Well done Nick and Mike, This page has been a true institution,, The people on here are one of a kind true magpie belivers, And now it is just gonna be sad not to have all the collingwood news to catch up on...
This has been a terrific site, and will be very muched missed.
Congrats once again.....
And thankyou.....
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GO THE MIGHTY PIES
SAV & ANTHONY LEGENDS FOREVER!!!
GO ROGAN, JOSH YOUR MY HERO..
The end of an era - Nick's Collingwood Page
Moderator: bbmods
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London Dave
- Posts: 7172
- Joined: Wed Dec 16, 1998 7:01 pm
- Location: Iceland on Thames
- Contact:
Sad but not wholly unexpected news.
Thanks a heap to Mike and Nick who must have spent many many mostly thankless hours working on this. The club should at least give you an honorary Copeland or something.
For me this place is a bit of a lifeline to home, and keeps the Aussie in me going. I've spent the best part of 9 years away from home, and getting footy news was v. hard in the early days.
Mike and Nick, I s'pose its just my way of saying thanks to you two for keeping me (in)sane. Can't really thank you guys enough, and all the other DSL's and LMI's who have contributed here (sans Larry and his alter egos). If you ever make it over here, (or I make it to Tassie!) the first of several of your favourite tipples are definately on me!
Lets hope the spirit continues somewhere. If worst comes to the worst we could perhaps set up a 'Son of Nicks' with egroups or something of that ilk. Perhaps an e- booze up could be arranged to give the BB the send off it deserves. (But not for 2 weeks, I'm off the Germany for a little while).
Enough of my diatribe, thanks again to all of you!!!!!
P.S. Joffa, the tape saga...no luck through work but I have a new e- secretary service that promises to find anything, so it's their first test mate!
Thanks a heap to Mike and Nick who must have spent many many mostly thankless hours working on this. The club should at least give you an honorary Copeland or something.
For me this place is a bit of a lifeline to home, and keeps the Aussie in me going. I've spent the best part of 9 years away from home, and getting footy news was v. hard in the early days.
Mike and Nick, I s'pose its just my way of saying thanks to you two for keeping me (in)sane. Can't really thank you guys enough, and all the other DSL's and LMI's who have contributed here (sans Larry and his alter egos). If you ever make it over here, (or I make it to Tassie!) the first of several of your favourite tipples are definately on me!
Lets hope the spirit continues somewhere. If worst comes to the worst we could perhaps set up a 'Son of Nicks' with egroups or something of that ilk. Perhaps an e- booze up could be arranged to give the BB the send off it deserves. (But not for 2 weeks, I'm off the Germany for a little while).
Enough of my diatribe, thanks again to all of you!!!!!
P.S. Joffa, the tape saga...no luck through work but I have a new e- secretary service that promises to find anything, so it's their first test mate!
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Greg J
- Posts: 1509
- Joined: Thu May 13, 1999 6:01 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Now its time,
to say good bye,
N-I-C-K, Why?
In case I do not get another chance, thanks Nick and Mike. there is no longer any reason to be lonely at the football again, if my friend Deano does not turn up, simply because I know where the people from this site sit (and drink).
Bringing the faithful together, I think that this is your major achievement lads. Good luck in your future endeavours. I (and Joffa) will continue to host Nick's BB reunions at the Cricketers. Drop in next time you are over for a game. It is easy to pick us, we are the loudest.
to say good bye,
N-I-C-K, Why?
In case I do not get another chance, thanks Nick and Mike. there is no longer any reason to be lonely at the football again, if my friend Deano does not turn up, simply because I know where the people from this site sit (and drink).
Bringing the faithful together, I think that this is your major achievement lads. Good luck in your future endeavours. I (and Joffa) will continue to host Nick's BB reunions at the Cricketers. Drop in next time you are over for a game. It is easy to pick us, we are the loudest.
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AlfAndrews
I've taken a long time to post something on this topic because I've been feeling a very real sense of shame at my own apathy and procrastination. I could tell when the Magpie Mail venture was set up that the site was in trouble but I did nothing about it. For a lousy 25 bucks I could've done my bit to keep this site up and running and I did nothing.
It would probably be a case of too little too late to cough up now. But if there is any chance of a change of heart on this I'd gladly commit to such a paltry sum of money to help maintain something as priceless as Nick's Collingwood Page.
