>I think this is a worthwhile discussion, but it is off-topic.. >I would like to suggest that everyone interested please subscribe to the >HOCKEY meta list by sending e-mail to [log in to unmask] and in the >body of the message type: subscribe HOCKEY <Your Name> >The HOCKEY meta list was setup precisely for discussion issues surrounding >the college hockey lists. I hope to see everyone there, and I will plan to >make a post there this evening with some of my thoughts. This and other posts of this nature ( "off-topic", "wrong place" , etc.) seem rather ironic to me because, in my opinion, splitting HOCKEY-L into pieces is the main (but not only) reason for the decline in the volume and quality of postings to HOCKEY-L. I strongly voted against splitting the list because I felt then and still do now that most of the really good discussions build on each other, and any attempt to stifle that hurts more than it helps. Most of what may technically be "off-topic" is still somewhat related to college hockey, with the exception of the rare troll or spam-scud. Information and the way people process it work in strange ways and what appears to be "off-topic" may still spawn an interesting discussion that turns out to be "on-topic"...although I think both are subjective terms. Remember, "off-topic" non-spam stuff is truly thought to be on-topic or informative by the person posting it. Let's not discourage that. For example, while HOCKEY-L has suffered, hockey3 has thrived in recent years. The number of posts this early in the season (D-III starts later) is way, way up, and we have many new readers and posters. Hockey3 is a lot more free-wheeling than the other hockey lists and I can't remember the last time somebody got warned about an inappropriate or off-topic post and told to take it someplace else. I do sometimes send a note to someone posting about D-III on HOCKEY-L to please post to hockey3 as well, but would not consider telling them to STOP posting it to HOCKEY-L. Maybe someone out there doesn't know about hockey3 or INFO-L or HOCKEY. Maybe a D-III post DOES have some relevance to someone on HOCKEY-L and triggers an interesting discussion. Still using hockey3 as an example, I do also think the proliferation of alternate resources for information has an effect. D-III hockey is still lacking in most of these areas (i.e. ESPN, US College Hockey Online, etc. have very little D-III coverage). Being the only store in town certainly helps. We have one good webpage (http://www.csh.rit.edu/~puppy/hockey/hockey.html), but even that is almost entirely made up of stuff posted to hockey3. However, I think the relative anarchy of hockey3 keeps the list vital. Heck, Heather Machnik told me herself that she can't keep away ;) The owners of all the lists do a fantastic job, and I certainly don't want to appear ungrateful or overly critical. But I think you get more synergy with a melting pot than trying to categorize what people want to say. I would propose combining ALL the lists, including hockey3. Let's talk club hockey. Let's talk women's hockey. Let's talk Canadian college hockey, which I know almost nothing about and wish someone who did would post! I for one sometimes consider posting something to HOCKEY-L as well as hockey3, but don't want to get a "reminder" from someone that a special segmented list exists for that kind of information and that it's not welcome here. I am seriously considering beginning to cross-post many things that I send to hockey3 only to HOCKEY-L as well....and as someone once called me the "Mike Machnik of hockey3" that would certainly increase the volume! Yours in anarchy, Regards, Chris Lerch US College Hockey Magazine Color Voice of RIT Hockey HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.