Only club in the world to threaten its supporters with legal action for voicing their opinions....maybe they think they are running an Italian football club???

Does anyone have Adrian's (Bongobrain) email? I can't sign up to get it where I am.

If you are reading this Adrian, my concern is your inept attempt to respond to Kent's question reffering to $15 tickets. Firstly if the stadium is half-full as it will be cheap tickets aren't for the back rows. Secondly why not grade season tickets for the back rows. $200 adult season tickets etc? How the f is no graded seating a positive when people are not buying tickets due to price. Wouldn't 3,000 season tickets at full price with 500 people buying cheaper graded tickets better than 3,000 season tickets with 500 people coming to the odd game here and there?

Additionly stop with the "we sold more tickets last year" spin.

Just a thought.

how do you pay for lawyers when you are broke??

Just proves that management is sooo out of touch with it's supporter base it ain't funny........

Sueing the fans? Maybe this is how they planned to raise funds to pay Farley in years 2 and 3.

Isaac ,

Any thoughts ? They seem a little trigger happy to me .

Noti Bagy ... LOL great call. Maybe Stephon could VOLUNTEER his services ;)

shocking, just plain shocking!

what's the point of a forum if you can't express your concerns?

Why don't the friggin management ADDRESS the concerns instead of threatening supporters. Surely addressing issues provides a better, solid base for trust and respect. Instead the approach taken just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Nobody likes to be threatened and it just shows the league how ridiculous things have become.

We're supposedly the 'most educated supporters' of the NBL and this is how our support and concerns for our team which has been devotedly followed since conception are answered. It's like 'give us your money but shutup'.

I suppose now if Farley is lost they'll blame it on the 'supporters' and their lethal comments.

Management now is only breeding distrust and dislike - very unfortunate when a sporting franchise depends a lot on the same supporter base it's alienating.

What they are trying to say is "You can have an opinion, but only if it agrees with ours"

Isaac, just get a link to this website and be done with it.

DC - come on bloke, you know how it works.

Adrian has nothing to do with the club. He would have been requested by management to post that on the forum...probably it would have been better putting it under an "admin" user name.

But, cut the guy some slack, the website is looking better...and at least news content is getting updated regularly at the moment.

Skyhook, there are some areas in which I think they're unfairly blamed for issues -- e.g., player signings. The Smyth signing was always going to be difficult and I understand both positions. That delays the rest, but they got the right guys signed. I think Farley's agent has to take some responsibility for dealings so far, but I'm surprised to hear the cap come into mention from the club given that they've said that they'll be spending short and sticking to their own internal cap.

Realistically, the first 8 players are crucial and the next two not so much unless there's a deficiency at one position (e.g., centre for the current line-up). Once they've got Farley, the Maher issue is a bit iffy. I think they'd do better with ticket sales if Maher was signed with an out-clause. If he goes, every fan would be disappointed, but no one would begrudge him his choice because his loyalty to date has been excellent. As it stands, the roster feels very underdone without him in there -- is Mark Nash the senior player in that team? With Rees gone, and Maher yet to sign, it's a very young team. Cooper and Nash are late 20s, but of the rest, I think Dusty is the oldest at 25! Compare that to Brisbane with guys like Bradtke, Copeland, Black, Rucker, Brannen, etc -- nerves of steel come crunch-time.

The club are terrible when it comes to their relationship with fans, especially when it comes to the net which is the cheapest and quickest way to access fans on a small budget. I think they're writing this negativity off as a minority with an agenda but the fall in ticket sales tells me that it's far more serious than this.

You absolutely do not post something as negative as "may eventuate in legal proceedings" on the front door of your site unless all else has failed! Post it on the forum as a last resort, but not straight up on the site when there are so many better options. They should have first tried a friendly reminder or warning -- that this didn't occur first is evidence of battle lines between fans and the club online. If they're stuck for news/article ideas, here are some gaps: no article on Cooper's signing, no article talking about ticket plans for the season, no promos for sponsors, no fanfare for the season ticket launch, no stories of players doing promos, etc).

Let's visit the site and read the news:

1. Negative
2. Fighting with Farley's agent (negative)
3. About another club
4. Saying that Rees won't be returning (negative)
5. About another club

Wow, where do I sign up!?

