I think it's time to look at ourselves!

[magpie joffa]

This post is not directed at those who have purchased magpie e-mail.

Rather it is for those who for some reason have not.

Before i start i know that what im about to say might not have the blessing of mike.
But i feel very strongly with what im about to say as you all know mike is in tasmania he never gets to go to see the pies play
but here he is running a board for us and its costing him money.

So what do we do,is it a case of stiff shit who cares?
or is it a case that we havnt financially contributed before so why should we now?

I believe that for 25 bucks per year its a good deal and for this you are getting your personalised magpie e-mail.

Remember last year when it was announced that this site could not keep running.

Do you remember how upset we all were?

Since i've been here on nicks mike has introduced chicks channel,and a special forum for teenagers and our much loved english premier league soccer forum.

Do we all just become complacent and let this site die,cause i have a feeling when mike announces next time that this site will close me thinks it will be for good.

What about the friendships that we have made because of the existance of this board,
from dipper and london davo in england,from Ed in perth and to my good old mate nick the pieman in queensland apologies to any one else who i might have missed,and not to forget the great friendship of all you other guys here in melbourne,all of this would not have been possible without nicks collingwood page.

In the last week mike has been trying to introduce a better version of a chat room and i suspect it would even be better if more people would subscribe to magpie e-mail.

Mike had trouble with his new version of chat last night and i have a feeling he is frustrated because he has no money to make it better.

I know many of us are using bigfooty chat,bigfooty is a great site with many wonderful people and ....LOL not so wonderful.

But remember this a majority of people in bigfooty are anti collingwood in a very very big way.

It would be sad if yous all forgot about 'YOUR HOME' ie,nicks page and it shut down.

So please for a lousy 25 bucks get your magpie e-mail it's too easy.

GOOD OLD COLLINGWOOD FOREVER.




------------------
There is nothing in life greater, than to be a supporter of our beloved collingwood football club,we must remain united,we must stand tall,we must be prepared to fight for our glorious black and white for we are the ENVY OF ALL NATIONS.

[Spidergirl]

now that i have been to bigfooty i dont see a reason why we should have to pay here or on any site ESPECIALLY THAT OFFICIAL ONE as much as i love this site heaps and heaps 25 bucks is just too much for someone who doesnt work and whos already forked out too much for memberships

COLLINGWOOD: TIME TO LIVE UP TO THE NAME

[magpie joffa]

I RESPECT YOUR OPINION SPIDEZ BUT IF EVERY BODY WAS THINKING LIKE THAT WE WOULD NOT HAVE THIS SITE,SO I SAY TO ALL YOU OTHERS PLEASE GET YOUR MAGPIE E-MAIL,CAUSE I REALLY LOVE THIS SITE IT IS BECAUSE OF THIS SITE(remember you told me about it spidez)THAT I INITIALLY GOT A COMPUTER.AND REMEMBER MIKE AINT MAKING SQUILLIONS OUT OF IT, ITS JUST TO KEEP THIS SITE UP AND RUNNING,IN ANY CASE LOOK AT THE VALUE YOU GET,LOOK AT THE FUN WE ALL HAVE ON HERE.AND ITS KINDA FUN HAVING A MAGPIE E-MAIL ADDRESS.

------------------
There is nothing in life greater, than to be a supporter of our beloved collingwood football club,we must remain united,we must stand tall,we must be prepared to fight for our glorious black and white for we are the ENVY OF ALL NATIONS.

[Mike]

Joffa

Thanks for the words and the support. As I've already said, I'll keep the site up and running as long as possible. Magpie Mail was an effort to defray costs, but it hasn't, as yet, covered its own - we'll see what happens as the season gets a bit closer.

We live in a capitalistic democratic society where we vote with our dollars - and we have to accept the verdict whatever that may be.

Spidergirl thanks for your support and words of encouragement (sarcasm intended). I suppose I should be flattered that you lump us together with the official site, but somehow that doesn't help. You're right in saying that footy can be expensive, but we choose what we spend the money on. Neither Nick nor I are members of this (or any) club this year because I had to decide whether two memberships or this site would be of greater value to the Club. I decided on the site as you know.

Nick hasn't been around here for months and that is a direct consequence of the decision to sacrifice our memberships for the sake of the site. Collingwood is everything to him and this is his first year without some form of membership - so enjoy yours (all of them).

