Sam Webb (right) with Brady Hoke (image via AnnArbor.com)
Several weeks ago, I posed this question in a poll on the sidebar: Which Michigan pay site is your favorite?
When I went to collect the votes in the poll yesterday morning, there were exactly 666 votes. I usually abstain from voting in the polls I post, since they’re supposed to reflect readers’ opinions. But I decided to click on 247 Sports this time, just to bump it up to 667 and remove the Devil’s involvement.
Hit the jump for the results and some discussion.
247 Sports (Wolverines 247): 67%
I picked 247 Sports, and so did about two-thirds of the voters. The most recent addition to the recruiting world, they’ve been the most innovative with the Crystal Balls, the 247 Composite rankings, the layout, etc. That’s not to mention that the resident Michigan insider, Steve Lorenz, is pushing Sam Webb for the most informative and connected guy within Michigan’s sphere. The board is active and fun, and Lorenz posts frequently. The biggest two drawbacks for 247, in my opinion, are the load time for the site (lots of ads, videos, etc.) and the clickbait nature of some links/headlines, including slideshows. Clickbait is an issue everywhere, though, so it’s not unique to 247. If you’re going to pay for insider information, 247 is probably the way to go, in my opinion.
Scout (The Michigan Insider): 22%
I have not, nor have I ever been, a member at Scout. I can’t speak for the interaction on the boards or anything like that. I do know that Sam Webb, who runs the site, has a lot of connections and information. My biggest problem with Scout has always been the poor site layout and the difficulty with navigating the site. I might have bought a subscription there at one point or another because of Webb, but it’s so painful to navigate the site that I don’t want to waste my time.
Rivals (The Wolverine): 11%
Rivals used to be the best looking website, and they had top-flight inside information, too. They were neck-and-neck with Scout when it came to inside info. Then things started to stumble. Josh Helmholdt, the site’s best insider, left The Wolverine to become a regional scouting analyst. Tim Sullivan (who has since moved to Hokie Haven, a Virginia Tech site) stepped in, and he wasn’t exactly a fan favorite. Michael Spath remained until recently, but he left and is now working at the Wisconsin site. Editor John Borton doesn’t write much for the site, and the reaction to relatively new hire Brandon Brown has been tepid. The biggest blow to Rivals, though, has been the transition from the old site to the new one. While the old site was starting to look like it was created on Geocities, the new one is almost as terrible as Scout’s.
Which site is your favorite and why?
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The interesting thing about Scout is that every single change they make to the site makes navigation minimally more difficult. Some web engineer over there has a real gift.
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Ha. Well, maybe that web engineer isn’t there anymore…
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I have been a suscriber to Rivals since 2007, and stayed with them out of habit. Tim Sullivan had an abrasive personality who seemed unable to recognize how he came across. However, he worked very hard and seemed the most well-informed writer there. I would love to know why they fired him and Spath. Brandon Brown IMO is a step down from Tim, who was a step down from Hemholdt. The trend there is not good.
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I read a rumor on another board (and I have no confirmation) that Spath and Sullivan were both badmouthing their boss in their company e-mails. The boss got word of it, read the e-mails, and axed them. Again, I have no idea if that’s true, but that’s what I read elsewhere.
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Their boss being Balas?
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No, it was someone higher up in the hierarchy. Not someone from The Wolverine, specifically.
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I appreciated Tim Sullivan, because he was willing to challenge the conventional wisdom. Spath also had that ability, and so it may not be entirely a coincidence that he and Sullivan are the ones who are gone.
On a fan site, it gets boring (and also delusional) if the hosts/moderators just keep telling the fans what they want to hear. Spath and Sullivan, although still obviously in homer mode, seemed to be a bit more objective than their colleagues, even if it led them to conclusions that might not have pleased the fan base every time.
Funny that there is no mention here of Chris Balas, who is the other long-time staff member remaining at The Wolverine (along with Borton).
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