It's as simple as this: answer criticism right there on the forum. Win things back with information and quick responses. There are no evangelists within that organisation and it's hurting them.

Demanding that fans post their criticism via a contact form may not work given that they barely have a reputation for responding at all and that fans will view a private response mechanism as suspicious.

the sixers must of seen it coming though?????

(Mod: This post is not available.)

Hey Skyhook, you forgot the most important fact. Would be nothing to volunteer for.

Nobody uses that forum!

Yogee, I bet you are correct in that I'm sure that forum warning was written by someone else and not Bongo.

I'm sure that forum warning has cost the official forum the use of its one or two regular posters.

wow, you guys sure know how to over react!

The Official Sixers Forum is still a place to have your say, vent your anger or make a suggestion. Just don't defame, be crude or make claims that could result in legal action. Surely that is what is expected in this forum too!

Isaac, I am surprised that you of all people, could misrepresent my original "statement of fact" as a "threat" by taking it out of context, just so you can put the most negative "spin" on it.

And then ... you give a lecture about being negative! Fair go, mate!

Whoa, please locate my use of the word "threat". I quoted accurately and retained "may eventuate" to be fair. Bit rough giving me "put the most negative spin on it" when I opened my post with messages supportive of the club and the rest was opinion. Thanks for singling me out of the rest for your criticism -- very encouraging! I was, after all, quoting text on the club site.

Recently some people made some offensive comments -- that must be tough to administrate. Happens here up to dozens of times a day and that's just how it is. Some people are idiots, some people are frustrated, some people are mucking around. If I issued an "Important notice for all forum users" every time I removed a few dodgy posts, you'd be reading little else. Remind people of forum guidelines first, then post the warning on the forum, that's fine and I have no issues with that. Posting that warning to forum users on the forum itself is relevant, I'm sure you'll agree.

You just cannot sit back and tell me that you honestly think that it's good PR for the first news piece on the club site during a season ticket sales campaign to mention the possibility of legal proceedings against fans!

The top five news articles on the club site right now should be:

1. Ticket pricing plans: zoning, walk-up, etc.
2. New ideas/changes for 05/06 to get people interested in attending.
3. How Dusty, Jacob and Coops are doing in NZ, Nashy in the SEABL and the other guys in the ABL -- weekly recap.
4. Announcement of launch of season ticket sales for existing ticket holders, with key details.
5. Special insight into how the club captain is finding life in Turkey.

Currently, it's 0/5.

While I'm making suggestions, I believe it's impossible for a user to get to the season ticket sign-up page unless they have the Flash plug-in (that's the default state in my Mozilla, so it might be worth including a text link somewhere). Most pages don't have titles. The cart page's title is "skin sample". And the important notice closes with a link to "read replys".

Good on you Isaac , i thought you were being quite fair in your initial evaluation..
Bongo .. relax Isaac was not having a crack at you ..He even gave you some ideas to make the site "less negative" or irrelevant to fans..

Good luck .. i am a long time season ticket holder i hope you guys at the club can string together some good decisions and get things back on track this year.

This is all a bit too much.

Isaac is right in that the Sixers have a negative air about them. Every time I think of the Sixers I think of negativity and protracted signings where other clubs have burst out the gates and made some positive noise about how they are going. Kudos to them!
Even on the NBL site all you get are other club announcements, positive NBL news (even if a lot of it is about Sydney), upbeat articles. Then there are the two Sixer articles on Farley's protracted signing and that the management fights back - really portrays the club as successful doesn't it?

I eagerly await something positive and check the Sixer site regularly, at least 5 times a week. There's hardly ever any new updates, hardly anything positive when there is, and rarley anything relating to the actual club.

There's hardly any news on TV, and when there is I usually find out about it here on HOOPSSA because I've missed the 30 second story that was shown on one of the station's programs.

In one of those negative articles I read that 7 players had been signed.
Didn't know Cooper and Nash had signed until I read it here - nothing on official site, nothing on NBL site, nothing on TV. How many times a night do CH.7 have an 'Adelaide Sport's Update News Break' (which is usually just football)?

Going on from Isaac's facts re negative stories on the Sixer's site, check oput the Sixer's section on the NBL site:
6 stories -
1. negative: management
2. negative: farley
3. season review (neutral).
4. negative: end of reesy
5. not relevant: season schedule.
6. negative: farely

Great for pumping up support and interest in the club.

