As many of you probably noticed, the site's been down for about 12 hours. My web-host informed me the site was going over the allocated server resources. Strange timing since they shut me down only a few hours after I began the fundraiser.
Anyway, let's move on to the matter at hand. Any donations would be used for the following issues:
- It takes about $120 per year to keep the site running. Maybe more if this host doesn't pan out…
- I'm hoping to hire someone to attend practices and give us constructive criticism once fall camp begins. I was thinking $20 per report would be a fair price and a good gig for a student. If I get enough budget for that I'll do it.
- If you can't afford a donation, contribute in a non-monetary way. Some examples?
- Refer a friend to the site.
- Provide inside information.
- Attend practice and report your observations.
- Donate a dedicated server. :)
- Etc. Anything else you can think of to make the site even better.
- Keep in mind that any donation amount helps.
Despite the minimal look of the site, it requires a ton of work. Modifying themes, hacking code, writing all content, filtering emails, verifying leads, heckling the media's incompetence, arguing with my crappy webhost, etc. Since I have about 20 other hobbies, at times churning out opinions and keeping up with the Beavs feels like a chore. But, in general it's still a blast, and I want to continue.
Thanks to a couple generous donations in December, we're good for a few more months (assuming the hosting company keeps my site). But I only want to ask for donations once per year, and I think the slow period between now and fall camp is the best time. Via email, people have suggested I place banner ads or use Google ads…some people even offered a few hundred bucks to put an ad up. I really don't want to go that route–we see ads all day, every day. They're obtrusive and obnoxious. So let's see how this fundraiser goes. If we add to the coffers now I won't have to bring up this (awkward) discussion point for another year.
In summary, if you like the site and have money, give what you can. If you like the site and don't have money, refer a friend or donate some of your time and effort to make it better.
Donators will be thanked in the comment area (unless they specifically ask for anonymity). To make a donation, follow the Paypal button below.
Would like to donate but the link isnt working for me. As a side note, I really like the minimal look of this blog, its easy to read and comment on. One of the best I’ve seen. Appreciate your work.
The button should be fixed now. Thanks for the compliment.
never mind..working now.
Thank you for the donation!
Good karma for you.
Wish I could donate, but i’ve been telling everyone I know about this site for some time.
I would like to second the minimal look. It is just easier/cleaner/nicer looking then almost every other blog I’ve read or read.
I appreciate all of your hard work!
Don’t want to stray too far off topic, but Isaac Seumalo is a Beaver.
Nice!
DT or OG?
A friend says he’s gonna be an interior o-lineman.
OG.
I had a long correspondence with my friend in LA, and he tells me I’m all sorts of wrong for being tentative about Seumalo’s o-line skills. He agreed that Isaac is a better DT than an OG, but that caveat is only in place because he is the best DT in the nation, and about the third or fourth best o-lineman.
Those aren’t his words. Those are the words of NCAA and NFL scouts he talks to.
Apparently, when all the hosses gathered in SoCal for the big man camp, he blew everyone up… without fail.
Then there’s the cynical argument:
Mike Riley got Isaac so he could crow about having another set of brothers on the team. Once again we take a kid because we want to get warm fuzzies about being one big happy family. It’s just another “nice” story.
He’s a pancake machine, so I think guard is a good fit.
Thought maybe Phil Knight shut you down after your “Michelle Csestari” post. Ruffled a few feathers with that one…..
Hey angry, did you get the email I sent you while your server was down?
If not, I will resend.
If you saw it and have no comment, that’s fine.
And I kicked in a few bucks because I’m in such a great mood today.
Are you Ron? I did receive the email and donation. Just responded to the email. And thanks for the donation– good karma for you.
No, I am not ron.
I see it now…Alex. I did respond to your email.
I didn’t receive notification of your donation because email was down. Good karma for you.
(Kramer says this on Seinfeld, and it stuck with me…I don’t even believe in Karma!)
I am the Canadian donor :)
Where’s the “Donate Elk Burger” button?
Unfortunately servers don’t run on elk. :D
Chris K with a generous donation. Thank you, sir.
