Patrickburke1980 is mad and not going to take it anymore

by user PatrickBurke1980

My fellow Armchairers:

I understand that websites and their parent companies need advertising revenue to run properly. But I just can't take it anymore. ESPN.com, while great in many ways, is now ONE GIANT ADVERTISEMENT. Today, for instance, if you type espn.com into your browser, all you get is a massive, full-page advertisement with a miniscule 'skip this advertisement' link at the very top. Is everything about money? Is there a point where enough is enough? Is it a website about providing information and opinions or scoring as much advertising money as possible?

I'm sure I'm overreacting, and there are many other popular websites that do this. To me, this ad-overload just reinforces to me why sites like ArmchairGM are the future of information dissemination. It's not always about money. It's about the love of something. It's about forging a community of those who share the same interests. It's about gathering those people who have something to say and deciding collectively whats right for the site, for the good of the site. That's what makes this sports website what it is.

Long live ArmchairGM.

Date

Mon 08/21/06, 5:45 pm EST

Jgov05All-American

1196 days ago

Score 1

I've always thought the one catch to AGM was that there was no way to make money. For all the time many people put into this site, it's almost hard to get nothing in return.

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DRE-LOAAA-er

1196 days ago

Score 1

A to the Men. It's amazing the amount of info, research and effort that all the users here put into their articles. ESPN is slowly slipping into the pit of despair. For at least a month or two, they had all this nonsensical advertising of their ESPN mobile phone on their website. Plus, they have Skip Bayless. Enough said.

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UfgatorsDiv-I Stud

1196 days ago

Score 2

i agree. thats why i love this site. with espn, you cant even click a link if you dont have insider! cbssportsline is good, but the writers are...they're so bad i cant even think of a word. SI...eh. i love armchair, and its pretty much the source for most of my sporting news. as patrickburke said, long live the 'chair.

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Jgov05All-American

1196 days ago

Score 1

I have never had insider but still visit the site more than any other. There's so much free content I have no idea why you would pay extra.

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PeanMajor Leaguer

1196 days ago

Score 1

pat, i guess its a bad time to announce the giant ads that will be taking over the site..just kidding...for now!

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I am a cpcpMajor Leaguer

1196 days ago

Score 0

New Armchair homepage:

• 93% ESPN ad
• 3% Stuff ad
• 2% Maxim ad
• 1% ad for Manny Stiles other blog(s)
• 1% New Stuff

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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

1196 days ago

Score 0

that's pretty funny!

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I am a cpcpMajor Leaguer

1196 days ago

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1) Go to ebay 2)Get ESPN the mag subscription for like $8 3) Wait for it to finally show up (mine took like two or three months) 4)Get free insider 5)Enjoy

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BarkingclamVarsity

1196 days ago

Score 0

thats what I did - save the activating the Insider (it requires a credit card, which I lack posession of).

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1196 days ago

Score 0

Perhaps one of the giant ads could be for ArmchairGM? Would it then be OK Pat? BTW, has anyone ever bought/read one of these ads? The companies advertising must think it works - they are wrong. Don't you have a pop-up blocker Pat?

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

1196 days ago

Score 2

Yes, I do. It's called ArmchairGM. No pop-ups here.

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The Widening GeierSoccer Kid

1196 days ago

Score 0

i get a lot of my news from ESPN, both TV and net. I would like to organize some local paper watchers on here though. I know that my hometown rags are often quoted by espn...etc, and think it would be dope if we could get those rumors and good insider info of our own. thoughts?

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1196 days ago

Score 0

I couldn't help. My local paper has a lot of second and third tier English Football in it (or even lower).

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

1196 days ago

Score 0

any thoughts on the Super Hoops this season?

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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

1196 days ago

Score 0

That was the Johnson Latex Inflatable Dolls "Blow up of the Day"

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Bleeding GreenVarsity

1196 days ago

Score 3

The crazy thing about ESPN is that the whole empire is an ad for itself. Every little thing on sportscenter is either an ad for ESPN mobile, ESPN the mag, ESPN insider, and ESPN radio. Any ESPN outlet you look at or listen to will give you an ad for almost every other EPSN property.

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I am a cpcpMajor Leaguer

1196 days ago

Score 2

Welcome back to PTI Sportcenter! I'm your host Dan "Dan Patrick Show" Patrick. Coming up the ESPN the Magazine Top 10 Plays of Page 2 Sunday! But now, it's the ESPN Mobile Hot Seat followed by the ESPN.com Sunday Conversation. It's all Espytastic!

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