball, hockey for only half a season), there were 29 active threads discussing sports in OMNI. A split would reduce the sports clutter on the front page of OMNI.

In June, the following threads were active (I probably missed some). I think the people who believe there's usually only one or two threads about sports active in Omni are mistaken.


2011-12 NBA Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2011-12 NHL Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
...
Yankees Vs. Red Sox - 2012.(.1.2.3.4.5.....Last Page)

Out of how many total threads active in June (I assume that meant there was at least 1 post in the month)? I see 202 active in the last month as of today. Considering that June had the Stanley Cup finals, NBA finals, MLB, golf US Open, Wimbledon, tennis French Open, and two major quadrennial events - Euro and the run-up to the Olympics, it's quite possibly the busiest month in sports in the last 4 years. So approx. 15% of the threads with that level of activity hardly calls for a new permanent forum, IHMO.

During football season, there's usually a college football thread, a Washington Redskins thread, and the fantasy football thread at a minimum. Add to it baseball playoffs, and then hockey, and that's probably 4-5 that get bumped at least weekly, if not 3-4 times/week just to discuss games.

Again, I ask the question of why was the OMNI/Games forum not held to the same standard?

4-5 threads among 200 active in a month isn't significant enough for a new forum, IMHO. And if you followed closely, you know the real reason the Games Forum was created.

it's quite possibly the busiest month in sports in the last 4 years.


Or Maybe Not if the totally useless connection between big sports months and sports threads is the theory. May, 2012. I stopped counting at 30, there's certainly many more.

Indycar's biggest star??????
White Sox are 5th Worst Fans in MLB
2011 PGA Tour ( 1 2 3 4)
Shaq O'Neal will play the Grown Ups 2 movie
Champions League 2012
Rome ATP masters series (tennis) tournament ( 1 2)
Why Do Sports Announcers Use Long Term Rivalry Statistics
Alabama grandfather faces felony charges for attacking youth softball ump
Olympic Tickets Presale 17th of May
Can Kevin Garnett save the Celtics? ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Saints Sean Payton suspended for 1 full year ( 1 2)
NFL Great Junior Seau Dead ( 1 2)
What's wrong with the New York Knicks from a fresh perscpective
$2 Billion for the Dodgers
EX trojan recruit exonerated of rape charges
Any member who bodybuilds?
Roland Garros (French Tennis Open) ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Madrid tennis Open (WTA and ATP) ( 1 2 3 4 5)
2011-12 NBA Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Official 2010 College Conference Realignment Rumor Thread ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Tiger Woods is amazing!!! ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2011-12 NHL Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Baseball (Little League) rules question ( 1 2)
BREAKING: USC Stripped of 2004 National Championship ( 1 2 3)
Roger Federer ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
is Tiger Woods the most overrated sports star? ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2012 MLB Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Anyone else following Lin-Sanity???? Jeremy Lin #17 NY Knicks ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Wimbledon Tennis Grand Slam tournament ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)

deleted

In June, the following threads were active (I probably missed some). I think the people who believe there's usually only one or two threads about sports active in Omni are mistaken.


2011-12 NBA Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2011-12 NHL Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2012 MLB Season ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
2012 NCAA Baseball: Regionals to the CWS ( 1 2)
2012 U.S. Open (golf) ( 1 2)
Any member who bodybuilds?
Anyone else following Lin-Sanity???? Jeremy Lin #17 NY Knicks ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
ATP rankings (tennis) ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
ESPN: 'Woman hit by ball sues little leaguer'
EURO 2012. ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
How many hours does a National League baseball game usually last?
is Tiger Woods the most overrated sports star? ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
It's Soooooooo Hard to be a Washington Redskins Fan ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Madrid tennis Open (WTA and ATP) ( 1 2 3 4 5)
No Triple Crown at the Belmont tomorrow
Official 2010 College Conference Realignment Rumor Thread ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Red Sox Tickets in August - How to best get them?
Roger Federer ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Roland Garros (French Tennis Open) ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
The downfall of Penn State football and Joe Paterno + Sandusky trial [merged threads] ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
The Pavilion: OMNI Cricket Thread ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Tiger Woods is amazing!!! ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Two NFL cheerleaders arrested at Tampa bar... ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
US Tennis Open (Flushing Meadows) ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
Where will LeBron end up? ( 1 2 3 4 5)
will Phelps bomb in London? ( 1 2 3 4)
Wimbledon Tennis Grand Slam tournament ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page)
WTA (Tennis) ( 1 2 3 4 5)
Yankees Vs. Red Sox - 2012.(.1.2.3.4.5.....Last Page)

I put in Red the ones that I thought are ongoing threads and the ones you could see active on any given day. The rest are really short timers that are gone quickly.

