Here are excerpts from 2 of my blogs dealing with TDing.
How to TD:
I've seen a lot of newbies in the TDs lately and most of what I've seen has shown me that none of them really know how to TD. So, I've decided to come up with some advice for the newbies. I know there are several of these types of blogs out there on this site already.
If you're new to Throwdowns or just want to improve in Throwdowns, follow this advice and you should do well.
Another Great one from OSO
BLOGGING 101
-From OSO
If you're new on here or just haven't gotten around to writing your own blog, then pay attention. There will be a pop quiz at the end of the lecture. What's that? There's not much pop to a quiz you know about? Okay wiseguy, go see the principal. You have lunch detention.
For the rest of you, here are some step by step ideas for how to blog. If you want to know what to blog about, I can't help you there. Everyone has their own idea as to what's on their mind. But that's the idea. Write what's on your mind at the time.
Whatever you do, avoid using all caps. NO ONE WANTS TO READ A BLOG THAT HAS ALL CAPS BECAUSE IT'S LIKE LISTENING TO SOMEONE YELL THE WHOLE TIME! It also helps to hit the enter key now and again between thoughts. If you come to a new theme or idea then hit that enter or return key. It's easier on the eyes.
It also doesn't hurt to use spell check or grammar check now and again. If you're grammatically and lexically challenged then I would recommend Mozilla Firefox (thanks for the idea Tracy). It has a built in spell check and grammar check almost as if you were typing in Word. You can also always type in Word or whatever word processing software you use and cut and paste.
Now you might be wondering how do you even get started, going, and finished. Let me tell you. If a big ole (not really) Polar Bear can do it then you can too.
1. You have to put some title in the top. Make it catchy and simple. If you can't do catchy than at least make it simple. Complex only turns most readers off. What? You know we're the Short Attention Span Generation!
2. You can fiddle with the Font Family and Font Size to make sure that your font looks good and is big enough for people to read. There's also the "A" with the bar underneath it, which controls the colors of the font. I wouldn't recommend getting too fancy with that until you have a few blogs under your belt. There is also the obligatory B= bold I= for italics and U for underline.
3. Should you wish to get fancy and insert links to other sites from your blog you can click on the chain icon which will immediately give you a pop up window where you can type or paste the link in (pasting is always recommended).
4. Pictures always brighten a blog and gives it that extra zest. If you've seen most of my blogs you know I go overboard with my pictures. But then as the old saying goes a picture's worth a thousand words. Just make sure you paint the right words and that the images are wholesome enough. Otherwise you will find your picture removed with a broken link in it's place.
5. How do you get a picture in a blog? You can't cut and paste. FanNation just isn't designed this way. You have to click on that little tree icon (see picture below) and a pop up window will open. You need to paste the link in the first field, and you can always put a witty title or caption in the Title field. You also have to choose where the picture is aligned. I always pick middle or absolute middle. Experiment and figure out what works for you. Once you're done, click insert. You should see the picture embedded in your blog.
*Now your options for finding links to pictures are as follows (as far as I know):
A) Use a web portal and search the images. Once you find the one you like click the "View Image and copy and paste from the address line into the popup window. This is fine and usually works. Now sometimes it doesn't. So what do you do?
B) Flickr.com, Photobucket or imagedeposit are three sites I know of that you can post images from your computer and get an instant link to put in your blogs. It's a great way to store your pics and you don't waste any hard drive doing it.
C) Forget all of that if you want to keep it simple. Believe it or not, you have a place on your profile to store images. Now what you might not have know about them is that you can right click on those images and you will see a URL on those (Thank you Schwartz for teaching me this handy trick!) that you can copy and paste into the pop up window. What's really cool is you can always delete the image from your profile, and it will still be embedded in the blog.
6. We're getting to the end. I know it's a bit long. You need to choose what category your blog is in. You will see a drop down menu that gives you options for General Sports, NFL, MLB, etc. Specify it so you funnel readers to your blog.
7. Tags are critical because they will link your blog to other blogs, Truth and Rumors, and other areas of FanNation. So if you type something about the Steelers, it will show up in another blog or newspiece dealing with the Steelers. The more specific and varied your tags the more readers you will get.
8. Last step. I swear! Once you're done, you'll notice that all FN blogs have little icons between the blog and the comments. Use the one that says "Share it". You'll shortly get a pop uo window allowing you to either send the blog link to an e-mail account, or a group.
