The end of an era - Nick's Collingwood Page

[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!

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[Mike]

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.

[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!

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[Mike]

Sorry SG I reckon I can be a bit self-indulgent at the moment - and get away with it, what an opportunity - not to be missed.

Joffa. Magpie Mail will go on. You, as a Pies and Toons supporter are under a moral obligation to get that money to me post haste!!!!

[joffa#2001]

on the way mike
will hit the island of sheep mid next week
money order-50 bucks
joffa and emma

[Mike]

Island of sheep?

Turn right Joffa, turn right - you're going to miss by 5000km.

[PieGirl39]

Mike and Nick

This is really sad, sad news. This is the only footy site I make an effort to look at... the Internet's going to be pretty boring from now on.

I don't know what to say. I'm stunned.

I hope those survey results didn't contribute to this decision.

Best of luck, and please keep in touch!

Love Amanda

[CJ]

Island of sheep?????

Geez Joffa, you won't last long down here in Tassie if you start calling it that!!

I always thought it was called the Holiday Isle!!! or at least that what our number plates say. lol

[NICK THE PIE MAN]

Well its time for me to add something.
This has been a excellent site which other clubs could only dream about. (Larry the moron and North)
And its been a great page which i think we all took for granted. Thanks for all your hard work Nick and Mike. Your a bunch of Legends. So is everyone else on this board. Your all die hard supporters and i admire every single one of you. Its been good to chat to some die-hard supporters such as Joffa,Emma,Rhain,Nikki etc on msn messenger and icq. Your all legends. Good luck to you all.

Collingwood forever guys.

[carnthepies]

Post comp blues saw me deleting most mail without reading it. Then us sydney siders had the world come to town and I got a bit distracted. So I've just read the news.

Well done and thanks Nick and Mike.

As Joni Mitchell once said:
"Don't it always seem to go
"That you don't know what you've got
"Till it's gone
"They paved paradise
"And put up a parking lot"

[Pies2001]

I am Brad the original Brad from about 2 seasons back i read the board just about every day to hear your opinions. But i dont often post!!!
Nick and Mike its been really great and i appreciate what you have done for the club!!
We have got to find some way to keep this great site going!!!

[Ben]

I'm actually a Swans fan and came across this board from hearing about it on Bigfooty but since then I have been here several times (but haven't posted till). I think that this is a great board and I admire the passion that Collingwood supporters display in their love of their club. Being from Sydney, I enjoy finding out more about the footy culture of Melbourne clubs, and this site is a great place to find this out. It's a shame if this site closes because I reckon it's the best AFL supporter website for any club on the net, and I hope you guys are able to somehow keep it up and running. Although no one from other clubs admit it, I think many opposition supporters admire the passion of Collingwood supporters.
Cheers,
Ben

[Spidergirl]

ahhh that's sooo nice Ben ((( ))) <--internet kiss!

u legend 4 sayin that. U Sydney ppl r just too nice for footy i think but keep it up---> good luck with the Swannies next year! Oh and thanks coz youz gave us some pretty kewl players over the years like little Orchy who has sadly left now

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[joffa#2001]

ummm im sorry about bellman now!!

nice words ben.

[DIPPER]

I feel kinda cheated I only discovered this site a couple of weeks back & I have to say it ROCKS,it is without doubt the best web site I have ever come accross.Being a Pommie bsastrd its hard to get much info on Footie & I have to say despite being A Hawks nut I have now got a very soft spot for Collingwood & I sincerely hope that the club get's back to its glory days.U Magpies fans crack me up especially the Spiderchick.
PS can anyone tell me who Hawthorn's biggest rivals are (I hope it's the Doggies or the Demons cos I already hate those too more than enough)