2nd, I would not put the two cheerleaders one as a sports topic as this thread has little to do with sports

and if you think that all of the above is worthy of its own forum than someone has too much time on their hands.

The following are qualitative criteria that the TalkBoard believes are useful to consider when evaluating proposals to create, close, split, or move forums. Whenever a forum change is discussed on the TalkBoard Topics, the TalkBoard encourages posters to fully address these criteria in addition to any other reasons supporting or opposing the change.

1. Will the forum be (or is it now) beneficial to FlyerTalk? Yes, it will give those in OMNI a separate sports forum, so they don't have to search nearly as hard for the sports-related topics.

2. Will the new forum benefit a relationship with FlyerTalk? E.g., does the forum provide value for FT members, such as a friendly ear highly placed in the company It's OMNI, so it's off topic anyway.

3. Is FT the best place to discuss this subject? It's OMNI, so while it's not the best place to discuss sports, it's not the best place to discuss anything in OMNI, necessarily. :)

4. Is there a passionate following? This is essential in order to provide dedicated expert helpers to get questions answered. Considering there were 29 sports threads in June, most of which had more than 1 page of posts, and many of which have been going on for months, if not years, I'd say so.

5. Is a critical mass of posts and readers anticipated or existing? We need adequate traffic to keep everyone visiting frequently. One living forum is more valuable than two mostly dead ones. Again, there were 29 threads in June, a month where football hasn't started, hockey was only occurring for less than half of the month, US Open tennis isn't until the end of August, etc.

6. Is this the best place on FlyerTalk for this subject? This is the classification issue. The answer depends primarily on achieving and maintaining critical mass. It also depends on whether or where the discussion might (or does) occur in the absence of the forum. This is the best place on FlyerTalk for this subject, as it obviously doesn't belong in any of the other forums, other than OMNI, but this will be a sub-forum of OMNI

7. For proposals to split a forum, is the split expected to improve the signal to noise ratio? Why? In a relatively light sports month (no NFL football, no Olympics, only regular season baseball, hockey for only half a season), there were 29 active threads discussing sports in OMNI. A split would reduce the sports clutter on the front page of OMNI.

kipper, thank you for taking the time to answer the questions.

Cheers.

kipper, thank you for taking the time to answer the questions.

Cheers.

Yes, thank you.

I'm not getting this sudden "need" to break out forums into finer and finer topics. The off-topic area is for just that, non-travel related off topic posts. The reasons Omni was broken out were spelled out pretty clearly in other discussions. Quite honestly, I disagreed with the initial split, but it was of Randy's doing, and no one has suggested putting it back together.

If the purpose of Omni is for non travel related posts, then quite a few other forums should be deleted and moved into Omni. Probably over half of Flyertalk the last time I actually did the calculations is not travel related anymore, despite the forum having some travel name. By definition then those forums should be deleted and all their posts moved into Omni? We currently split out non travel related topics, though it was through evolution, and not actually splitting them from Omni, but there are certainly many specific non travel discussions outside of Omni in their own forums now.

Flyertalk has changed considerably since these forums were defined. Holding to definitions written a dozen years ago (or more) that in no way apply to the current use doesn't make any sense to me.

Some people keep all their mail in one folder, some people use subfolders. Neither is wrong, it's just a preference.

As CPRich mentioned, June had the Stanley Cup finals, NBA finals, MLB, golf US Open, Wimbledon, tennis French Open, and two major quadrennial events - Euro and the run-up to the Olympics, so it's not quite surprising there were more threads.

Which supports my thinking that at certain times of the year(s), there are probably going to be more sports threads. But then I realized I rarely read the sports threads & just skim over titles, etc, so perhaps my thinking was off because they're not as much interest to me personally.

