Ande's Blog is the longest running and arguably the most popular thread on the forum and should be returned to the General Swimming-Related Discussions. It is more than just a blog in that it has been highly interactive, generating a lot of discussion and addressing a wide range of swimming-related topics.
Former Member
Why remove any of the blogs from the General Section? Did someone with a MS in Library Science determine that the flow of information is clogged due to the presence of blogs? Or did someone just decide, this isnt a space for blogs, and move it. Hardly tragic either way, though traffic is the only way to get advertising dollars, and it seems quite silly to move a popular part of the forums out.
sorry to hear that, however, most of us (as seen from the results of the poll) would rather discuss swimming, than personalities...
Give me a break! Ande's blog was very SR. What is not SR are the recent plethora of People Magazine threads relating to, for example, Lochte's sexuality or Phelps's supposed dalliances with strippers or his other girlfriends. If those are tolerated as SR, Ande's thread certainly should be.
And would you excise all personality from the forum? Plenty of the SR threads have banter and trash talk and other things that add color. Just because something is SR does not mean it has to be deadly dull or devoid of personality(ies).
The poll seems flawed in any event. First, it would have been more accurate to include a choice of moving the blog to the workout thread. I believe that is one thing Ande suggested as an option. As SwimmieAvsFan, Vive and I previously noted, the blog is not that much different than JMiller's Fast & Fun thread and could be modified somewhat. Many of the reader comments asked questions about the workouts and/or how he proposed to train for meets. Second, it appears that a lot of inactive forum members may have voted. Not sure who they are ... And, if people are opposed to the blog, they don't have to click on it. Viewership for the blog was extremely high, which is at odds with the poll results.
Don't agree with George's "Dear Abbey" comment either, and his own posts are littered with NSR swimming commentary or other random detail.
Ande's blog should have been relocated. Not closed.
The workout section was and still is the ideal alternative to move it, as comments and dialogue can be posted as normal.
The new blog features allow for comments, but not exactly in the same way as forum banter.
Maybe Jim will still reconsider. Ande's blog had a life of it's own. It should be resurrected.
Was it closed or did Ande move it to another host? He posted a link to his Blogspot site a couple of days ago. That was a day or so after his Blog was moved to the Blog zone.
Why couldn't he start a similar thread on the Workouts Forum? Just don't call it a Blog.
Granted the new blog section makes a whole lot of sense, but his could have been kept alive and bumped over to the workout zone.
It does make sense, especially with 11 blogs.
But, as you say, Ande's blog had a life of it's own. Since it was closed, he might feel like it's a 3 year labor of love down the drain. Sure, he's got the link, but it's not quite the same as having your body of work together. A lot of effort went into that thread.
Vive's previous suggestion of "Performance Swimming" is a good one. "Ande's Workouts" is fine too. Perhaps he could forgo the bloggy aspects like how much he weighs? lol
Ande's blog should have been relocated. Not closed.
The workout section was and still is the ideal alternative to move it, as comments and dialogue can be posted as normal.
The new blog features allow for comments, but not exactly in the same way as forum banter.
Maybe Jim will still reconsider. Ande's blog had a life of it's own. It should be resurrected.
Was it closed or did Ande move it to another host? He posted a link to his Blogspot site a couple of days ago. That was a day or so after his Blog was moved to the Blog zone.
Why couldn't he start a similar thread on the Workouts Forum? Just don't call it a Blog.
It was closed permanently. As well as the others which had started cropping up.
Granted the new blog section makes a whole lot of sense, but his could have been kept alive and bumped over to the workout zone.