I'm relatively new to this site. I only got internet access early this year and this was one of the first sites that I discovered. So, as well as being the last bastion of community in football, it has also been an important part of my education as an internet user.
One of the things I've noticed is that this site has been pretty much free of advertising. It's rare these days to find anything free of advertising. I despise advertising and commercialisation, but I guess that lack of advertising is the reason why the site has become ultimately unsustainable. You can't expect people to put time and energy (not to mention money) into something without some sort of financial compensation for their efforts. I know there's more to the site closing down than money. But I can't help thinking that if Nick and Mike were just a little bit greedy they might have had a nice little business venture here.
I've got no doubt that, with several thousand hits a day, this site is a valuable piece of cyber real estate. And I reckon there would have to have been a way of making it pay its way. I suppose that might have compromised the purpose of the site and turned it into just another shopping mall. I don't know. I've got no idea about business really. But surely anything getting as much traffic as this site must have some commercial potential.
This really is a very sad way to end a very sad year in Collingwood's history. We've seen the Club sink to new depths on the field. We've seen the demise of Hot Pies. And now Nick's Page is closing.
For me, this page was one of the very few highlights in a year that caused me more distress than any other footy season I've ever experienced.
This was an important outlet for me. I'm sorry if my negative ravings upset a few of you. But I really had to write about what I was feeling. I really had to get it out in the open or I just would not have been able to live with the pain. In a sense I could just about say that Nick's Collingwood Page saved my life. (the exaggeration is only very minor, believe me)
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**floreat pica**
It would probably be a case of too little too late to cough up now. But if there is any chance of a change of heart on this I'd gladly commit to such a paltry sum of money to help maintain something as priceless as Nick's Collingwood Page.
I'm relatively new to this site. I only got internet access early this year and this was one of the first sites that I discovered. So, as well as being the last bastion of community in football, it has also been an important part of my education as an internet user.
One of the things I've noticed is that this site has been pretty much free of advertising. It's rare these days to find anything free of advertising. I despise advertising and commercialisation, but I guess that lack of advertising is the reason why the site has become ultimately unsustainable. You can't expect people to put time and energy (not to mention money) into something without some sort of financial compensation for their efforts. I know there's more to the site closing down than money. But I can't help thinking that if Nick and Mike were just a little bit greedy they might have had a nice little business venture here.
I've got no doubt that, with several thousand hits a day, this site is a valuable piece of cyber real estate. And I reckon there would have to have been a way of making it pay its way. I suppose that might have compromised the purpose of the site and turned it into just another shopping mall. I don't know. I've got no idea about business really. But surely anything getting as much traffic as this site must have some commercial potential.
This really is a very sad way to end a very sad year in Collingwood's history. We've seen the Club sink to new depths on the field. We've seen the demise of Hot Pies. And now Nick's Page is closing.
For me, this page was one of the very few highlights in a year that caused me more distress than any other footy season I've ever experienced.
This was an important outlet for me. I'm sorry if my negative ravings upset a few of you. But I really had to write about what I was feeling. I really had to get it out in the open or I just would not have been able to live with the pain. In a sense I could just about say that Nick's Collingwood Page saved my life. (the exaggeration is only very minor, believe me)
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**floreat pica**
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TBirdsRGo
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Wed Jul 28, 1999 6:01 pm
>To date Magpie Mail has 4 subscribers
What happened to all you people?
When the idea was first put up there was numerous posts saying what a great idea it was and how they couldn't wait to get a magpies.net email address.
Oh well...it's all our loss.
Great job Nick and Mike...sorry to see it all end.
Thanx for keeping the Magpies Mail going. It is a great idea despite the lack of support it has got so far.
What happened to all you people?
When the idea was first put up there was numerous posts saying what a great idea it was and how they couldn't wait to get a magpies.net email address.
Oh well...it's all our loss.
Great job Nick and Mike...sorry to see it all end.
Thanx for keeping the Magpies Mail going. It is a great idea despite the lack of support it has got so far.