I thought it might be interesting to see what June/July looked like last year, so did a search back. That's when I discovered Omni threads only track back a year, so J/J '11 is now gone & I can't do a year-to-year comparison.

So I decided to go back a year month-by-month & see how often sports threads were on Omni, and see if there's a trend - ie, spikes or consistent.

I discovered they're pretty consistent - and not actually that overwhelming.

Aug '11: 110 posts, 8 sports, # per page: 0,0,3,4,1,0
Sept '11: 122 posts, 8 sports, # per page: 1,1,0,3,2,1
Oct '11; 99 posts, 12 sports, # per page: 1,4,2,4,1
Nov '11; 140 posts, 10 sports, # per page: 2,2,3,2,1,0,0
Dec '11: 121 posts, 5 sports, # per page: 1,2,0,0,1,0,2
Jan '12: 134 posts, 9 sports, # per page: 1,3,2,1,1,1,0
Feb '12: 177 posts, 14 sports, # per page: 1,2,3,0,0,2,4,2,0
Mar '12: 178 posts, 9 sports, # per page: 1,3,2,2,0,0,1,0
Apr '12; 186 posts, 15 sports, # per page: 0,1,4,4,0,1,3,1,1
May '12: 135 posts, 13 sports, # per page: 2,3,2,3,2,1

Not surprising, certain months other topics occurred a lot (ie, Nov/Dec a lot of holiday threads) & certain topics come up on a regular basis as well - workforce issues, car stuff, real estate & house repair stuff.

So I'm still in the I think certain times of the year we'll see a spike of threads on a topic (such as the Olympics) & other times it doesn't happen enough to justify a sub-forum camp.

On a personal note - while I'm following the Olympics I'm not opening every single thread. I just skim past to see any Olympic ones or non-Olympic ones I'm interested in & read those - of course I do that at any time of the year, including with regular sports threads or threads about the Fibonnaci sequence.

Cheers.

Thank you kipper for bringing this topic up and where my gut reaction was to say "no" simply based on the handful of sports threads I follow and that many sports threads are cyclical (i.e. the Stanley Cup Final* ;)), and some pop up based on a hot topic (i.e. Penn State and Tiger Woods), cordelli did a good job (x2) in showing that there are quite a few sports related threads and I would be in favor of this. Yes, as I mentioned, sports is cyclical but that is the nature of sports as it is with politics and granted, where the need for OMNI/PR was obvious, this subject was, at first read, not obvious to me but now that I think about it....


*it's the Stanley Cup Fina"l" and not Final"s" as the "s" belongs to the sport where you put the ball in the hoop ;)

Flyertalk has changed considerably since these forums were defined. Holding to definitions written a dozen years ago (or more) that in no way apply to the current use doesn't make any sense to me.

Respectfully it equally makes no sense to me to say that in OMNI, a forum where (almost) anything goes, we should be further redefining "anything".

Since one of the concerns/reasons for creating a sports sub-forum is that they're cluttering up the front page of Omni, I thought I'd do a further break-down of my #s for August '11-May'12.

70 pages.
18 pages had 0 sports posts (25.7%)
21 pages had 1 sport post (30%)
16 pages had 2 sport posts (22.8%)
9 pages had 3 sport posts (12.8%)
6 pages had 4 sport posts (8.5%)

That means that on non-big sporting events months, 78.5% of the pages had 0-2 sports posts.

That says to me that there isn't a need to create a sports sub-forum. Other than big sporting events months, sports threads don't take up a lot of space on Omni.

Nor am I into discrimination per se. While I may not be a big fan of all sports, that doesn't mean FTer shouldn't be able to discuss them in the regular Omni forum.

On a dif note - I'm not sure this (mentioned in cordelli's list) qualifies as a sports thread per se: "Shaq O'Neal will play the Grown Ups 2 movie" ;) :p :D

Cheers.

Or Maybe Not if the totally useless connection between big sports months and sports threads is the theory. May, 2012. I stopped counting at 30, there's certainly many more.
[B]-
First, what's your point related to the topic? If you're just being pedantic, I'll point out that you didn't list 30, you're comparing a list that had the disclaimer "I probably missed some", and a quick scan reveals at a minimum, with the greatly relaxed definition :

will Clemens be treated the same was as Bonds?
Arrest made in Erin Andrews hotel-peephole case
2012 Div 1A College Football Thread
Flyertalk Fantasy Football 2012
Rudy: good movie or great movie

(and the gratuitous "there are certainly many more")

But again, what's your point. Supporting or objecting to a Sports sub-thread?