??? Be extremely careful with this. It's best to pick the group(s) that you're in that would be interested in this. Send a hockey blog to your hockey group, not the Yankees group.Whatever you do, don't send it out to too many groups. Spamming is frowned upon, and generally not appreciated.
??? My best recommendation (shameless plug) is to join and utilize The FanNation Community for this such purpose. It's the largest active group, reaching a wide variety of people who also belong to other groups. This is also a great way to make friends and get connected to other groups BTW!
So that's pretty much it. That's the basics, as far as I know. If they're are any updates, I'll edit the blog. If you have any questions, it's best to put them in the comments. Please do not think by any stretch of the imagination that I'm a blog expert or professor. This is just one user passing on some information to help out fellow users on here. Hope you enjoyed this and here's hoping it's useful to you.
Fannation 101: I'm new- Now What?
I was asked what to do as a new member of FanNation - by a new person who wanted me to help them get known on FN- do well with Blogs/TD/Groups and gain friends and influence people
I told him I could help him with all but the making friends part- I can show you how to P* people off but that's about it. J
And I am going to share the wealth with YOU
First off you need to have a name that doesn't stink.
Next you need a pic- newbie pics are just sad
After that- you need to join groups
The First one you need to join are
The FanNation Community
http://fannation.com/groups/show/14005
This is the 3rd biggest group on FN and I think this gives you a great starting point as a lot of people mail this group to show other groups and TDs and Blogs.
That's what it is FOR
Also the FanNation Hall of Fame
I would recommend that group because if you want to do well- these people are the cream of the crop except the first guy they put in in October- he drags the whole group down
Next join
The Fannation User???s Guide
This group may not be the most active but there is a lot of good stuff in the Archives and you can always post Q's there
Next
Join ones for your sports - I recommend
Football: NFL Fan Club
BaskettBall NBA - I love this Game!
MMA: OCTAGON - UFC / MMA
I do not follow Hockey or MLB but I am sure they have groups as well- I bet as soon as This hits there will be 50 groups added below that you can also hit for sports
Next, do a group search Look for your favorite teams- fannation has 1 group for almost every team you can find- pro and 1A and even some 1-AA teams
Most teams will pull a few groups - fannation turns over some groups to memebers to run if they are worthy and dedicated-
I run one for NUMBER ONE ranked Tar Heels
North Carolina Tar Heels Fan Group
Any time you see the Fan Group - It's normally the Fannation Group
After that Then look for what you want to do- wanna blog? There are bloggers groups out there Bloggers' Domain or groups for certain states sports CAROLINA SPORTS and even areas or music Hip-Hop Fan Group or even fantasy sports FanNation Fantasy League to even fake gambling The House to voting for the National Champion Fannation National Championship
If you are looking to TD - then there are TONS of groups out there
Tournament Throwdowns
Tournament Greats Central ( TGC )
Great ways to gain EXP - unless you are trying to be the next Adam Lee a few losses won't hurt you - Even if you don't get in a tourney you can still learn by seeing what good ones look like!
Fannation does not limit the number of groups you can create or join - If you don't like a group or it does not become active- dump it if you want
As far as Friends go when you blog/TD you will have people that talk about you and your comments - invite these people to be your friends- The friends list does not make much sense why it is here- you can't fannamil them as a group but oh well
finally enjoy yourself you didn't pay money to get this site and don't take things too seriously - and eventually you may make the HOF and might even join
SIFS
PS- If I did not list your group below- it may be because it is closed or I just don't know of it. So List it below or just deal with me snubbing you.
From OSO
I tried writing this once and then my browser imploded. So here we go one more time. I thought I'd write about the communities that are within the entire FanNation community here on the web. It is amazing to me how different users can come in and make a splash in just a short time while others are on for over a year and you'd never know it. But then with 144, 353 members and counting, you'd have a hard time getting to know each and every one of them. My point to all this is that there are new members by the moment.
Many are like I was, blindsided by this unique site, lured in by the juicy or interesting Truth and Rumors. You start out reading Dr. Z's Mailbag or Peter King's coffeenerdness, then before you know it you're like Alice through the looking glass. This is the weird, wild world of sports on the web. What's interesting to me is that there are 4 distinct microcosms within the entire site. You could stay in one and be has happy as a pig in a stye. Some dabble in all 4 or a combination therof.
