Light Bulbs

So I was thinking about adding a few features/games/competitions here to the site. But this site seems pretty cluttered at the moment with everything going on at the bar on the top so a few of the new stuff may end up on our new site lxvplus.blogspot.com (which hopefully have some results on there).

So here are the ideas, tell me if they are worthwhile or not and feel free to add in your own.

Idea 1: Bring Back the Odds Makers

For those of you who don't remember, last year we did a little make believe gambling. I would create various odds for certain events and then you could wager imaginary money on whether or not these odds were correct.

For example, say this week I put 3:1 odds on the winning time being sub 15:45 at Viking. If someone wagers $50 dollars and wins, they get +150, if not they get -50 and the banker (me) gets +50. We keep a tally of the totals and keep track of how everyone is doing (everybody usually uses a code name so we can keep track of who is who). I think it went pretty well last year, I just need to stay consistent with it if it is going to be really successful.

Idea 2: The etrain Stock Exchange

So as you probably know, I do a Top 50 rankings for XC. This list will be updated throughout the year, culminating in a final list at the end of the season.

Say you are a fan of the list but think someone is not ranked high enough. Therefore, you think their value will increase during the season. So you could go to the etrain stock exchange and buy "share" in a runner. Their value increases by moving up the list and decreased by moving down. When you buy shares, you go into debt and when you sell them you gain back profit. At the end of the year everyone cashes out based on the final, post states rankings.

The list would be something along the lines of $5 for 50th, $10 for 49th, etc up to $250 for 1. $1 for anyone not ranked. Basically you do well by picking someone you think will improve and you can always sell at any time once you have bought someone. 

I also may add in some fun stuff like dividend payments based on certain criteria if you own the runner, but we will see. This one is a little more complicated and the last time I tried it, it didn't gain much traction, but I think it is a cool idea.

Idea 3: Fantasy XC

This is a tricky beast because not everyone races every weekend and every course is different. But maybe you just accept that as part of the game and have fun with it. 

We have an early season draft, and then based on weekly 5k times you score yourself against the rest of the fantasy league in class 5 man scoring. We just have to make the team's big enough to allow for "bye weeks".

Then, of course, you throw in the classic playoff draft for states which I have been holding every year since like 2011? I think. That's a fun one and will be happening again this year.

Idea 4: Prediction Contest

I'm going to inevitably make a lot of posts this fall, previewing races, ranking teams, etc. I am also optimistic that I will get a lot of comments from readers and some great discussion.

We can set up a contest pretty easily where I keep track of predictions left in comments and award points to those who made great predictions.

This can be set up arbitrary (I just award points to ppl how I see fit based on degree of difficulty, etc) or we can just give a +1 to everyone who gets something right.

I can also award arbitrary +1s to posters who I feel have done a particularly good job facilitating discussion, presenting ideas and bettering the blog/sport/world. That's right, the world.

Ideas 1-4 would most likely all result in a prize of some kind. I'm not sure what it would be, but hopefully I could come up with something good. Suggestions, as always are welcome.

Idea 5: Alert System

So this was an idea that Zat originally presented to me. It's going to be tricky to do because we will not have an automated system, but I think it's possible.

If you are a fan of the blog, you might like to know exactly when we make new posts. That way you can stay up to date on all the latest gossip here at the real train. You also may only be looking for specific subject matter or a specific writer or something like that.

Well, as of now, the best place to get the latest on our posts is our Twitter account @TheRealTrain11. But I'm also considering adding an alert system. We could potentially offer email alerts or text message alerts based on specific requests from subscribers on what they want to read/know.

This is obviously a little tricky because it requires giving private information to us, but all exchanging of information would be on a private basis and we would certainly uphold confidentiality. 

It's just something to consider. If enough people think it's a good idea, I will start to set things up.

So let me know what you think! 

You heard here first,

Train