I'm not getting this sudden "need" to break out forums into finer and finer topics. The off-topic area is for just that, non-travel related off topic posts. The reasons Omni was broken out were spelled out pretty clearly in other discussions. Quite honestly, I disagreed with the initial split, but it was of Randy's doing, and no one has suggested putting it back together.

Exacto. No need for esports in eseparate eforum.

I'm working on it, but that's not going to happen until at least tonight. :)

I do have to ask why the OMNI/Games forum wasn't held to the same standard, by having those questions answered before it was created?

Because the Games thread was born from a discussion amongst the TalkBoard. You want us to make a case to ourselves?

It's up to others if they wish to make a case for a forum by answering the questionnaire. I certainly don't require it.

It's doubtful that I'll seriously consider a vote to further fragment OMNI. And moving sports threads to the Games forum is a non-starter since those threads would be off-topic in that forum.

I ignore most of the US sports ones, but occasionally contribute to tennis ones.

If they get ghettoised into a different sub-forum, I probably won't bother. So while there is no very strong case for building the sub-forum, it would actually create a disincentive for some of us who do currently contribute to some sports threads that interest us.

I ignore most of the US sports ones, but occasionally contribute to tennis ones.

If they get ghettoised into a different sub-forum, I probably won't bother. So while there is no very strong case for building the sub-forum, it would actually create a disincentive for some of us who do currently contribute to some sports threads that interest us.

Didn't that happen with the games forum as well though? Yet, that wasn't a consideration there.

Didn't that happen with the games forum as well though? Yet, that wasn't a consideration there.

Why is this important to you?

Didn't that happen with the games forum as well though? Yet, that wasn't a consideration there.

I'm not sure what you mean by the above.

As cholula mentioned, "one of the main reasons we created an OMNI Games sub-forum was for a place to put games that required little to no human interaction and thus were not deemed worthy of post count credit. Some games are still in regular OMNI as they combine fun and/or some sort of interaction with their posts. Posts get counted in OMNI and OMNI/PR. They don't get counted in OMNI/Games."

There is human interaction in the Omni sports threads & they're popular, so I'm still not sure why sports needs to be a sub-forum, other than non-sports folk don't want to see thread titles? They don't have to open/read the threads if they're not interested in the topic (well, that's true of any topic in Omni).

And once the Olympics are past, the # of sports threads will go back to normal.

Cheers.

Why is this important to you?

I'm not sure what you mean by this?

Cheers.

Just pointing out that participation in threads if they were moved didn't seem to be a concern, so why should that be a concern now?

Yes, I realize why OMNI/Games was split, however, if participation in threads if they were moved wasn't a factor then, why should they be a factor in this discussion?

Just pointing out that participation in threads if they were moved didn't seem to be a concern, so why should that be a concern now?

Yes, I realize why OMNI/Games was split, however, if participation in threads if they were moved wasn't a factor then, why should they be a factor in this discussion?

And again, as cholula mentioned, "one of the main reasons we created an OMNI Games sub-forum was for a place to put games that required little to no human interaction and thus were not deemed worthy of post count credit. Some games are still in regular OMNI as they combine fun and/or some sort of interaction with their posts. Posts get counted in OMNI and OMNI/PR. They don't get counted in OMNI/Games."

If you want us to consider a sports sub-forum you need to focus on why specifically this topic, amongst other topics such as workplace issues, dating, home repairs, cars, that appear in Omni regularly, needs to be split off into a separate one.

Cheers.

Now that the Olympics are over, we seem to be going back to regular Omni posting & sports threads don't seem to be taking over the forum. However, weddings & cats now seem to be the new thing ;) :p :D

I don't think this will be brought up for a motion, but if it is I'll really need a lot of reasons why it should be created before I vote for it.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, if the OP wants us to consider a sports sub-forum she needs to focus on why specifically this topic, amongst other topics such as workplace issues, dating, home repairs, cars, that appear in Omni regularly, needs to be split off into a separate one. I haven't seen that yet.