My main problem with the web site is that although it looks a lot better it is still too slow to update fans of news, that idea of telling us how the sixers are going in NZ is a beauty and should be taken on board bongo

If anybody is contacted by the Sixers about litigation stemming from forum posting, let me know. I'd be more than happy to help.

[email protected]

Isaac is right about the negativity constantly coming from the club.

We never hear a peep out of them with relation to anything positive. But as soon as someone says something negative, either on a forum or in the media, then all of a sudden the club makes a statement within 5 minutes. If only they were that efficient disseminating positive news, or general information, fan morale mightn't be so bad.

Bongo, that was a nasty tactic to have a dig at Isaac as far as negativity goes. It is his site that supports the sixers by giving regular up dates on player's movements. He continuously strives to find ways of complimenting the team and suggestions on improving the club. Suggestions that should be (a) listened to by management, (b) appreciated by management and (c) an effort made to adopt some of the ideas. If people want a good impression on the club, this is the site they should be reading. After all this is the site that is full of fans that support the Sixers and want to ensure a long term survival of the club.

I agree some of the comments made by posters are rude and offensive, but apart from the ones being idiots, there are also those who are frustrated.

Isaac has always had an intelligent approach to everything he posts and all suggestions made have been very well thought out. There is no room for comments on negativity here.

EC, I agree with you about Isaac and his ongoing support and passion for the Sixers. I have admired him since the day I first met him. That is exactly why I was "surprised" that he would take my comments out of context to make a "negative" point. Isaac has not done that to me before ... as you say, he is usually very fair and balanced.

I can also say that many of his suggestions in the past have been discussed and in some cases have influenced decisions ... so don't get me wrong here ... I was not intending to be "nasty", I can't even see how you would suggest this. Surely I have a "right of reply" too.

I don't like comments that twist the truth just to make a point. Isaac did it again in a later post on this page by stating it was "impossible" for people to visit the members ticket page without having Flash. He should be fully aware that 98% of the browsers in the world have Flash! He failed to mention this. His own company has developed content using Flash and the Sixers site has used Flash since we took over. There ARE also text and picture based links to the Members page and we have since added a main menu link.

I have spent time reading posts in here and there are not too many "positive" things written about the Sixers. Have a look for yourself. There are many articles in here that are simply damaging and hurtful to the club, the management and BASA. These articles undermine sponsorship negotiations and public confidence in the club.

So, sometimes, these hypocritical comments from "supporters" are a little hard to swallow and sometimes I will not just lie down amd let people manipulate statements to create "anti-support" for a club I believe we all love!

I do acknowledge that there is plenty of improvements still required on the Sixers site and you can trust me that I am constantly nagging club officials to provide more news and information.

I also listen and consider every critic and I give you my word that this will continue. Negative comments can be constructive and useful. I want the same thing that most people in here want ... a successful and prosperous basketball club.

Isaac, let it be.

Let Bongo have his world and you have yours.

After reading the stats on this site, would be interested to see if the Sixers' site is even close to this. Go figure.

Bongo, AFAICT there were no other links to the season ticket sales page besides the two flash animations. If they existed, I either overlooked them or they were pretty tough to find!

(The Members Tickets link was added to the sidebar after my comment, as you've noted.)

"There ARE also text and picture based links to the Members page..."

Isaac, I don't want to go on with all this ... but ... the "twist the truth" statement comes from the fact you "truthfully" state that browsers require a flash plug-in to navigate easily to the members ticket page but the "twist" refers to the fact you do not mention that most people will have flash already installed. If you want more research about this go to Macromedia's website. We also thought that a flashing banner that says "MEMBERS SEASON TICKETS ... JOIN NOW" would be reasonably obvious to most users, especially since we put two banners per page. Maybe I have misread your comments, but, to me, they suggest it is hard if not impossible to go to this page, when this is not true.

Secondly, there is a text link (as per last year) at the base of the Fixture page. The two MEMBERS sidebar links on the Forum pages are image based links.

We have now added a banner on the top of the Home page, as per last season.

I hope that clears it up for you. As I have said before I have always respected you and I am not trying to "have a go" at you ... I just was surprised by your original comment and I wanted the right of reply, that's all.