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London Dave
- Posts: 7172
- Joined: Wed Dec 16, 1998 7:01 pm
- Location: Iceland on Thames
- Contact:
Alf, bit like you mate in that I took a while to respond to this news. Advertising will not pay for the site, as its set to record if you buy anything after clicking etc, and one of the great things about this site was the lack of advertising. I think we respect the decision made about closure, and give the site the send off it deserves. I'm not trying to speak for Mike or Nick, but lets acknowledge that without their hard work, none of us would know of anyone else (or the existence of the mighty Millwall), and we have some kind of duty (?) to carry the torch on. With apologies to Pierre Salinger (I think)...
"The torch has passed to a new generation of cyber Magpies..."
I know egroups, whilst not as user friendly as this BB, is pretty low maintenence for the users, and free! Worth a thought.
As for a NBB send off...Can't say I'd be there in person, but I'll neck a few e-pints with yas as the site heads off on it's journey down the cyber Styx.
Off to the Oval on Saturday. I'll be cheering for the D's (is that OK Spidergirl???) and give y'all a wave! (If its on TV there)
Have a nice summer!!!!!
"The torch has passed to a new generation of cyber Magpies..."
I know egroups, whilst not as user friendly as this BB, is pretty low maintenence for the users, and free! Worth a thought.
As for a NBB send off...Can't say I'd be there in person, but I'll neck a few e-pints with yas as the site heads off on it's journey down the cyber Styx.
Off to the Oval on Saturday. I'll be cheering for the D's (is that OK Spidergirl???) and give y'all a wave! (If its on TV there)
Have a nice summer!!!!!
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jeff#2001
Hey mike
Just like Alf i had my money for magpie e mail and was ready to send it but then i read the sad news that floored me, the closure of this site. Is there any way it can keep going we are like a family here.
I know sometimes we fight and carry on and act kinda weird
but it has been a way to let of steam.
Due to our piss insipid performances week after week this board has saved me from that dreaded padded cell.
pity the cells at the MCG are not padded...lol
Im hoping you are going to do a dame nelly melba!!!
And i wonder how many others who use this board and lamenting
the sudden news of its closure wre actually going to pay the
paltry sum of 25 bucks!!!!!!!
Ive still got my 50 bucks in front of me mike and im keepin it
aside in hope that this site will keep going.
What else can go wrong its all like one of those dirty stinken
horrible dreams and you wanna wake up but you cant.
Alf no need to apologise to any one mate
you are a nice guy and one of the great pleasures
was getting on here and reading what your latest gripe
would be.And i will never forget that game at colonial
when we all embraced at the final siren. So if anyone questions alf's love for collingwood take a hard long look at your selves!!
Greg- you pisspot!!
Just like Alf i had my money for magpie e mail and was ready to send it but then i read the sad news that floored me, the closure of this site. Is there any way it can keep going we are like a family here.
I know sometimes we fight and carry on and act kinda weird
but it has been a way to let of steam.
Due to our piss insipid performances week after week this board has saved me from that dreaded padded cell.
pity the cells at the MCG are not padded...lol
Im hoping you are going to do a dame nelly melba!!!
And i wonder how many others who use this board and lamenting
the sudden news of its closure wre actually going to pay the
paltry sum of 25 bucks!!!!!!!
Ive still got my 50 bucks in front of me mike and im keepin it
aside in hope that this site will keep going.
What else can go wrong its all like one of those dirty stinken
horrible dreams and you wanna wake up but you cant.
Alf no need to apologise to any one mate
you are a nice guy and one of the great pleasures
was getting on here and reading what your latest gripe
would be.And i will never forget that game at colonial
when we all embraced at the final siren. So if anyone questions alf's love for collingwood take a hard long look at your selves!!
Greg- you pisspot!!
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Spidergirl
London Dave u r so lucky to be going to see the Dees on the weekend. Its hard to know who will win cause they will play heaps of guys who dont usually get a run Go the mighty Dees but. U better hold up a sign saying hi to me i will be watching on tv! hey and cheer real loud for Leoncelli the legend if he's playing ok! oh and we will look for u doing a naked dash round the oval at 3 quarter time ok.
on this magpies mail thing well i would happily pay for this page but the reason i didnt get magpie mail is coz i didnt understand what it was we were actually getting. Should just make it that u pay to get a login on here and any1 who doesnt can only read the BB not post!
