Introducing the FFTMAG Ride Board!

I'm sure this idea will take a while to catch on, and it might not ever get very much use, but I thougt it was a worthwhile endeavor.

Up in the link bar you'll notice the addition of the Ride Board tab. It's a basic forum that has been embedded in static page that we can use to (hopefully) share rides to (and from) away games.

The older folks usually don't have much trouble getting to the games if they want to go, so students, this is especially for you (although old and young alike are welcome to use it).

This goes along with stated goal #1 for this blog:

To promote pride in, and excitement for, Calvin Knights basketball (specifically), and Calvin athletics (in general).

I would love to see Knight Nation become the most passionate and boisterous group of students in Division III. I know that the passion exists, but we (the Calvin community as a whole) haven't done enough to encourage that passion. Passion breeds passion. I would love nothing more than for pockets of students, or students and alumni, to come together to build up excitement for one of D3's greatest programs.

Anyway, this ride board may only be a tiny step toward that goal, but I hope it helps. It would be great to see everyone that wishes to attend a road game make it out there.

So head over there and sign up, and don't be afraid to use it!

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Wow. I never meant to take as long of a break from this blog as I have. Sorry about that. The offseason (obviously) won't have as much content as the season did, but I still want to check in every now and then with some thoughts. Shameless plug: fans of the Detroit Tigers will want to check out MotorCityBengals.com (Zac and I are "staff writers" there).

Anyway, thanks to all of you, the readers, for making my first season on this blog a great one. I'm (we're) re-tooling so that season two is even better (big announcement later)!

I had a few goals in mind when I started this blog, but I've never really articulated them, so I wanted to take an opportunity to put them down on paper (cyber-paper anyway).

• To promote pride in, and excitement for, Calvin Knights basketball (specifically), and Calvin athletics (in general).
• To promote "smart fandom" through the use of statistical analysis and rational thought and discussion.
• To promote a general knowledge and understanding of the regional and national NCAA Division III basketball landscape.
• To have fun.

So there are the goals as they stand now. You all (the readers) are now responsible for holding me accountable to them and for helping me achieve them.

Feel free to send me an email, leave a comment on this post, or tweet to me the things you did or didn't like about the blog this season, and/or things you would like to see in the future.

And now, the big announcement...

after a long and laborious negotiation process (I asked, and she said yes), Allie Duernberger has agreed to join the FFTMAG staff. She'll give her (rather expert) opinions on the Women's side of things (and also the Men's if she so chooses) for next season. I was rather poor with Women's hoops coverage, so Allie will take us up about a hundred and twenty notches in that department.

That's all for now. Hopefully it won't be so long until I pop back in.