[2 PIES IN CAIRNS]

Spidergirl, you're not gunna like this, but thats too bad. Firstly, despite your attempts to justify your thinking, I'm afraid I just can't comprehend being a member of any club other than Collingwood. How the hell can you give money to the opposition? Yes, they are the opposition - if not the enemy- because to most of us there is only Collingwood and no second favourites!
You have found enough money for at least four football club memberships, who knows how many train trips across Melbourne to perv on whichever of your teams takes your fancy that day, and who knows what else you spend your money on - my guess would be booze, smokes and four or more clubs' badges, flags, caps, jumpers, beanies, etc., but you refuse to part with what boils down to fifty lousy cents a week to play your part in keeping this fantastic forum up and running - the forum which has given you the opportunity to air your opinions more than a thousand times; the forum which, for those of us who no longer live in Melbourne but whose love of the Mighty Black and White is at least as great as yours, is one of our main lifelines to what is going on in and around our great club!
Maybe you don't really care whether this forum is forced to fold up because of lack of finance - you can always post your next thousand pieces of wisdom on Bigfooty or some other forum not dedicated solely to the greatest club of them all - BUT I BLOODYWELL DO CARE and hopefully so do plenty of others. I'm not prepared to simply shrug my shoulders and say "Oh, stuff it, one web page has gone, I'll find Collingwood supporters somewhere else in cyberspace" This isn't just a web page - THIS IS NICK'S PAGE- well, these days its sort of Mike's page! Didn't it tug on at least one heartstring when you read that for the first time in his memory Nick isn't a member of his beloved Collingwood this year. This website has become an important part of my football life and I'll be stuffed if I'm going to let it disappear just because of a few dollars.
Yep, as the topic heading suggests: "I think it's time to look at ourselves" !

[CQ]

what you seem to be overlooking is that it is SPIDERGIRLS MONEY, therefore she should be allowed to spend it on whatever she wants without getting lectures off yous.

[Mike]

CQ you're dead right, I probably over-reacted and for that Spidergirl I apologise. I don't expect anyone, including Spidergirl, to provide money to keep this site going. If it doesn't happen, the site stops, because I can't afford to sink any more of my money into it. If you want it you'll pay for it, if you don't you won't, it's as simple as that - and that was all that Joffa's post said. But I was probably shooting the messenger.

What I reacted to was Spidergirl's inference that because BigFooty can do it for nothing, this site should also be able to.

I need to point out a few facts:

BigFooty is a business and it's primary purpose is to make money. Bigfooty caters to all teams and because of that generates a lot more traffic than a site dedicated to one team only and can and does generate significant revenue through advertising.

This site is not in that position. We have no revenue - no income of any kind. Nor do we have the traffic to make
advertising a viable option. That means that unless I can raise funds in another way, I spend hundreds of hours on the site each year and get to pay every bill out of my own pocket for the honour. I can't afford it and I can't remember anymore why I'm doing it.

Putting aside the fact that BigFooty could never be an alternative to any Collingwood site, try asking Bluey to set up a private forum for you, ask him to help you out when the fans on the St.Kilda board attack you, ask him to include Private messaging, ask him if he'll put the icon that you've drawn on his server for you. In fact ask him anything - and see if you get a response. All those things have been done for Spidergirl here. If BigFooty is a viable alternative for you, off you go.

I wasn't telling Spidergirl how to spend her money, and I don't expect her or anyone else to fork out money to use this site. But I do object to people believing that they have a right to expect it for nothing.

I apologise if these posts are sounding bitter and twisted, but I think I've run out of motivation and I'm not quite sure what to do about it.

[magpie joffa]

Mike im so sorry i feel as though in some weird way i have been responsible for whats occured in this topic.Let me make it clear to you mike my intentions were well meaning,Im a great believer in this site it gives us magpies a voice.It's kinda like our house where we can come together and discuss the greatest club of all time 'collingwood'Maybe i was out of place mike in asking other users of this site to contribute there 25 bucks.Maybe my intentions were selfish for the reason being it would be good to have a good chat room.Just to let all you others know i paid 50 bucks for myself and emma to use this site and obtain a magpie email for the both of us and as far as im concerned its been the best 50 bucks i have ever spent.In closing mike i wanna say i will respect whatever decision you make as far as im concerned your a bloody legend,Of course i will be devastated if this site was to close but remember this mike i now regard you as a good friend if i was to never hear from you again, i will believe you me send a plague that will destroy every living sheep in tasmania
now ewe couldn't have that hey mate.ummm ok im just tryin to end a very serious post with a bit of humor,your ok mike anytime you come to melb u make sure you let me know ok.
your mate allways
joffa

------------------
There is nothing in life greater, than to be a supporter of our beloved collingwood football club,we must remain united,we must stand tall,we must be prepared to fight for our glorious black and white for we are the ENVY OF ALL NATIONS.

