>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
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