???
on this magpies mail thing well i would happily pay for this page but the reason i didnt get magpie mail is coz i didnt understand what it was we were actually getting. Should just make it that u pay to get a login on here and any1 who doesnt can only read the BB not post!
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Mike
- Posts: 3137
- Joined: Fri Sep 20, 1996 7:01 pm
- Location: Lilydale, Tas.
- Has liked: 89 times
- Been liked: 26 times
The decision to close the site is a very difficult one to carry out. The future of the site comes down to a decision by me and that's a heavy load. It would be so easy to say, "Oh bugger it, let's just keep going", everyone would be happy again and off we'd go. But that would be ignoring the reasons that we've reached this point and it would happen all over again.
Time for a bit of honesty. The initial Nick's Collingwood Page was probably the result of almost entirely altruistic motives, a pure expression of love for his mighty magpies. Once it gathered momentum it gained a life of its own and became Nick's connection with the Pies. Remember that Nick is a 16 year old who has been to a Collingwood game maybe 6 times in his life. If it wasn't for this site that connection would have waned over the years, as it does with most country kids who can't get to the footy, until Collingwood became the team he had because he had to have a team. So I was very active in supporting it and devoted time and energy, implemented his ideas, even those that were ahead of the time, such as the scoreboard, and generally kept the whole thing together. By the time Nick was 13 he was known by the CEO, one of the Directors and most of the administration of the Club. Ross Dunne reported to us in 1997 that the entire administrative staff had been to computer training sessions and Nick's page was the one used to demonstrate internet application. Not bad for a 13 year old kid in the bush and a huge incentive to both of us to keep the page alive and developing. The reason I'm telling this story is to demonstrate that what we've done, we've done out of self-interest. Please don't glorify it. Happily a lot of people were able to benefit from the process.
The catalyst for the closing of the site, as I've said, was our inability to continue to justify the amount of time and money spent on it. Once again, to be truthful both to you and to myself, I have to say that it was with a feeling of relief that I finally used my anger to push myself into that decision and I think there is a bigger reason. You may not believe this, but neither Nick nor I are computer nerds. Nick is a musician, a sportsman and a budding chef who used the computer as a means to an end, little knowing that end would rise to dominate. I work with computers 18 hours a day, but inside I'm really an artist and like Nick, use the computer as a tool rather than for entertainment. My work is computers so it's easy to do, but we both need a break and the page doesn't stop.
Magpie Mail came from two needs. The obvious one was to offset the cost of Nick's site. The other was an attempt to justify the time spent by turning the site into a paying client, bringing the time spent on the site from spare time into work time. Nick will be wandering off soon to do whatever he needs to do to establish his future. That means the load will fall entirely on me. I've carried most of it this year anyway as he's had less time to devote to it. The only way I could continue to do that was if the site paid its way - hence Magpie Mail.
You might well ask why you weren't told very clearly that the future of the site depended on the success of Magpie Mail. The reason for that is that Magpie Mail has to stand alone. If it couldn't attract business on its own merit then it was only ever going to be a short term solution. I haven't yet approached Toons fans, but if it's not attractive to a captive magpie audience then I don't have great expectations for effective penetration outside Australia. Please don't feel guilty for not supporting Magpie Mail, you weren't given the full facts.
I can understand Alf wondering why we haven't cashed in on the traffic that this site attracts. There are a couple of reasons for that. I hate advertising with a passion nearly as great as my passion for Collingwood and I vowed that this site would never carry it. I dislike the motivation behind it and I distrust the people behind the motivation. I think that my main problem is that I'm a socialist trying to survive in my own business - doomed to failure. By a socialist I mean in the pure sense of the word not the political sense - political socialism is as bent and corrupt as any other form of politics, maybe more so. Secondly, I have always felt that the Club belongs to its supporters and that any profit from their support should be the Club's. I don't have that problem now, the Club's rip-offs have cured me of that.
Your post just came in Spidergirl. That option has always been there, but I could never bring myself to charge for the Bulletin Board, that makes it exclusive and goes against its very nature.
I haven't said it all, but I've said enough for the moment. There are other questions that we (Nick and I) need to look at, but I'll do that in another post at another time. I've posted more on this bb in the last week than I have in the previous 5 years. One advantage of stopping might be that we'll actually have the time and energy to contribute to the discussions.