Still doesn't resolve the fact that most posts on the 'official' site are negative , out dated, or irrelevant, no matter which browser you use.

Bongo, how often do you meet with management to get updated info, or ANY info from the club to put on the page? You wrote "you can trust me that I am constantly nagging club officials to provide more news and information."
Seriously Bongo, how hard is it for management to provide you with something/anything in one of your constant nagging sessions.

Maybe the point everyone seems to be expressing, whether intelligently or otherwise, is that this news and information isn't forthcoming.
Isaac's suggestions re NZ stats on players, signings, ANYTHING positive would be a good start to update the page with.

This whole thing with 'legal action' re the forum is way over the top. With any forum you are going to get idiots and immature posts that defame and provoke people - that's what moderators are for. Ever thought that the scrupulous posts that as Bongo stated "are simply damaging and hurtful to the club, the management and BASA. These articles undermine sponsorship negotiations and public confidence in the club" probably all stem from the fact that team officials do not provide information to pass on to fans. Is it not also possible that on the front page the site has a legal notice warning action to be taken against negative posts that this could also "undermine sponsorship negotiations and public confidence in the club" ?
Perhaps if information was provided by managment then the amount and severity of 'negative' posts would subside and fans would be getting something to tide them over.

Finally, isn't 'constant nagging for news and info' very similar to constant posting of opinions asking for the same thing?

wak,

to be fair, some of the club officials that normally would provide news feeds have been on annual leave. Also, as I have said before, the club is not permitted to publish official news until it is cleared by the NBL. Sometimes this takes ages, even when other non-official news sources are already publishing this information.

Yes, you are right that the notice on the front page of the site is not a good thing, but it is better than us closing down the Forum altogether which was were it was heading. Some sections of management have been seriously upset by some of the inappropriate comments posted on the Forum and we had to make these changes in order to continue the service.

Finally Wak, there is a big difference between opinions posted on the forum and official statements placed in the News section. The official statements must be approved by the NBL, your opinions do not.

"normally would provide news feeds", thanks for the laugh Bongo!! are they the ones that normally copy something from the NBL site, or normally don't write anything at all??

the "NBL has to approve official news" is a tired excuse. there is nothing stopping someone from the club writing about what the current players are doing in the off seaosn. nothing changes. still the same excuses.

its getting really boring.

Beaten to making a point -- I didn't realise that announcements about ticketing plans and what the players have been up to needed to be approved! 15 minutes each Tuesday morning by someone being paid to market the club and you've got a weekly recap on what the players are up to. Easy.

NBL approval for player's off-season happenings? Give me a break!

Does the NBL have to approve Brett Maher's opinion that the Kebabs in Turkey are better than the Lamb Spit at Glenelg?

The fans just want some news in the off-season about their players. It keeps interest in the Club high and gets fans thinking about the up-coming season.

I find it hard to believe you would have to get this sort of "news' approved by the NBL

"The official statements must be approved by the NBL, your opinions do not."

Sorry Bongo, let me clarify what I actually wrote re nagging vs posting - "posting" meaning 'posting' on forums, ie. requesting info through 'postings'.
I didn't mention "official statements", and do understand that the NBL has to approve signings, but was refering to ANY info.
On this matter, as reflected by other "postings" above, I didn't know that the NBL had to approve every little tidbit.

Who do you actually "nag" in your numerous sessions if every one is on annual leave?
Maybe this is why signings never occur because everyone is having a holiday.
Then again, you only mentioned "news feeds", but when are there news feeds anyway? Isn't that the reason all these "postings" are occuring - because there's no info put out for people to follow progress on ANYTHING when they are expected to fork out the exuberant prices for tickets?

News just in at the sixers site Copeland has signed with Brisbane in other news Luc Longley has declared for the draft and looks like going #7 to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

so what? if you sign up for Season Tickets you get a cap and lanard.

oops, lanYard...

To be fair Kent, it was only announced on the NBL and Bullets sites today, and whoever put it up did add a little paragraph about the Sixers season heating up. Might not be a big step forward, but at least it's a lean in the right direction!

I know I have put this up before, but I know that I won't be renewing my Season Tickets (4) until I know I am going to be seeing something better than a good SEABL side.

and credit to the Sixer's site for quickly posting that Farley has been lost. Well done!