Mixing the new posters with the vets here at OH

[oriole]

I'm here for Orioles content and that's it. I'm a baseball fan, 100%. While introducing other teams content is really no problem with me, I hope that the Orioles discussion stays as strong as it is now. I also hope that the Ravens/Terps forums don't take away or water down the Orioles talk. I fully support any change that you feel would benefit the site as a whole but my own selfishness would prefer it not to change. Football talk is like nails on a chalkboard to me and I love that I don't have to sift through any here.

Ill use this opportunity to thank all those who keep the OH running! I spend a lot of time on here. My girlfriend thinks I'm a dork/insane but I feel quite the opposite about it.

[Frobby]

If you change the name, I'm leaving.

Not really. So long as the board is there, plus whatever content the OH is still providing, I'm fine with changing the name, though I'd miss it. Anything that strengthens the site's finances without reducing the Oriole-related content is something I can live with. Just don't call it Yankees Hangout.

[TonySoprano]

Baltimore Sports Hangout could now be confused with another site who must not be named.

Orioles Hangout of Baltimore (kind of like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim )

Baltimore Hangout

Baltimore Birds Hangout (makes Ravens more of an equal partner)

Baltimore's Finest Hangout

Change the name, but open it up to better suggestions than mine. If Lex is done with his honeymoon phase, he can start a poll

[olehippi]

Wait a minute, weren't you the one that basically flipped out when we updated the forum's look because the orange hurt your eyes?

Yup, Tony....that was me.... But what I finally did was tone down the contrast on my monitor just a little and.....viola!...the perfect, non-glaring, non-blinding orange. Now it has grown on me, enveloped me, and devoured my soul. What can I say?

[Dipper9]

Baltimore Sports Hangout could now be confused with another site who must not be named.

Orioles Hangout of Baltimore (kind of like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim )

Baltimore Hangout

Baltimore Birds Hangout (makes Ravens more of an equal partner)

Baltimore's Finest Hangout

Change the name, but open it up to better suggestions than mine. If Lex is done with his honeymoon phase, he can start a poll

I think we should call it..."HangingwithSoprano.com"

[Tony-OH]

I've owned Baltimore Sports Hangout.com for years, long before any copycat sites popped up. It's not surprising that it's a coincidence though but hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

[Tangier Terp]

Not interested in supporting the Ravens. The Hangout means O's to me.

[Tony-OH]

Yup, Tony....that was me.... But what I finally did was tone down the contrast on my monitor just a little and.....viola!...the perfect, non-glaring, non-blinding orange. Now it has grown on me, enveloped me, and devoured my soul. What can I say?

We better not change it then. I'm not sure you can deal with this kind of soul-changing events more than once in your life.

[baltfan]

My concern is that by changing the name you lose the new, diehard Orioles fans. In other words, if you are looking for a board to go to and are a diehard Orioles fan, you look for an Orioles message board, not a Baltimore sports message board. Guys come and go on these message boards. New guys with great Orioles knowledge and new opinions keep things going. If you change, I am afraid you wouldn't get so many new guys and the site would slowly degrade.

I have ESPN and MLB on my radio. When I want baseball I go to MLB not ESPN. Now, ESPN has more listeners probably

, but can you become the equivalent of the ESPN of Baltimore message boards with a name like orioles hangout? I would keep things the way they are. Use a different site if you want to expand but think the colors hold you back. The colors tell people this is for the diehards. You can't expect to get new diehards by sending a different message.

[waroriole]

Whatever you need to do Tony. I wouldn't mind changing the orange background. It stands out a little too much if I'm on here at work.

[cliff]

Obviously I'm not a frequent poster, but I do spend an ungodly amount of time on this site. My two cents:

I don't see how expanding to other sports benefits the current hangouters. I mean, I'm a sports fan. Just about all my friends are sports fans. However, they aren't all Orioles fans (or big baseball fans for that matter). Part of the value of the OH is its sense of community. It's the only place I can go where I know everyone cares about a 20th round draft pick in Low-A ball as much as I do despite the odds against him ever playing in Baltimore. Baseball fans are different from general sports fans. They're the only fans that follow their team for 162 games. They put more of an emphasis on statistics. They follow prospects that may or may not help their team 3-5 years down the road. etc. It's the same reason MLBtraderumors blows Hoopsrumors and NFL traderumors out of the water

While you would be able capture a broader audience, I don't think the current Orioles posters will venture over to the other sections too often.

Have you considered creating a network of individual hangouts i.e. orioles hangout, ravens hangout, terps hangout etc? For instance, when MLBTradeRumors wanted to expand, they didn't create SportsTradeRumors.com where you can go and redirect to MLB or NBA. They created a separate NBA site.

My preference is to keep the hangout Orioles-centric, but if that changed, I'd still come here for my Orioles fix. I most likely wouldn't benefit from the other sections. By the way...in full disclosure, I'm a redskins, caps, wizards, and Terps fan.

[Nigel Tufnel]

The only thing that would worry me is that Orioles Hangout is a pretty strong brand name. I'm not sure I want to change it if I were you. Could Baltimore Sports Hangout maybe be an umbrella site, with links or something to Orioles Hangout?

This is the site that all of the new users come to - that's probably mostly because it's the biggest, but I bet some part of that is simply that Orioles is in the site's name.

Anyway, I'm sure you've given this a lot more thought than I have. Looking forward to whatever direction you decide to go in.

[sangar]

I share the concerns that some have posted about bandwagon fans not finding their way here due to misinterpreting the new name. But, I'm sure this was considered long before potential changes were brought to our attention for comments.

[TonySoprano]

The only thing that would worry me is that Orioles Hangout is a pretty strong brand name.

...which the Orioles may not have understood or appreciated when it came time to support the OH earlier this year.

[Hutman]

Good point and now that you brought it up, it reminded me why I didn't want that color scheme initially when I considered this.

If you want Black and Yellow, also tie in red and white that way you have all the colors of the MD flag represented and it doesn't look as Steelerish. The MD flag is my favorite state flag, way cooler than most of the dull state flags.