I’ve never asked this question because I’ve always answered it myself, but how do you guys feel about ads? My opinion: I see enough of them in day to day life. It’s nice not having them in my corner of the world. But, curious what others think.
Would you read the blog less if there were ads?
Would it diminish the experience?
Would you not care either way?
Input would be nice.
I just looked into Google Adsense. They target ads very specific to the audience–if I were to ever use ads that wouldn’t be so bad since they’d be for Beaver products. I don’t want to go that route, but my hosting company is making me nervous so I need to plan ahead. They have some fine-print resource limitations (which you saw the effects of this morning) that could shut us down for a while and require a new strategy.
I do not care about Ads. As a web professional i understand their necessity but I hardly notice them anymore. If a creative one catches my eye, i’m mainly interested in stealing their ideas.
If i like a site i may click-through on an ad or two.
I am basically ad blind. Pop-ups are annoying, but anything on the side is fine.
And reading progressivebeav’s response, my answer is the same. I’m a graphic designer and I do the same thing. haha
I generally click-thru on sites I like, close the tab and click through a couple more times. Just make sure it opens in a new tab.
Ads won’t keep me from reading often, they’d diminish the experience but not really a big deal. If it comes down to it, I’d say go for ads and try to avoid pop-ups.
I wouldn’t care one way or the other about ads.
Hey Everyone. I have a new Beaver blog site that is brand new as of this afternoon. I hope to to see many of Angry’s great followers check it out and be regular commentors, etc. I plan on having quite a few polls and keeping up the creative and edgy spirit Angry is so well known for. Go Beavs!!
http://beaverbyte.com
I looked at the beaverbyte site but it’s too busy for me. Not to say I won’t check it out from time-to-time but probably not regularly – unlike angry beavs.
I love the plain clean look of the website. Makes it easy to read at work and on my phone.
As far as ads, if it is needed to keep the site alive then go for it. I don’t mind them and it wouldn’t stop me from coming to the site as I am ad blind as well but the lack of ads makes it a lot more work friendly.
What are the limitations of your web host? Bandwidth?
I don’t have paypal, is there another method?
Is there a way to contribute other than via PayPal? Would like to contribute as I really appreciate the site, but do not have a PayPal account nor do I want one.
Drop me an email with the particulars if there is an old fashioned way to contribute.
Thanks
You’ve earned my money. I’ve been following your site off and on for about three years, and the improvement in your writing has been phenomenal.
Have you considered moving back to wordpress.com? You can use custom domain names now, and there’s no bandwidth limits. There are disk space limits. It’s not free, but it would be cheaper and you wouldn’t run afoul of bandwidth limits.
That’s a really good idea. There was a problem with that option when I looked into it last year (can’t remember what it was…either you couldn’t use your own domain name or they didn’t allow plugins…). I’ll have to revisit it.
Ps. Thanks for the donation!
Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure wordpress.com still doesn’t allow arbitrary plugins. I forgot about the chat and forums. I was going to suggest Squarespace as another option. I’ve hosted with them in the past (when I had money to spend on a hobby site) but I can’t remember if they offered any kind of chat or forum. They’re a little more expensive (no less than $144 per year) but the bandwidth is generous (minimum 1 TB/mo) and they’re on S3 and ECS so downtime due to load should never happen. And their site design and authoring tools are incredible. If you’ve got the scratch and meet the use case, I highly recommend them.
Dreamhost??
I think rather than taking traditional ‘ads’ you should solicit ‘sponsors’ from your readership – maybe some of your readers have businesses in Oregon that could use the visibility. This would keep all the content of the blog (including ads), both local and familiar. I would recommend a non-profit model (sponsorship) rather than using ad revenue, because part of what makes this blog so great is the fact that its a genuine act of interest for the subject matter. Once you through ads into the mix that gets muddied, even if you don’t intend it to be.
I say ask for $1000 per quarter from your readership for one sponsor. For this they get a banner ad (if they want it/have a business) or just their name somewhere prominent as this quarter’s sponsor…or Anonymous (see: curb your enthusiasm).
For instance. This quarter’s content of Angrybeavs is underwritten by jackbeav’s Honda of Gresham. Or whatever.
