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1/11/00- UMGoBlue.COM IN THE NEWS The Detroit News printed a letter in their January 2, 2000 edition by me criticizing the official University of Michigan web site. Letter I feel that I should expand and explain my comments. The letter was written in response to a December 5th article, in which UM Sports Information Director, Bruce Madej made the following statement "...Word we get on the street is that it's one of the best sports Web sites of any team -- college or professional..." Now as Editor-in-Chief of UMGoBlue.COM, I know that there a number of fans and alumni who are disappointed in the 'official' web site. How do I know? I get countless e-mails telling me so. The mismanagement of the UM Internet ventures have been well documented by the media. Examples: In 1998 Internet Services were budgeted at $150,000. Actual costs were originally reported as $500,000 (Detroit News) The final actual total ended being closer to $600,000 dollars (Detroit News). For that amount of money you would expect mgoblue.com to be one the best, feature-laden web sites on the Internet. Is that what Mgoblue.com is? Hardly. Here are the features that other team sites provide that are lacking in the 'official' UM Site: Online Ticketing: This what the Official UM site has. Here This what Ohio State has Here You can order and check ticket availability online after you have registered with the OSU site. OSU can then use these registrations to push news and let people know online about special events and promotions. Makes a lot of sense doesn't it? Interactivity: The OSU site also allows users to post questions that OSU coaches can answer on their weekly call-in shows. Here Historical Information: The OSU site also has an online almanac that recounts the history of Buckeye sports. Here Chatrooms: Many teams supply a chat room area on their site for fans to discuss the team. One such site the New England Patriots. Here Auctions: The Patriots also auction off official Patriot merchandise for charity. Here Polls: The Patriots also provide an an area for online polls. Here E-mail: Some sites even provide e-mail for their fans. One such site the Buffalo Bills. Here E-Commerce: Want to order a UM Athletic Department publication? Get out your checkbook because their site doesn't take credit cards. Here Are these features limited to the examples sites cited? No. These sites were picked by random. In conclusion, the official University of Michigan Athletic Web site, far from being "...one of the best sports web sites of any team--college or professional..." is actually inferior to many sports sites on the internet. The University of Michigan is currently building a new site for students, staff, and alumni that promises many new features. Hopefully they can give the athletic department a hand with their site... Editor-in-Chief, UMGoBlue.COM
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