I do, however, appreciate her asking us to consider it!

Cheers.

Now that the Olympics are over, we seem to be going back to regular Omni posting & sports threads don't seem to be taking over the forum. However, weddings & cats now seem to be the new thing ;) :p :D

I don't think this will be brought up for a motion, but if it is I'll really need a lot of reasons why it should be created before I vote for it.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, if the OP wants us to consider a sports sub-forum she needs to focus on why specifically this topic, amongst other topics such as workplace issues, dating, home repairs, cars, that appear in Omni regularly, needs to be split off into a separate one. I haven't seen that yet.

I do, however, appreciate her asking us to consider it!

Cheers.
There are still 10 sports-related threads on the front page of OMNI, and another 9 on the second page, only 5 of which pertain to the Olympics.

There are still 10 sports-related threads on the front page of OMNI, and another 9 on the second page, only 5 of which pertain to the Olympics.

I counted & I didn't see quite as many as you. FWIW - I'm not counting the cheerleaders getting arrested at a bar as a sports thread ;).

If you want us to consider a sports sub-forum you need to focus on why specifically this topic, amongst other topics such as workplace issues, dating, home repairs, cars, pets, that appear in Omni regularly, needs to be split off into a separate one. I haven't seen that yet from you.

Cheers.

There are still 10 sports-related threads on the front page of OMNI, and another 9 on the second page, only 5 of which pertain to the Olympics.

That's nice. It also doesn't mean we should have a dedicated forum for those threads.

I counted & I didn't see quite as many as you. FWIW - I'm not counting the cheerleaders getting arrested at a bar as a sports thread ;).

If you want us to consider a sports sub-forum you need to focus on why specifically this topic, amongst other topics such as workplace issues, dating, home repairs, cars, pets, that appear in Omni regularly, needs to be split off into a separate one. I haven't seen that yet from you.

Cheers.

Ok, so subtract 1.

The sports threads are recurring, over a long period of time, whereas many of the workplace issues, home repairs, cars, pets, etc., are active for a fairly short time, and then die. The sports threads often span at least one season, if not multiple seasons, or result in new threads for the next season, with each season typically being 4-6 months, if not longer.

Ok, so subtract 1.

The sports threads are recurring, over a long period of time, whereas many of the workplace issues, home repairs, cars, pets, etc., are active for a fairly short time, and then die. The sports threads often span at least one season, if not multiple seasons, or result in new threads for the next season, with each season typically being 4-6 months, if not longer.

So what?

So what?

So, I'm simply suggesting that if there are several, similarly-themed threads that are going to be on the front page or two of one forum, perhaps they would be best served by having their own "subforum." Why the hostility?

So, I'm simply suggesting that if there are several, similarly-themed threads that are going to be on the front page or two of one forum, perhaps they would be best served by having their own "subforum." Why the hostility?

There's no hostility.

Have you noticed that you're the only one beating this drum?

There's no hostility.

Have you noticed that you're the only one beating this drum?

There seems to be hostility from you. Sharon bumped this thread yesterday, as a "after the Olympics," and I responded to her.

I'm inclined ti support a Sports Forum* as yes, even with cyclical sports like the olympics, all sports (like politics) are cyclical. Now granted, there are more political F/t'ers than there are sports F/'ters, I can see a Sports forum serving its purpose*


And if you include the two cheerleaders getting arrested thread, it has to have been in a sports bar ;)

There seems to be hostility from you. Sharon bumped this thread yesterday, as a "after the Olympics," and I responded to her.

I assure you there's no hostility. Honest.

(I also assure you it will likely take 6 of the other 8 votes for this to become reality. I find fragmenting OMNI a terrible idea and I only went for it in the Games scenario because it was the only way to have post counts turned on in OMNI and PR -- I didn't have the votes otherwise.)

There are still 10 sports-related threads on the front page of OMNI, and another 9 on the second page, only 5 of which pertain to the Olympics.

That can't possibly be. When there's no Olympics, there's only two active sports threads in Omni at any time.

There can't possibly be two football, two tennis, two baseball, and an active hockey and soccer thread on the first page.



There's no hostility.



That's not how it's coming across.

There's no hostility from me, but I've not seen enough of a case made for me to vote for it.