The first community is the Truth and Rumors (T&R for short) that invariably brings people in from the SI.com site. It's what you see on most pages of SI as well as the home page of FN. I've noticed that there are established users who dwell in the T&R section bantering opinions back and forth. Some make great friends just by maintaining a presence here and adding their two cents. I myself only venture on the T&R occasionally, as comments become so numerous that it's quite the task to follow the melodrama that ensues. Some of the best fodder for discussion usually involves something like Mike Vick, Donovan McNabb, Cowboys, or Patriots. You won't find more heated debate or a greater love/hate relationship on other threads.
The second community is one of my favorites, the Blogosphere. Okay, I don't know that it's a real word, but if "google" is a verb then I'm making up blogosphere. Blogs, for those less in tune with the web is short for web log. I enjoy it because I get to write about whatever is on my mind at the time and share it with the sports fan community abroad. Some of my work is well received and other times I could have done better or at least picked a better topic. Either way, reading and writing blogs gets the mind going and you get a better appreciation for who's out there and what's on their mind. If you're considering starting one of your own, just be prepared that you might not get a ton of comments unless you pick a hot topic like the Pats. It also helps if your name is Andrew Perloff or Pete McEntegart; then you get piles of comments and views on your blog. Pete's blog is a mini-microcommunity in and of itself, with loads of readers who eagerly await the next witty paragraph and updates on New Mexico State. Otherwise, you should be happy if you get in the neighborhood of 300-1000 views and a few comments. The thing is that I have at least learned that it's better to improve your writing and put out a good blog than worry about comments and views.
Groups on Fannation comprise the third microcommunity on this site. What's great about these is that you can find or tailor make groups to your own liking. If you're a fan of curling then you search for one on the community page. If they don't have a Jersey Shore surfers group then you make your own. It's great. Here you can share posts, organize throwdown contests (which I'll explain later), have pick 'em contests, and if you get permission from the creator, you can even blog for the group to help draw in and maintain activity in the group. The only problem I see with groups is that many people join a group and then never come back or visit infrequently. There's not much point to joining if you're not going to participate. There's so much else to do on FN that it's better to stick to what you like. But some of the largest and most active fan groups come from specialty fan bases such as Steeler fans, Red Sox and Yankees fans (dare I mention them in the same sentence?), and so forth. My advice to new users is to choose groups that you like and will remain active in. Some groups actually drop inactive users especially when a tournament is involved. Now to explain that side of things...
Throwdowns comprise the last, but certainly not the least community in FN. Throwdowns are great because they appeal to the competitive nature of sports fans. I mean this isn't a site for knitting or Ophra's Book club right? Throwdowns are a great. For the newbies (new users) it's a competitive debate on a chosen topic between two users. They get 3 different chances to propose their side of the debate. Then the FN community votes on who they think is better. Now, that's the way it's supposed to go. Often enough votes will either be given because of the topic, user debating, or the level of difficulty of the topic, rather than the actual argument at hand. This is a bad thing, but if you resign yourself to the fact that it's better to lose and argue well than win and put up a poor argument then you should be able to sleep at night. There are many groups out there that hold tournaments where you are randomly pitted against another user and are sometimes assigned a topic. This is often fun because you have the chance to go up against some very good Throwdowners or TDers on this site. Most of my tough TD's came from being in tournaments. Judging from my sad 8-11-1 record, I still have a way to go.
If you're reading this and already know what I'm talking about it's because you've been there, done that, and even got the T-shirt. You may find that there is some validity to this blog or maybe there is some flaws to my insights? Whatever works. I'm actually putting this blog up for many of the new users who come on here and have no idea what's going on because they have recently fallen down the hole in the looking glass like Alice and thinking to themselves "Why oh why didn't I take the BLUE pill?" That aside, I thought it might be a good way to give an overview to the crazy world that is the FanNation. The best part of this website is that if you pay attention and get past your own biases, you can make some good friends and actually learn from some wise and savvy people on here. I know I have. Comments? Questions? Ideas? Have a good week.
Original Post
http://fannation.com/blogs/post/74695
Something odd came up in my e-mail. Someone asked me to look over some of his TDs and his "career" on Fannation- I gave some impressions- biased as they were and we got to chatting- and then the term respect came up. I mentioned that unlike "real" life, respect on Fannation is not earned, it is given.
