John Clay's Sidelines

Most reaction to the change in the Liveblog, using Cover it Live, was positive on Wednesday night, but there were dissenters.

I received this e-mail from Robert:

You didn’t ask me but I think that the “Cover It Live” format stinks
from a reader’s perspective. I feel like I’m in a freakin chat room,
not reading a journalistic endeavor. The primary reason I read your
game blogs is to not only see what the score is but to get a feel for
the pulse of the team, how they are playing, etc. Not only is there
less meat in this format but now I have to scroll through 10-20
comments, 99% of which add nothing to the conversation, to find what
you, the sportswriter, have to say. Also, it’s impossible to glance at
this “blog” (chat room transcript) and get a summary of what is going
on, unlike your previous blog.

Another point regarding comments: because it appears that they are so
easy to make, everyone feels like they have to comment, which just
adds to the overall noise and clutter. I feel that this will only get
worse if you continue to use this format.

I’m obviously not a fan of this but go back and read the blog from a
reader’s perspective. If it’s real-time interactivity/entertainment
that you’re trying to provide then it absolutely works; if you’re
trying to provide the same type of information that your previous game
blogs provided but in a different format then it fails miserably.

There are some good points made there, and some address issues that I had worried about in the first place. It did appear that Wednesday night much of the blog broke down into comments and discussions that had little to do with the game. I think part of that had to do with the fact the UK-Lamar game was a blowout. Part of it had to do with the new format which does make it much easier for readers to post comments — which is a good thing. (And yes, there is a brief delay because I do have to approve the comments first.) If today’s UK-Miami game is closer, I would expect a tighter, more focused blog.

Part of it, I think, is that it was something new. The hope is that the regular readers will get used to the new format. If you’re not interested in the comments, just skip over the blue type and look for the game stuff from me.

Part of it was me. This is new to me, as well. I may have to sacrifice and answer fewer comments, and concentrate more on giving recaps and commentary to the game. Anyway, we’re going to try it again this afternoon and see how it goes. Your contributions and comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

One tip: For some of you, it may help to turn off the auto-scroll button at the bottom of the page. That way if you want to go back and review previous entries, it won’t keep returning you to the bottom of the page when a new entry is posted.