It made sense (even though it was a Randy decision) for PR to be split off, and it made sense for Games to be split off for the reasons Rich mentioned.

But other than that I don't see a need for any more splits in Omni. Regular Omni encompasses a broad range of topics, and yes one of those is sports.

Cheers.

By this same argument, we should have OMNI Politics, OMNI Religion and OMNI GLBT issues. At any one time, any one of those subjects are the majority of threads on the front page of OMNI PR.

This is going to happen at any time... timely topical subjects are going to result in several threads.... not sure why "Sports" should be any different.

I am not for creating more splits of OMNI... enough have happened already.

I would actually like to see the Omnis put back together, with the exception of games, for the reasons stated above.

Off-topic is off-topic. If FT doesn't want a P/R board, and many, many forums have prohibited those topics, then they should just get rid of it. Right now it's ghettoized.

I would actually like to see the Omnis put back together, with the exception of games, for the reasons stated above.

Off-topic is off-topic. If FT doesn't want a P/R board, and many, many forums have prohibited those topics, then they should just get rid of it. Right now it's ghettoized.

Actually, I never post in P/R. I never was. I am not used it very much. Only that I post in OMNI & Games forum. Sometime I can post the sports athletics. I share the information about baseball, football, basketball, Olympics, and Winter Olympics.

There are still 10 sports-related threads on the front page of OMNI, and another 9 on the second page, only 5 of which pertain to the Olympics.

If it's that way every day over a 30 day period, I'd support an OMNI Sports forum. Maybe you can keep a running total over the next month, versus just a single day, to see if the activity level is there every day. Can't say I've noticed it but I'm not a heavy poster there.

If it's that way every day over a 30 day period, I'd support an OMNI Sports forum. Maybe you can keep a running total over the next month, versus just a single day, to see if the activity level is there every day. Can't say I've noticed it but I'm not a heavy poster there.

Tom, I already did that to an extent. From prior posts in the thread:

"As CPRich mentioned, June had the Stanley Cup finals, NBA finals, MLB, golf US Open, Wimbledon, tennis French Open, and two major quadrennial events - Euro and the run-up to the Olympics, so it's not quite surprising there were more threads.

Which supports my thinking that at certain times of the year(s), there are probably going to be more sports threads. But then I realized I rarely read the sports threads & just skim over titles, etc, so perhaps my thinking was off because they're not as much interest to me personally.

I thought it might be interesting to see what June/July looked like last year, so did a search back. That's when I discovered Omni threads only track back a year, so J/J '11 is now gone & I can't do a year-to-year comparison.

So I decided to go back a year month-by-month & see how often sports threads were on Omni, and see if there's a trend - ie, spikes or consistent.

I discovered they're pretty consistent - and not actually that overwhelming.

Aug '11: 110 posts, 8 sports, # per page: 0,0,3,4,1,0
Sept '11: 122 posts, 8 sports, # per page: 1,1,0,3,2,1
Oct '11; 99 posts, 12 sports, # per page: 1,4,2,4,1
Nov '11; 140 posts, 10 sports, # per page: 2,2,3,2,1,0,0
Dec '11: 121 posts, 5 sports, # per page: 1,2,0,0,1,0,2
Jan '12: 134 posts, 9 sports, # per page: 1,3,2,1,1,1,0
Feb '12: 177 posts, 14 sports, # per page: 1,2,3,0,0,2,4,2,0
Mar '12: 178 posts, 9 sports, # per page: 1,3,2,2,0,0,1,0
Apr '12; 186 posts, 15 sports, # per page: 0,1,4,4,0,1,3,1,1
May '12: 135 posts, 13 sports, # per page: 2,3,2,3,2,1

Not surprising, certain months other topics occurred a lot (ie, Nov/Dec a lot of holiday threads) & certain topics come up on a regular basis as well - workforce issues, car stuff, real estate & house repair stuff.

So I'm still in the I think certain times of the year we'll see a spike of threads on a topic (such as the Olympics) & other times it doesn't happen enough to justify a sub-forum camp.

On a personal note - while I'm following the Olympics I'm not opening every single thread. I just skim past to see any Olympic ones or non-Olympic ones I'm interested in & read those - of course I do that at any time of the year, including with regular sports threads or threads about the Fibonnaci sequence."