I used to drive by that Honda dealership every day on the way to work. Well, not technically down Stark, but down 242nd or 257th. It’s Tonkin, and it’s technically in Troutdale.
I think there’s a rule that Tonkin dealerships have to be located near a Taco Bell.
Did you ever see those flying angel babies on the side of that building in Portland? I always thought Tonkin had some kind of weird vibe.
Yeah, on the west end of the Morrison Bridge with keys instead of arrows in their bows. They repainted it a couple years ago.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oybay/50679603/
look at those creepy things
I remember back when Tonkin (or was it Thomasson? I forget now) had really great television ads when I was in high school.
That’s not a bad idea. I follow a lot of tech news sites and podcasts and a lot of the one-man outfits are moving toward a sponsorship model rather than selling ad space as such. It’s more lucrative for the author and gives the sponsor access to an audience that is more likely to buy their products, since they trust the author to only accept sponsorships he can recommend.
Thanks to Daniel for his donation.
Thanks to BeavGirl for her donation!
Only female commenter as far as I know…
Wait a minute…I thought that was you?
Har har.
only female commentator?
Sorry, I didn’t realize you were a female.
If that was your donation that just came through thank you.
it was and you are welcome
Shout out to Mike M. who donated at 4:21pm. Not sure which user you are, but thank you.
No problem, thanks for the effort even during the “slow season.”
Actually I wasn’t logged in when I replied, but that is my username. Not that it matters, but if you were tracking it internally….
All,
I’ll probably keep this post up for the rest of the week since there isn’t much going on, and because I am working on a piece that’s taking some time to write (and has me quite excited). It’s unique in that it combines early Greek philosophy with our modern-day Beavers. I guess you could say I’ve been looking at the program a bit differently since the mess in Eugene, and have been questioning the right/wrong way to run a program. You can probably see where this idea is going…
You guys can go free-for-all here and discuss anything off topic that you want. Or you can make your own topics in the forum area.
The donations so far are really nice. I told my girlfriend about it tonight and she said something to the effect, “those guys on your blog are so nice”…she only checks in once in a blue moon but is always impressed with the people. I have to agree. I see Beaver fans in other mediums online, and they’re just not as high quality.
Cardinal Fang!
Fetch… the comfy chair!
Will donate as well, but yeah you got to do ads. Nobody is going to ignore the Beavs stuff because of ads, I run a fairly successful website at least it supports me and others and we run ads to take care of just the stuff you are talking about.
Thanks for the donation.
What ad model do you use? I’m looking at google adsense, as it seems relatively unobtrusive…
What do you guys think of Joel Skotte?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qct4TKUtX3g
I’m not sure what to make of his film. He’s not the most athletic guy, and he’s pretty slow sideline to sideline, but he sheds blocks well and could be decent at MLB. He lists BSU as #1 right now, and he has their typical herky-jerky, high-motor look about him.
Seth Jacobs is a better player who could put on 20lbs and move inside. Beavs are making some headway with him, too. I think he’s where they need to focus attention if they intend to slow down the spread any time soon. Skotte looks serviceable, but his lack of speed will force him to guess at the college level (you can even see it a bit in his HS film), which means he’ll get toasted by mobile, option QBs. I view him as a 2.5 star prospect.
Make me feel better about this guy, because I have a hunch he’s going to sign with us…
No ads please. I like the clean reading with no distractions. Also looks good on my smartphone when I’m on the road after a Beaver loss and I need to vent at 7am the next morning sitting in the hotel lobby wondering if I really want to wear the black and orange on the plane ride home. (See Boise, Dallas, Las Vegas, Seattle, Eugene….)
I have such a hard time evaluating players from their HS videos Angry. I watched Joel Skotte’s video and I can’t see where he’s hesitant, or even slow sideline to sideline. He obviously posted only the good plays for himself but you’re saying even within these plays you see flaws.
Since it’s your slow season and you have nothing but time on your hands, could you give me just a couple examples (min and sec marks) within the youtube video that lead you to your conclusions?
Thanks in advance!
i’m no expert, but he looks great: disciplined. hard to block. loves to hit.