[Mike]

Nothing for you to apologise for Joffa. It was just a reality check and a self-indulgent public whinge for me.

... and you're a slow learner, I keep telling you, sheep go with NZ, we have cows.

[Greg J]

Oh Spidey!

I am afraid I am with Joffa.

Everyone who can should. But it is not compulsory, especially for those who do not work, and for some that do.

Opportunity cost, is the cost of forgoing something to purchase something else.

As I do not find the alternatives anywhere as attractive as Nick's so the opportunity cost I figure is a lot more than the $25 face value of the magpie address.

I plan to buy one for my brother. Mike, can he pick up his mail with your server, or does he have to redirect to another address? He does not have another address at present, so this is what stopped me doing it initially. Once I see him again, I will be able to set him up and teach him how to log onto HotMail and pickup his magpie mail. This will work won't it Mike?

[Spidergirl]

ay Cairns dickhead how farkin dare u comment on sh!t you dont know about I DON"T SMOKE (ciggies anyway) AND AM NOT A BIG DRINKER therefore NO MY MONEY DOES NOT GO ON THAT!!!!!!

"Train trips across Melbourne to perve on the players" EXCUSE FARKIN ME i attend all this football stuff because i have a huge passion for the game and everything involved in it (including the players yes) but going for a perve on players well my love for the game stretches well beyond that i tell you "perving on players" well that is about 1% of it yeh. For me one of the best things is proudly wearing my fave players number on my back, watching him bag a heap of goals, tearing down the wing, smashing an opposition player up, holding up my banner when he gets a goal etc etc. Maybe if you had met me as a person and not over the internet u might understand my passion as most ppl do within one minute of talking to me face to face.

And as for me turning up to which ever game i fell like it ...uh uh i don't go to games depending on who is winning and losing last year i attended every Victorian one of Collingwoods pathetic games (despite my fave Pie not even playing one of them) not to mention almost every one of St.Kildas even more pathetic losing games as well as chucking in a few of Melbournes here and there (mostly wins) so dont give me any of this going to whatever games suites me bullshit i am no bandwagoner I SIMPLY LOVE MY FOOTBALL!!!!

As for Mike well soree i didn't understand all the business behind it like which site gets funded and which doesnt. All i know is what once started out as "okay i pay my internet bill and access any site on here that i want" has now turned into "i pay my interent bill but ALSO have to pay to go on certain sites" Fair enough for u guys then puttin ya time and money in it but as ive said before i reckon ya should just make ppl pay for a login code because 1) who really wants another shitty email address and 2) it would stop the wankers posting crap on here and only attract the genuine fans!

COLLINGWOOD: TIME TO LIVE UP TO THE NAME



[This message has been edited by Spidergirl (edited 07 February 2001).]

[Mike]

You're missing the point. Nobody is saying that you have to pay to use the site.

What I have said (probably very badly) is that it costs me more than I can afford or justify and that if I don't find a way to subsidise the site I will have to stop. End of story.

[Broadie]

There's a certain quote about Glass Houses and another about living by the sword Spidey.

Keep them in mind.

------------------
Broadie

[CQ]

well when i get a job i will get one of these fantastic email addys. but until then i wont because i have got jack shit money. anyway there are like 400 members on this site thing and im sure me and spidergirl arent the only ones who dont have one.

[Mike]

Spidergirl, the whole idea of Magpie Mail was to develop a product that would support the site without putting pressure on users of the site to pay for it. I also didn't want to pressure people from this site to subscribe to Magpie Mail, something that I have lost sight of in this thread. The intended market was international, it was all the magpies teams in the world. If that had been successful, and it still may be, this site would then be able to operate without this destructive pressure. I could never charge people to use the site, that would destroy it faster than anything else.

That's right CQ 400+ registered users, that's what got to me too.

I never intended to pick on you or spidergirl and I'm sure the others didn't either. Actually, nothing has been said about you - I could start if you like (joke, joke).

The only reason spidergirl came under fire was that she was the one that reacted to joffa's post. It wasn't directed at her, Joffa was reminding everyone of a basic fact.

To be honest my reaction was probably exaggerated by the fact that it was Spidergirl. If it had been Joe Bloggs (sorry Joe) I would probably have ignored it, but I have come to know Spidergirl and felt betrayed somehow by the negativity of her post and I over-reacted.

Anyway, let's put an end to this, we're starting to behave like a group of Collingwood people.

I should reassure Magpie Mail subscribers that there is no threat to Magpie Mail. Your addresses are secure and that service will continue indefinitely.