Bring this forum to life people!

[Kizzle]

Little introduction of myself. My name is Kai, and I'm currenty living in Raleigh, NC and going to NC State University. I just joined an adult hockey league local to the area here and am so pumped.

That being said, where is the action on this forum?? I did an extensive online search for an inline forum and this was one of the few that came up and definitely looked the most promising. So I joined and little did I know after glancing at the threads that most of them haven't had replys or traffic in months. This is very disappointing as a nice inline forum would have been beneficial and fun. I will do all that I can by spreading the word to bring a little life back to this forum. Hope to see it pick up soon!

That being said, figured I would post a gear list of mine to get advice from some of the more experienced players when it comes time to upgrade. I did a little research and this gear seemed to be a good starting point for me and I am overall happy with everything.

Skates: Bauer Vapor X15
Helmet: Bauer 1500 with cage
Gloves: Bauer Vapor X20
Shins: Bauer Vapor X20
Elbow: Bauer Vapor X20
Girdle: Reebok 5K
Padded Shirt: Reebok 7K
Pants: Reebok 5K
Bag: Warrior Hitman backpack :cool:

Comments welcome!

[STEMM]

This Forum used to be real HOT, but it seemed to cool off about a year ago with the new format. (and with out ACCCT2 stirring things up)

[zipyaj]

Acknowledging a lull in forum participation with the temporary hiatus and then resurrection of IHC site... but maybe some posts & perspectives shared before can help enlighten and re-motivate. Among my favorites:

BRAGGING RIGHTS: WHERE DID ROLLER HOCKEY START?
Started 20-Jan-2010
Can your area or city lay claim to being the birthplace of modern day inline hockey?
http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/showthread.php?34041-Bragging-Rights-Where-Did-Roller-Hockey-Start

just sayin'

Best!

[Kizzle]

This Forum used to be real HOT, but it seemed to cool off about a year ago with the new format. (and with out ACCCT2 stirring things up)

ACCCT2?? Whats this?

[quick_dry]

This Forum used to be real HOT, but it seemed to cool off about a year ago with the new format. (and with out ACCCT2 stirring things up)
yup, mostly the new format IMO.

Partly this is a vBulletin thing (none of the sites i've been on that upgraded feel quite as nice with the new vBulletin styling) butwith this forum's theme it is really hard to see what is new, or even if I'm logged in - the main page always says i'm logged out but if I go into the sub-forums/threads it knows who I am.

Kizzle: seems like a nice gear list, though I wouldn't worry about the padded shirt - they're really not necessary, like people found in the early days when you'd get guys rocking up in full ice hockey shoulder pads.

Are you new to roller hockey, or hockey in general? word of advice: it is almost always best to face the shot square on. I've lost count of the number of guys who turn on a shot, and end up limping off from a puck in the ankle, calf, back.

[RichardGraham]

Hi Kizzle,

This post is directed to every IHC reader, not just you.

I love your passion and enthusiasm. That's why I love the college game so much and why I have been such a big supporter since day one.

Thanks for your post. Though I'm not happy to admit it, you are absolutely right. This Forum is nothing like it used to be.

There are a lot of reasons for it, but one of the biggest is that I have spent most of my time focused on finishing the biggest project of my life, "Wheelers, Dealers, Pucks & Bucks: A Rocking History of Roller Hockey International." I truly believe that the book will prove to have been worth the effort. I find it hard to believe that I did my first interview for it in 2006. I finished my research and the bulk of the interviews in September 2009, and finished writing the book in October 2010. Since then, I tried to find a traditional publisher, then decided to go the self-publishing route. I hope and expect the book to finally become available within the next two months, and I am proud enough of it to think it might one day be considered a minor sports classic.

I'm hoping that my book will be available very close to the end of this National Hockey League regular season, because I want to be interviewed about it between periods at an L.A. Kings' game and an Anaheim Mighty Ducks' game. There are many connections between former NHL players and Roller Hockey International, including Dave "Tiger" Williams, Bernie Federko, Perry Turnbull, Yvan Cournoyer, Mark Messier, Dino Cicciarelli, Ralph Backstrom, Terry Harper, Dennis Maruk, Bryan Trottier and more. I think that any NHL fan will find it interesting, and hope that inline hockey fans will embrace it as the publication that finally gives inline hockey the respect it deserves. It may be a small sport, but it's populated by many wonderful and passionate people who put their heart and soul into it.

My fondest hope is that my book will help create a resurgence for the sport of roller hockey in general. That's why I've sacrificed so much time on the book, and why I've had to pull back from IHC, much to its detriment. The site actually went dark for close to a week last August, which broke my heart. My original webmaster Jon Niola, deserves all the credit for bringing IHC back from the brink of oblivion, and I thank him more than I can say.

In the meantime, IHC has suffered. I apologize for that. But people like you can help. Recognize that IHC is down, but not out. Help by continuing to post interesting and provocative posts that don't cross the line. Tell the tournament organizations whose tournaments you play in that IHC publishes information about EVERY tournament, whether they advertise or not. All they have to do is send me a press release and I'll put it up on site, as long as it somewhat resembles English and doesn't denigrate another tournament series. Tell your teammates that they can have a positive effect on the sport by supporting the ONLY website that has focused only on inline hockey since January 1998. Tell the manufacturers' reps that you know that you've bought equipment advertised on IHC or used equipment mentioned by IHC's readers. Let Sport Court and Ice Court and Spider Court know how many people have sold used floors via IHC's Forums section, keeping them in circulation for small facilities with small budgets that help keep our sport alive.

Let those people know that IHC doesn't hide behind anonymity. Everyone knows who I am, and it's easy enough to get in touch with me. If you don't like what I'm doing, tell me, and I'll either agree and try to fix it, or agree to disagree. There are people I like in this sport and people I don't, but I have always tried to be as fair and impartial as I can possibly be. A website on a niche sport like inline hockey doesn't last for more than 13 years if it doesn't strive for credibility, honesty and integrity.

Thanks, Kai, for bringing up this topic. It needed to be addressed.

[Jon Niola]

yup, mostly the new format IMO.

Partly this is a vBulletin thing (none of the sites i've been on that upgraded feel quite as nice with the new vBulletin styling) butwith this forum's theme it is really hard to see what is new, or even if I'm logged in - the main page always says i'm logged out but if I go into the sub-forums/threads it knows who I am.

I am not a huge fan of vBulletin myself but it was our best option to carry things over to new hosting company etc without making everyone re-register and starting the forums from post zero again. Unfortunately once the content is moved into vBulletin as it was done some years ago it is much harder to get out as there is no native way to import content from vBulletin to phpBB or others. Since it is here we can/will do what we can to make the best of it and make it work for you guys.

I am always open for feedback on design changes. Basically what you see here was rushed to get the site back up after IHC lost it's previous hosting provider and is almost straight up vBulletin CMS with only a few little tweaks.

The site is indeed due for a real re-design and there is a lot that can be done with the vBulletin templates to make it more aesthetically pleasing and user friendly, but we have not really had much feedback on what you'd guys like as far as changes etc.

[TylerSollberger]

Richard,
Thanks for all that you do on the site and for the sport. I've been following some of your posts on Facebook for the new book and can't wait to get my hands on it. Good luck with everything.

Tyler Sollberger



Hi Kizzle,

This post is directed to every IHC reader, not just you.

I love your passion and enthusiasm. That's why I love the college game so much and why I have been such a big supporter since day one.

Thanks for your post. Though I'm not happy to admit it, you are absolutely right. This Forum is nothing like it used to be.

There are a lot of reasons for it, but one of the biggest is that I have spent most of my time focused on finishing the biggest project of my life, "Wheelers, Dealers, Pucks & Bucks: A Rocking History of Roller Hockey International." I truly believe that the book will prove to have been worth the effort. I find it hard to believe that I did my first interview for it in 2006. I finished my research and the bulk of the interviews in September 2009, and finished writing the book in October 2010. Since then, I tried to find a traditional publisher, then decided to go the self-publishing route. I hope and expect the book to finally become available within the next two months, and I am proud enough of it to think it might one day be considered a minor sports classic.

I'm hoping that my book will be available very close to the end of this National Hockey League regular season, because I want to be interviewed about it between periods at an L.A. Kings' game and an Anaheim Mighty Ducks' game. There are many connections between former NHL players and Roller Hockey International, including Dave "Tiger" Williams, Bernie Federko, Perry Turnbull, Yvan Cournoyer, Mark Messier, Dino Cicciarelli, Ralph Backstrom, Terry Harper, Dennis Maruk, Bryan Trottier and more. I think that any NHL fan will find it interesting, and hope that inline hockey fans will embrace it as the publication that finally gives inline hockey the respect it deserves. It may be a small sport, but it's populated by many wonderful and passionate people who put their heart and soul into it.

My fondest hope is that my book will help create a resurgence for the sport of roller hockey in general. That's why I've sacrificed so much time on the book, and why I've had to pull back from IHC, much to its detriment. The site actually went dark for close to a week last August, which broke my heart. My original webmaster Jon Niola, deserves all the credit for bringing IHC back from the brink of oblivion, and I thank him more than I can say.

In the meantime, IHC has suffered. I apologize for that. But people like you can help. Recognize that IHC is down, but not out. Help by continuing to post interesting and provocative posts that don't cross the line. Tell the tournament organizations whose tournaments you play in that IHC publishes information about EVERY tournament, whether they advertise or not. All they have to do is send me a press release and I'll put it up on site, as long as it somewhat resembles English and doesn't denigrate another tournament series. Tell your teammates that they can have a positive effect on the sport by supporting the ONLY website that has focused only on inline hockey since January 1998. Tell the manufacturers' reps that you know that you've bought equipment advertised on IHC or used equipment mentioned by IHC's readers. Let Sport Court and Ice Court and Spider Court know how many people have sold used floors via IHC's Forums section, keeping them in circulation for small facilities with small budgets that help keep our sport alive.

Let those people know that IHC doesn't hide behind anonymity. Everyone knows who I am, and it's easy enough to get in touch with me. If you don't like what I'm doing, tell me, and I'll either agree and try to fix it, or agree to disagree. There are people I like in this sport and people I don't, but I have always tried to be as fair and impartial as I can possibly be. A website on a niche sport like inline hockey doesn't last for more than 13 years if it doesn't strive for credibility, honesty and integrity.

Thanks, Kai, for bringing up this topic. It needed to be addressed.

[zipyaj]

Thanks, Richard & John, for getting "us" back online & rebuilding!



ACCCT2?? Whats this?
Kai;
More like WHO - a User Name.
May be described as Provocative... Some may use other adjectives :)

[hockey1]

Richard,

(this may be a bit off topic)
You mentioned the passion and enthusiasm in the college game. I personally think it is the best league in the U.S. for that simple reason. It may not have the most talent compared to other leagues, but the games are always filled with energy and passion. Any thoughts on to why this is? Does it have something to do with playing for your school, is it the age group, why do you think this league has this passion and excitement game in and game out when other leagues don't? If all leagues were llike this the sport would be in much better shape.

[Sinister Soup]

100% agree the college league is by far the best. I believe it is due to
1. overall commitment by college players. The players do take pride in playing for their school
2. NCRHA is highly organized compared to other inline leagues and legitimately ran
3. most college teams get some kind of funding from their university
4. people in the industry are more willing to help a college organization (when i played college inline facilities where willing to work out some kind of deal to where we could practice at no cost. "pro" and tournament teams rarely get this consideration)

[quick_dry]

Thanks for the reply Jon - I actually like vBulletin as far as forum software goes - its place as the more dominannt forum software seems warranted, phpBB just didn't seem as polished IMO (though the price is right i.e. free)

Was any of the old theme saved? I don't have a paid up version of vBulletin so don't have access to the vBulletin forums, but from what I recall they had some user installable themes as well as the add-ons.

[Jon Niola]

Was any of the old theme saved? I don't have a paid up version of vBulletin so don't have access to the vBulletin forums, but from what I recall they had some user installable themes as well as the add-ons.

I have most of the old theme but sadly the jump to the 4.x versions of vBulletin rendered much of it useless and another good portion of the theme was proprietary and was handled by Power Play Stats so without being a hosting client of theirs we did give up some of their homegrown stuff.

I do plan on digging around to see what we can do with the look and feel of the site. I am a programmer/software engineer guy so look and feel is not my forte but hopefully I can figure something out :)

[DannyG]

just starting to get back into the game after being out for a year and a half. Hope to have a new (little) rink opening up in two months.

Richard, do you have any ability to change the new format over to a red/gray/black color set, rather than this blue/gray set? I do miss the old red bars, graphics, etc...

[Kizzle]

Thanks for everyone's post. I will do all that I can to help spread the word and to bring some traffic back to what could potentially be a great inline community. I would agree with DannyG, maybe a facelift is the place to start??

[GoRangrHky]

Kizzle,

I like the entusiasm, and I agree, we definitely need some more talk on here. I spent 20 minutes writing a response to the new york times article and got nothing in response. No wonder there's no real growth in the sport. I'm not saying what I have to say is correct, but at least its a starting point to conversation.

As far as your gear goes, first thing you should go for is a new bucket. There's nothing more important than your head. Helmets may seem expensive, but it's protecting the most vital part of your body. You can't argue that your brain is worth spending an extra few dollars to protect. That itech may be ok 99.9% of the time, but that .1% could be the difference. I see guys that spend $250 on a stick, but won't spend $60 on a helmet. I don't get it.

Keep up with the posts, we need some life around here.

[STEMM]

Is there any way to change how the latest posts are viewed on the home page ? I think IHC would look better, and get more comments if it showed the last post from an individual topic instead of showing the lastest posts in general. When I look at the site today, all the posts on the home page are from the same topic. If the IHC home page showed posts like it did before the change more people might comment on something they see on the home page. Agreed ?

[RichardGraham]

Hi STEMM,

Good suggestion. We're looking at a lot of different ways to improve Inline Hockey Central, and appreciate constructive criticism like yours. One thing we're debating is switching from vBulletin to WordPress, but my understanding is that we would basically be starting the Forum from scratch. Jon Niola, if you're reading this, please set me straight. ;)

We also hope to have a new overall design for IHC soon. Thanks for your support!

[quick_dry]

Stick with vBulletin, it just needs the theme fixed.

WordPress is a great platform for blogs
Stackoverflow/Stack Exchange is a great platform for Q&A
vbulletin is a great platform for Forums.

IHC isn't a blog - it has blogs on it - but the main focus for the IHC community is the forum.

[Jon Niola]

Not saying I necessarily agree or disagree but it is a matter of flexibility for some of the things we'd like to do. Using an engine built around WordPress and phpBB is much easier to work with than vBulletin. In the plus column for vBulletin is that there is a commercial company that can be leaned on for updates.

Some of the things I have been wanting to build for the site for a long time are on the table these days - such as a rink locator with maps integration, a league finder, etc.

But yeah either way the vBulletin theme needs massive update. You will get no argument from me there :)



Stick with vBulletin, it just needs the theme fixed.

WordPress is a great platform for blogs
Stackoverflow/Stack Exchange is a great platform for Q&A
vbulletin is a great platform for Forums.

IHC isn't a blog - it has blogs on it - but the main focus for the IHC community is the forum.

[STEMM]

I would hate for IHC to change styles and lose all of the past data...just wish it was more like before.

[danrodgerson]

New to the site, just wanted to say hi.
Dan Rodgerson
danrodgerson.com