I think Jacobs will sign with the Beavers. I think they should keep Jacobs at OLB if they land him. He has some really good covering skills and is a ball hawk. He also has good speed and great pursuit. They could move him inside but OLB is his best position and he would be a perfect OLB for the Beavers. As far as Skotte goes, I agree with your observations. He’s got good pass rushing skills but his overall lack of speed is an issue when facing spread teams. This is one commitment I could live without.
I don’t want Boise to get him…
Hmm.
I have heard from a couple people who seem to know what they’re talking about that he’s a Beaver lean and has been for a long, long time. If you’re seeing/hearing that he has the donks #1, perhaps we’re backing off him for better prospects? Which wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Personally, I like him a lot. As you said, he sheds blocks very well. He absolutely wraps fools up, which seems to be a rare trait for our linebackers. I think his speed is actually pretty decent – football speed at least. And a listed 4.6 40 isn’t bad for MLB.
No, I am hearing he’s a Beaver lean, too…despite “reputable” sites listing BSU as his top choice. His speed for a MLB is not bad, but the staff needs to be precise in building their defense if they want to slow/stop the spread. Skotte would be fine against pro offenses, but Riley should be thinking bigger picture.
I think Skotte is either on hold by our staff, or he wants more immediate playing time (BSU). I think he would be better in a scheme where the MLB isn’t expected to contain, but I also like the hard-nosed play.
Jacobs looks to me more like a S/OLB type. If he could add 30 pounds and retain his speed, then MLB might be a good fit. But he really reminds me of Donnell Welch.
Aaron Porter is Michael Bibbee 2.0, though not quite as violent. Still, since he’s in a recruiting hotbed, he is a known quantity who we probably don’t have a chance at when it’s all over.
Though I like Skotte’s game, and I always like the local kids, all things being equal, I really like Blake Martinez most for the MLB. We were his first offer, and Cav and Banker are working him hard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNgYAU0sBP0
The one thing I didn’t like about Jacobs film is he appeared to take some plays off (unless I was watching the wrong guy…hard to tell sometimes with crappy high school film). I have a feeling (60% confidence) all 3 Arroyo Grande prospects will sign with OSU.
I like Blake Martinez a lot, too. He’s a bit more agile and fluid than Skotte.
I would die if Weinreich signed with us. I think he’s possibly the most underrated o-lineman out there. Gavin Andrews is underrated on the pay sites, but there’s not a coach who is scheduled to play Granite Bay who doesn’t know exactly who he is and what he can do to their defense. I think Weinreich is ignored because of the league competition for AG. But they played well against Serra late in the year.
I’ve said previously that all three to one school would be grand theft.
I think Weinreich would make an excellent OG. Imagine him and Seumalo on the interior with Andrews and anyone at tackle. Salivations galore!
I also like the kid from Marshfield, Dalton Milburn.
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/196756/dalton-milburn
He plays a lot of TE, and his technique is raw. But he has a lot of untapped athleticism which could translate to one mean OT.
Milburn doesn’t look that impressive, then again maybe I’m skewed by attending all the home games in person and watching the absolute train wreck that is the Marshfield program.
I didn’t say they were good or disciplined. The saving grace with Milburn is that he hasn’t been poorly taught to be an OT just because of his size. Maybe it speaks to the talent level on the team that he is the TE, not an OL. Maybe it speaks to his athleticism. Maybe both.
I see someone who is a ground up project with all the necessary tools to be a successful OT on the next level. I don’t know him (or even much about him), so I can’t say if he has the head on his shoulders to be one. But I see more than a 6’7″, 270# oaf who just tries to fall on people.
Heh, heh… train wreck.
enjoy the site-thanks for your critical view of OSU athletics!
PS
“First Annual”? How about “Inaugural”?
Sorry, since it’s such a rare occurrence I have to capitalize when I see a chance to make myself look smarter than someone else.
Inaugural isn’t completely accurate. A president doesn’t have a second, third, or fourth inaugural address in each year of his/her term. I like your thought process and modesty, though. It’s good to nitpick.
You’re right, he has one inaugural address, then annual addresses after that.
Thinking about taking my donation back until we can get this squared away between us Angry.
Of course I’m kidding, please keep up the great work!
Thanks to Rick, B4L, and Big Y for donations this morning. Good karma for yous.