"Since one of the concerns/reasons for creating a sports sub-forum is that they're cluttering up the front page of Omni, I thought I'd do a further break-down of my #s for August '11-May'12.

70 pages.
18 pages had 0 sports posts (25.7%)
21 pages had 1 sport post (30%)
16 pages had 2 sport posts (22.8%)
9 pages had 3 sport posts (12.8%)
6 pages had 4 sport posts (8.5%)

That means that on non-big sporting events months, 78.5% of the pages had 0-2 sports posts.

That says to me that there isn't a need to create a sports sub-forum. Other than big sporting events months, sports threads don't take up a lot of space on Omni.

Nor am I into discrimination per se. While I may not be a big fan of all sports, that doesn't mean FTer shouldn't be able to discuss them in the regular Omni forum."

One thing - I don't agree w/ Mar2e that having a PR is ghetto'izing Omni. If anything, I think having the split allows those who don't want to read all the "hot topic"/controversial threads a place to just enjoy Omni. During an election year I'm really thankful PR is a sub-forum. But that's my opinion as a regular FTer.

Cheers.

By this same argument, we should have OMNI Politics, OMNI Religion and OMNI GLBT issues. At any one time, any one of those subjects are the majority of threads on the front page of OMNI PR.

This is going to happen at any time... timely topical subjects are going to result in several threads.... not sure why "Sports" should be any different.

I am not for creating more splits of OMNI... enough have happened already.

I'm pretty much in agreement with this. And I have yet to see from kipper a reason why sports should be treated any differently than the workplace, home repair, car, dating, pet topics, that crop up regularly in the forum.

Cheers.

So I decided to go back a year month-by-month & see how often sports threads were on Omni, and see if there's a trend - ie, spikes or consistent.

I discovered they're pretty consistent - and not actually that overwhelming.

Aug '11: 110 posts, 8 sports, # per page: 0,0,3,4,1,0
Sept '11: 122 posts, 8 sports, # per page: 1,1,0,3,2,1
Oct '11; 99 posts, 12 sports, # per page: 1,4,2,4,1
Nov '11; 140 posts, 10 sports, # per page: 2,2,3,2,1,0,0
Dec '11: 121 posts, 5 sports, # per page: 1,2,0,0,1,0,2
Jan '12: 134 posts, 9 sports, # per page: 1,3,2,1,1,1,0
Feb '12: 177 posts, 14 sports, # per page: 1,2,3,0,0,2,4,2,0
Mar '12: 178 posts, 9 sports, # per page: 1,3,2,2,0,0,1,0
Apr '12; 186 posts, 15 sports, # per page: 0,1,4,4,0,1,3,1,1
May '12: 135 posts, 13 sports, # per page: 2,3,2,3,2,1

Think that pretty soundly proves the case that we don't need an OMNI Sports forum.

Think that pretty soundly proves the case that we don't need an OMNI Sports forum.

Oh, yes they will create new OMNI/Sports forum. They will consider it. I think they had it right to post in OMNI/Sports forum. This is better work. Sometime I post the sports athletics forum and I share information about the players and etc. If some player who want to trade. If they stay with the entire team. They don't have go anywhere.

I agree that cheerleaders being arrested in a bar should not be part of a new OMNI/Sports Forum.

I urge TalkBoard, instead, to establish an OMNI/Cheerleaders Forum.

I urge TalkBoard, instead, to establish an OMNI/Cheerleaders Forum.

I believe koko will love to see a Men's Travel Forum (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkboard-topics/1176434-why-there-no-mens-travel-forum.html) before that happens. :D

I believe koko will love to see a Men's Travel Forum (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkboard-topics/1176434-why-there-no-mens-travel-forum.html) before that happens. :D

Still working on it!!!!

Even as a regular in the OMNI sports thread and a supporter of nearly every new forum ever suggested, even I don't see the need for a separate sports category.

Sorry. :(

Still working on it!!!!

Even as a regular in the OMNI sports thread and a supporter of nearly every new forum ever suggested, even I don't see the need for a separate sports category.

Sorry. :(

I don't see a need either.

We did a 'straw poll' in the private TB forum & there is very little support for a Omni sports sub-forum. We do appreciate the suggestion.

Cheers.