I greatly enjoy this site and long may it continue to thrive.
I don't think a lot is wrong, but would I be right in saying there has been a relative decline in female participation here? Has the overall tone become too blokish, too betting oriented for some tastes? But even if it has, I don't know what can be done about it, other than reminding people that this is a mixed forum.
Re OTB's suggestion of a naps competition, I think he is thinking along the right lines, and the prizes he is offering are very generous. Nevertheless I agree that we need to think this one out.
We already have a certain history of tipping competitions on here that are usually quite popular. One of the weaknesses, however, is that they are not announced far enough in advance, relying as they do on spur of the moment decisions by certain individuals to put up prizes, and another weakness is that the scores are not updated quickly and frequently enough, with the result that people don't know how they're doing and lose interest.
My own proposal would be to try and link up the various competitions that tend to happen throughout the year (Cheltenham, Aintree, Punchestown, Royal Ascot, Galway/Goodwood, Bet Idol, etc ) into a structured calendar and to put up a prize not only for each competition, as before, but also a separate prize for the person who does best overall in the year as a whole.
OTB's suggestion of a naps competition could form part of such a calendar of events. I would be prepared to repeat last year's Galway/Goodwood competition as part of it, or to contribute in some other way if some other consensus emerges.
I don't think a lot is wrong, but would I be right in saying there has been a relative decline in female participation here? Has the overall tone become too blokish, too betting oriented for some tastes? But even if it has, I don't know what can be done about it, other than reminding people that this is a mixed forum.
Re OTB's suggestion of a naps competition, I think he is thinking along the right lines, and the prizes he is offering are very generous. Nevertheless I agree that we need to think this one out.
We already have a certain history of tipping competitions on here that are usually quite popular. One of the weaknesses, however, is that they are not announced far enough in advance, relying as they do on spur of the moment decisions by certain individuals to put up prizes, and another weakness is that the scores are not updated quickly and frequently enough, with the result that people don't know how they're doing and lose interest.
My own proposal would be to try and link up the various competitions that tend to happen throughout the year (Cheltenham, Aintree, Punchestown, Royal Ascot, Galway/Goodwood, Bet Idol, etc ) into a structured calendar and to put up a prize not only for each competition, as before, but also a separate prize for the person who does best overall in the year as a whole.
OTB's suggestion of a naps competition could form part of such a calendar of events. I would be prepared to repeat last year's Galway/Goodwood competition as part of it, or to contribute in some other way if some other consensus emerges.