Heya Angry :D Still planning on helping me recoup for the civil war baseball streams? I’d just consider that my own donation to the site, but well, I’m a poor grad student living off of ramen and $25 is kind of a big deal right now.
Stupid bitcoins are worth twice as much now too :(
Craig, check your email.
I check this site at least every couple days…. it makes me laugh, allows me to bitch and moan, but most importantly it provides GREAT insight and information. I don’t pay for nothing online if I can help it, but I figure I’d buy a subscription to this site (and no other) so the least I can do is kick in some cash.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Bill. Just received your donation. Mighty kind of you.
Some good news, Ryan Katz has been medically cleared.
This is good news finally. Now I’ll clear him to throw the ball away more often instead of taking a sack or int.
After denying for years that college athletes should be paid more than the thousands of dollars they receive in a free education (and all the creature comforts provided above and beyond what an academic scholarship provides), I’ve thought about compensation for college athletes for a couple minutes, and I’ve come up with a solution.
They will be paid a salary on top of all they receive with ten rules (for now):
1. The NCAA will hold a draft for each sport.
**other sports will have similar rules, but in football…**
2. Each school will draft 20 players per year in a straight draft based on their BCS rankings from worst to first.
3. There will only be four years of eligibility based on matriculation. There will be zero exceptions to this rule. As such, the maximum number of players in each of the four classes will be 20, and the maximum number of players on the roster will be 80. Member schools may draft less than 20 players in any one year to allow for Rules 5, 6 and 7. Attrition of any kind does not lessen these limits.
4. There will be no walk-ons
5. If an athlete wishes to attend any particular school, s/he must first remove their name from the draft. S/he will then be allowed to apply to, be admitted to and enroll in that school on their own merits and without any help from that school’s athletic department. They will then attend that school for two years as a normal student. There will be no contact with the athletic department during those two years, and the student shall receive none of the amenities provided to its student athletes (free tutoring, free access to athletic department facilities, sharing training times or training tables with any of the school’s athletes, teams, coaches or training staff, etc….).
6. If after two years the student is in good academic standing according to NCAA rules, s/he may join the team providing:
a) the team in question has space in that student’s matriculating class according to Rule 3.
b) the student in question will then have two years of eligibility remaining according to Rule 3.
7. Member schools must adhere to Rule 6 regarding junior college transfers.
8. Students who transfer from other member schools must adhere to Rules 5 and 6.
a) Transfer students will begin their two year term according to Rule 5 following one complete school year after their initial draft eligibilty.
9. Draft eligibility will begin in the year the student athlete graduates from high school unless the student athlete obtains a waiver. The student athlete will be allowed to re-acquire eligibilty at a later date given s/he falls within the age limitations for matriculating student athletes set forth by the NCAA. Reasons for such a waiver include:
a) military enlistment
b) religious obligations
c) explicit written NCAA approval
10. United States Military academies are exempt from Rules 1 and 2.
Can you tell I’m bored?
Please repost in the forums, I wonder if this got lost in an old thread. I really like this set of rules, it is compelling and worthy of discussion. I do agree with your overall point that, student athletes tend to receive quite a few benefits in addition to free school. I am still attempting to pay off 35K+ in debt, I gladly play sports for free as it is. If someone wanted to make me into a celebrity and pay for my school, I would never play.
Additionally, the draft idea addresses the idea of parity. Currently, a monetary system would reward the large schools more and lead to even further bifurcation of the member schools. A draft would help negate this problem.
Thanks to everyone.
You can still donate via this post through the weekend. After that I’ll be removing it. If you don’t have money right now, but want to donate in the future, in the right column there’s a “page” called “contact/donate” where you can contribute at any time.
I’ve contemplated all opinions regarding ads, and honestly, I am learning toward not going that route, but no final decision yet. At the worst I’d test out google adsense, which I hear is unobtrusive. Keep in mind the only reason I’m even considering ads is because I lost my job in March. I’ll blog for free, but I won’t go into the red for this site. It was getting to that point. If I find work any time soon definitely no ads.
-Angry!
I just made a donation. Hopefully it went through. My comments have not been showing up?