Time for a bit of honesty. The initial Nick's Collingwood Page was probably the result of almost entirely altruistic motives, a pure expression of love for his mighty magpies. Once it gathered momentum it gained a life of its own and became Nick's connection with the Pies. Remember that Nick is a 16 year old who has been to a Collingwood game maybe 6 times in his life. If it wasn't for this site that connection would have waned over the years, as it does with most country kids who can't get to the footy, until Collingwood became the team he had because he had to have a team. So I was very active in supporting it and devoted time and energy, implemented his ideas, even those that were ahead of the time, such as the scoreboard, and generally kept the whole thing together. By the time Nick was 13 he was known by the CEO, one of the Directors and most of the administration of the Club. Ross Dunne reported to us in 1997 that the entire administrative staff had been to computer training sessions and Nick's page was the one used to demonstrate internet application. Not bad for a 13 year old kid in the bush and a huge incentive to both of us to keep the page alive and developing. The reason I'm telling this story is to demonstrate that what we've done, we've done out of self-interest. Please don't glorify it. Happily a lot of people were able to benefit from the process.
The catalyst for the closing of the site, as I've said, was our inability to continue to justify the amount of time and money spent on it. Once again, to be truthful both to you and to myself, I have to say that it was with a feeling of relief that I finally used my anger to push myself into that decision and I think there is a bigger reason. You may not believe this, but neither Nick nor I are computer nerds. Nick is a musician, a sportsman and a budding chef who used the computer as a means to an end, little knowing that end would rise to dominate. I work with computers 18 hours a day, but inside I'm really an artist and like Nick, use the computer as a tool rather than for entertainment. My work is computers so it's easy to do, but we both need a break and the page doesn't stop.
Magpie Mail came from two needs. The obvious one was to offset the cost of Nick's site. The other was an attempt to justify the time spent by turning the site into a paying client, bringing the time spent on the site from spare time into work time. Nick will be wandering off soon to do whatever he needs to do to establish his future. That means the load will fall entirely on me. I've carried most of it this year anyway as he's had less time to devote to it. The only way I could continue to do that was if the site paid its way - hence Magpie Mail.
You might well ask why you weren't told very clearly that the future of the site depended on the success of Magpie Mail. The reason for that is that Magpie Mail has to stand alone. If it couldn't attract business on its own merit then it was only ever going to be a short term solution. I haven't yet approached Toons fans, but if it's not attractive to a captive magpie audience then I don't have great expectations for effective penetration outside Australia. Please don't feel guilty for not supporting Magpie Mail, you weren't given the full facts.
I can understand Alf wondering why we haven't cashed in on the traffic that this site attracts. There are a couple of reasons for that. I hate advertising with a passion nearly as great as my passion for Collingwood and I vowed that this site would never carry it. I dislike the motivation behind it and I distrust the people behind the motivation. I think that my main problem is that I'm a socialist trying to survive in my own business - doomed to failure. By a socialist I mean in the pure sense of the word not the political sense - political socialism is as bent and corrupt as any other form of politics, maybe more so. Secondly, I have always felt that the Club belongs to its supporters and that any profit from their support should be the Club's. I don't have that problem now, the Club's rip-offs have cured me of that.
Your post just came in Spidergirl. That option has always been there, but I could never bring myself to charge for the Bulletin Board, that makes it exclusive and goes against its very nature.
I haven't said it all, but I've said enough for the moment. There are other questions that we (Nick and I) need to look at, but I'll do that in another post at another time. I've posted more on this bb in the last week than I have in the previous 5 years. One advantage of stopping might be that we'll actually have the time and energy to contribute to the discussions.
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Spidergirl
ok well this is all over my head now (do we have 2 get so damm serious)
but yeah i understand that about making ppl pay it would take the fun outta it hey and make it like a lot of all the other moneysucking sites on here. Everyone remember the old official site how they made u pay to get some extra thing so u could see exclusive Collingwood pics huh wot a joke!
???
but yeah i understand that about making ppl pay it would take the fun outta it hey and make it like a lot of all the other moneysucking sites on here. Everyone remember the old official site how they made u pay to get some extra thing so u could see exclusive Collingwood pics huh wot a joke!
???