Have It Your Way

by Eric Simon on Jul 5, 2006 10:10 PM EDT

As the summer rolls on and we enter the midway point in Amazin' Avenue: Season 2, I wanted to give everyone a bit of the "State of AA", as well as an opportunity to voice your likes and dislikes, as well as suggestions on ways to improve the AA experience.

First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who has stopped by here over the past sixteen months for their patronage and their contributions to the cause. I consider myself the host of this site, but what goes on here extends far beyond me and my numbers and my ramblings. This site is as much about you guys as anything else, and hopefully what separates AA from the countless other similar websites is the sense of community we have here. Whether it's via a diary entry, a poll or your comments, this site is home to many unique voices, most of which are actually worth listening to!

Secondly, as many of you know I am getting married in August, and will be off in Hawaii for destination wedding plus honeymoon. I'll be away from the 6th thru the 19th, though I have no intention of letting this place collect dust while I'm gone. I'm looking for one or two people to keep this site loaded with content, including posting open threads, polls, news, opinion, etc. I still have to work out all of the details, but I figured I should get this ball rolling before sooner becomes later. So, if you have been a regular contributor to the diaries and comments for some time and would like to help out, send me an e-mail or catch me on IM so I can gauge interest. Thanks!

Finally, the scope of this website has varied over its short lifetime, but I think we've settled upon a nice mix of stats, charts, opinion, news, etc. Still, I'm always curious to know what you guys think, since I consider this to be your playground, too. What, if anything, would you like to see more of (or any of), such as:

Mets news
Other baseball news
Opinion/rants
Stats/charts
Collaborations with other websites/blogs
Book/DVD reviews
Contests/giveaways (the DVD set giveaway is coming!)
Interviews

Thanks again to all of you, for you are the heroes.

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Comments

I really

appreciate all the work you do on this site, Eric, not only keeping things updated, but providing an impressive level of depth and analysis. I played in HS and college, and have always been a huge baseball fan, but I feel as though I have gained even a better understanding of some aspects of the game since I started visiting the site regularly (at the beginning of last season). You are the Pedro of Mets bloggers!

Congrats on the impending wedding! I got married 9 months ago (We're hoping to celebrate our 1st anniversary with a playoff win at Shea!) and it has so far been a wild ride. I love it.

Would be happy to help pitch in while you are away.

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Jul 6, 2006 9:18 AM EDT reply actions

I think you'd be great

as one of the subs for Eric. I remember being very impressed with your comments about fair play, cutting corners in baseball, etc.

by Max in NJ on Jul 6, 2006 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Have it YOUR way

Mazel tov on the coming wedding and the site's anniversary, Eric! It's great being a part of this place: it's an awesome forum for discussion - the riffraff commentators percentage here is way lower than at many other Mets sites - and you've always provided us great analysis. We all greatly appreciate the work you've done, and the humility with which you present your ideas.

Quite frankly, I used to be a diehard Metsgeek reader first and foremost, but since it seems only you and two or three other writers have stuck around, the content has suffered pretty hard. Minor league updates are nice, but anyone can look that up; the in-game discussions are way better here (and those two are basically all Metsgeek has right now). I miss the days when there would be 2-3 articles a day talking about stats I'd never heard of explaining why everything I thought was wrong. On that note, consistency is huge, and you and Cerrone and co. are the only ones who seem to realize that. Again, thanks, and mazel tov.

I can barely type, so I'll do all of us a favor and not screw up the site.

Doing the Pedro whiffle-bat dance.

by Goldy on Jul 6, 2006 9:43 AM EDT reply actions

Mets Geek ...

I still check Mets Geek every day, but I much prefer Amazin' Avenue. I like the nesting system for comments much better, and overall, I like the crowd that posts here better. (I know there's some crossover.)

by Max in NJ on Jul 6, 2006 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Congratulations

Great site. In terms of more stuff, more stats/charts is always fun, as is more information on Mets minor league players, especially if it can be placed in context, e.g., age relative to level and so on. Contests are always fun as well.

By the way, if you go to Kealakekua Bay, let me know if you find any other parts of me.

by OronosFemur on Jul 6, 2006 11:23 AM EDT reply actions

Just wanted to echo what other

folks have been saying, Eric -- Amazin' Avenue is my favorite Mets site, I think you do a terrific job, and it's much appreciated!

As for how to improve the site: Books/DVD reviews would be interesting; I'd certainly enjoy interviews, especially if we fans could pose some of the questions. I'd also like to see more opinion pieces. For example, the June summary that's over at Mets Geek right now is interesting. But I'd rather be talking about it (or parts of it) over here.

I'd also like to see more guest articles, i.e. written by Amazin' Avenue members.

by Max in NJ on Jul 6, 2006 4:38 PM EDT reply actions

Guest Articles

I definitely agree with you about guest articles featuring AA members. But that's what the diaries are really for. Anytime someone wants to write one, they have the option to do so.

by Alex Nelson on Jul 6, 2006 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I realize that's what the diaries are for

and I enjoy reading them. I think what's great about the diaries is that they're diaries, i.e. if you just feel like writing down a few casual thoughts, that's fine. If you feel like ranting or philosophizing or injecting some humor or posting some stats about your favorite player, that's fine, too. Basically, pretty much anything goes, from the carefully thought-out to the stream-of-consciousness. I think the "anything goes" is a strength of the diaries. But I think it's also a drawback. Without intending any disrespect at all to any of the diary writers -- (including myself -- I've written a few diaries -- some not so good), what I'm talking about is something a little more polished. This would require more time, though, which most of us lack.

by Max in NJ on Jul 6, 2006 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Personally

I just need a bee in my bonnet to get me to write one...the Julio for Duque trade did that for me, as did Angel Hernandez's openly biased strikezone admission.

I don't follow anything closely enough to be a regular blogger...I have too many interests at once. But I love to comment on things other people have noticed.

by peeder on Jul 6, 2006 5:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Ah, just what I needed ...

I just need a bee in my bonnet to get me to write one.

A good real world usage of "bee in my bonnet." I've been tutoring a native German speaker in English, and he has been baffled by that idiomatic expression.

by Max in NJ on Jul 6, 2006 11:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Tell him

papier ist geduldig.

But bees in bonnets aren't.

by peeder on Jul 7, 2006 12:36 AM EDT up reply actions

OK, you've stumped me ...

I'm fluent in German, but don't really see a connection between the two expressions except that the meaning of "Papier ist geduldig" is sometimes difficult for English speakers to grasp.

Unless you're referring to a literal translation, i.e. "paper is patient," but even then ... well, I'd say bees are pretty patient.

Na, vielen Dank für deine Hilfe!

by Max in NJ on Jul 7, 2006 3:37 AM EDT up reply actions

der schinken

ist nict der siefe

Pedro offers you his protection.

by pj on Jul 7, 2006 1:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Guest Articles

Blackfish basically beat me to the punch on that one. I encourage (and implore) anyone here who is interested to write (at short or at length) in the diaries. Anyone who has been here long enough knows that when I see something I like over there I move it over to the main page to spotlight it.

I should also point out that it was Blackfish's work in the diaries that led to his invitation to join us as a writer over at MetsGeek. He goes by "Alex Nelson" over there, in case anyone didn't know.

by Eric Simon on Jul 6, 2006 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions