[Carl Childress]

]Jim Simms wrote:

I would also ask RightSports to communicate with us about the overall content and stagnancy of some of the content. I took the chance of becoming a member figuring I spend a couple hundred dollars every year on equipment, videos, and books. I realize some attention has been turned toward legal challenges but I would like to see more substantive interviews and more submissions from the various staff. Jim Simms/NY

Jim: We have six staff writers and an editor. We produce 4 to 6 (on the average) articles each week. Just in February, members of eumpire read pieces on:

1. RULES
1. New major league strike zone (series by Benham);
2. New FED pitching rule (Jenkins);
3. Leaving early in Little League (Porter).

2. MECHANICS
1. Working the middle in B or C (Fronheiser);
2. Three-man mechanics (series by Childress);
3. GAME CONTROL
1. Supporting your partner (Childress);
4. ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
1. Getting ready for the season (Lockhart);
2. Choosing an umpire career (Willson);
3. How an official changes (series by Fronheiser);
4. Umpire bloopers (Willson);
5. Abuse of officials (Porter)

That's 15 articles on 11 topics in 4 weeks by 7 authors. I have 2 questions:

1. Where else could you get that much information about baseball?
2. Where else could you get that much information about baseball twelve months out of the year?

We are aware that we need more interviews. There's a paper magazine that interviews 12 officials a year. But they are not all baseball umpires by any means. In the last seven months we've had only 4 interviews, but remember: That was all during the off-season. I suspect we'd be 4 ahead of anyone else.

By all means, we are trying to improve. We've been at this business since the middle of August. We've produced nearly 150 articles authored by 10 different Internet writers. We think that's about four times as many articles as an average print source would produce in five years.

Imagine what we will look like five years from now, even this time next year. Just think about the archived information available at any member's beck and call. All pieces will be on database: You want to read about getting hit by the pitch (rules/mechanics), we'll have a search engine to find everything that's been posted about that subject. Millions of words, all on baseball, all written by writers of proven worth and ability, all available at a moment's notice.

Jim: I am certain there is nowhere on earth, in or out of cyberspace, where you can get even 10% of the amount and quality of baseball material you receive at eUmpire.

And remember: We're just seven months old!

[Edited by Carl Childress on Feb 21st, 2001 at 09:38 PM]