It's because they started a thread on their site to vote (http://www.hawkeyehideout.com/showthread.php?t=12022), which a few did. Not a huge message board regular, but it never seems too active over there. The only reason I know about this site is because for a while, "SouthernHawk" would comment after every online DMRegister article about the Hawkeyes, saying "Come to HawkeyeHideout.com." Hey, can't blame the dude, that's free advertising. Hopefully their site picks up some steam because I like what they offer and their layout. We need a fan site to rival this: http://www.spartantailgate.com/forums/index.php. My wife's a MSU fan, and this is the mother of all forums (especially the Red Cedar Message Board) that I've seen. Although the structure is a little gritty, HawkeyeLounge.com always seems to be the most active (excluding subscriber pay sites). I wish everyone could join forces Voltron-style to compete with Sparty!
tyger, i see your point. they have a pretty good setup in the forum.
and you definitely do suggest a good idea about a few of them merging into a giant. i think thats what iowahawkeyes.net is going to try, but it appears to still be in very early beta.
lets make it happen. iowahawkeyes.net + hawkeyehideout.com + hawkeyelounge.com = best iowa site ever.
It's definitely been an uphill battle for HH to become an "active" message board. Basically, like everybody has said so far, because there are so many different Iowa sports forums out there right now, and everybody is partial to the one they're members on. I know HawkeyeLounge.com is a bunch of old regulars from HR, and then of course you have HR and HN. So I guess right now, we're fighting for that #3 or 4 spot.
But we're slowly getting there - we're trying to provide a more "balanced" forum with some news, but talk about more sports than just basketball and football.
Keep fighting the good fight, Southern. I don't know if we'll ever have a "Hawkeye Supersite," but at least you're putting in a strong effort to help make that happen. Your site looks solid, and I liked your resourcefulness in the comment section of the DMReg. Did you do that anywhere else as well? Readers definitely took notice...I know I did.
Thanks - I really only did the DMR thing until we got a solid core of users. Basically get the forum going, and then rely on word of mouth and search engines. But yeah, I posted a few times on the ICPC as well.
I too would like to see a "super-site", because it would be amazing to have the type of community that they have at Spartan Tailgate. But with Jon Miller's media deals, and Kakert's solid standing with rivals/yahoo, I don't think we'd ever see the combination of those two sites.
So the next best thing, in my opinion, is an independent site that offers a less "media" type atmosphere, and just simply a fan forum, which is what we're trying to build. It's a lot of fun, but definitely more work than I ever thought it would be.
A great place to find mature Hawkeye fans and good information about the Hawkeyes. Maybe it needs a new layout but the content is top notch. The mods are welcoming as are the members.
this one has huge potential. its still in beta, so hopefully once they get traffic, this one pans out. great use of social media (twittergating...nice!)
Not very welcoming or hospitable. Inhabited by trolls and assholes. Ever since they went to their current mods they have lost about 75% of their members. Lots of flaming and they view politness as a vile disease needing to be treated with a healthy does of infantile name calling, temper fits and trolling.
I was one of the original members and my experience resembles yours. The new mods began to run out anyone with any political opinions contrary to theirs. They even gave out my email address to a certain poster who was a notorious troll whom sent threatening emails to me and looked up my facebook and began posting info about me as well as pretty much ripping me apart personally on everything. I left in 2008 and haven't looked back since. Some of their regulars are very childish and a lot of them are trolls. They even had a secret forum at one point, viewable by invite only, where sometimes they would gossip about other members, especially newbies, and even plot out little troll schemes. You pretty much nailed it. Great place if you like pissing matches, if you agree with the mods and regulars, or if you know someone there. Otherwise stay away. Used to be a great place for lively debate but now certain people make sure each one turns into a pissing match.