Let me put it another way- If I am on the street- I can earn your respect by dunking on you, out running you, blocking you, tackling you or straight kicking your rear end. In a class environment, I can earn it by outsmarting you. Bottom line I have to get it by showing either I'm better than you- or performing well enough that you have to respect my effort.
I.E If ZO walks into my gym- I am not going to beat him- but he will respect that fact that this fat 35 year old white dude with bad knees is not afraid to take him on (and lose 100 straight times)
But here? I can win 100 TDs and still not be respected- If they are all against newbies and idiots, or I can win 5 against people such as D-Fan, Porkins, CCC, Coletrain and The Ram and get respect.
But the odds of going 5-0 vs that lineup is not likely for 99% of Fannation. (Legit)
Here is the great secret of TDing here people,
Your records mean JACK here- in terms of respect- I can win 10 more TDs vs newbies and yes- I am closer to winning 1K (witch I keep getting e-mails about) but does that earn me any more credibility at 745 than at 755?
No. Let me tell you what gets my respect.
I get a mail to go look at a TD- and it's a baseball one- normally I stop there but in tourneys I try to at least give a legit vote. (esp. if it is MY tourney group) and if I look at the comments after voting- and I see names like CCC, or MOH Coach or Rstowe staying Left is wrong and I voted right- then I'm going to reevaluate my choice- same as a Football with Big Ben and Roger Goodell or Basketball with GOAT and Joe Drinks a Dew.
Still think TD records matter?
MOH Coach is 66 - 14 - 4
GOAT is 33-11-3
Big Ben68 is 38-4-0
Yet these three are probably 3 of the most respected men on Fannation. On ANYONES list. Yes they get petty- yes they can be wrong (I am a combined 4-7 vs Goat and Coach after all)
I have no idea how much respect I have on this site- I mean I do have my own hate group- that vote against me- I would say at one time I had the second biggest on the site. But I wonder if I would have the same credibility if say I was 3rd on the wins list instead of 1st. I do enjoy seeing an email from a TD that just started stating I have been waiting to TD you or I've been waiting to see how I'd do vs a vet- even though volume alone I might be the easiest HOF to beat- well until Roger gets in- then I take a step back as 50 Bills TDs get tossed out there and we see 500 Marino vs Kelly TDs
So how is one given respect?
Some People on Fannation by their nature are immature, and one group of people may respect while another thinks of you as a joke. You cannot gain universal respect on the internet anymore than you can gain the powers of flight.
Respect on FN starts with fear. STARTS. But fear alone can't lead to respect. A flashy TD record might make you intimidating at first, but if you can't back it up or you go against weak TDers then it means nothing.
You will gain more respect losing a baseball TD to someone like Rstowe 40-38 then beating someone like, say me 90-1. By the same token beating someone who is 15-0 is not going to give you the same credibility as beating someone 150-101 - even though they have a worse record- they have been around longer.
If I get into a TD- or someone wants to get into my groups like NMI or SIFS or something like that- I look at who they have faced- Look at gonets- there is names like Goodell, DyHard, Coletrain, Erwin, Cain-Willis., Porkins, Duquesne, Coach and even me Just at FIRST glance on there- that is 10 people on there that are all over the leaderboard- If you don't respect that 44-27-1 record - you should.
I look at a TD list of someone and the ONLY name I pull up is say DyHard and D-Fan and you are 85-7-0 and the rest I have never heard of-
Guess who I respect more.
Another Example?
The Savage: 17 - 12 - 7
His Opposition? Goodell:, Cincy, Lifer, SS, Hyped, Wookiee, and me (I TD everyone) - and consider maybe half of his losses are to the above- He is on his way to respect.
Leave comments when you vote- If a person makes thoughtful, intelligent comments, then he earns my respect. If you vote against me and TELL me why- and if I fanmail you a question and you can DEFEND your point then that gains my respect. I Mail a LOT of people that vote against me- not to get them to change their vote- to clarify what they say.
If you state D. Wilkins is a better defender than I think he is- and I mail you saying you are full of POO. And you give me a reason why I am wrong- you are STILL full of POO but I can respect you standing your ground.
You need to be open to other people's arguments and ideas. Even if you might disagree on a personal level.
© 2008 STATS LLC
U.S. Open Quarterfinals
