"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Cracked Sidewalks 2.0

So after 2.5 years with the same template, Cracked Sidewalks has gone "new and improved."

We hope you like the new background, color scheme, and wider layout. We will be tweaking things as the week goes on, getting ready for the new season. If you see something you like, or hate, drop us a line in the comment section!

UPDATE: 15% of you in the poll have selected "No Good". Please write us a comment on what we can change to make it better. Is it rendering correctly on your browser? Don't like the background? Emails can be sent to Hilltopper91@gmail.com

14 comments:

Mikey T said...

it is a little busy for me.

Gene Frenkle said...

It's definitely a little busy. And, being a stickler for details, when you go on the site, the background at the top of the homepage is a bunch of empty seats. Can you guys get your hand on a better shot inside the B-Center? What about a collage of old/new MU pics? Just a thought.

Kevin Buckley said...

I have hundreds of photos inside the BC, but 99% of them focus on the court, not a panorama shot like this requires. This was the best one I had.

I will certainly take a better photo this year at a big game, when the BC is at capacity and rocking.

As for a collage .. that would be REALLY "busy".

Anonymous said...

too busy for sure. also, i really don't like the white background over the picture. what about a reeeally light blue or something? the picture was a good try, but it just doesn't do it for me. i liked the simplicity of the old version more. wider is good, though.

Brian S. said...

It seems as though the picture might be slowing down the page's load time. That's just a thought.

Unknown said...

I'm a big fan, during the basketball season, of seeing all the stats at the top of the page. While I appreciate the work of the contributors (I'm here all the time), the stats stuff really helps me digest what's going on, esp. the RPI ratings, who's next and how we've fared against who's next. Just my 2 cents.

Anonymous said...

The picture seems to be slowing down the load time a bit. I also like a simpler form like the old one. Either way, love the site!

Kevin Buckley said...

@Anon1 - The background is actually an off-white .. we did try other colors, like a very pale blue. Just didn't work.

Yes, the picture is large and slow to load. Working on that.

@Patrick - The stats will go "higher" when the season starts.

Anonymous said...

I'd enjoy the background better if the photo wasn't of the worst Al McGuire Court painting/graphics in MU history. Also, graying or lightening the background might help put it more in the "background".
Thanks

Anonymous said...

First off, love the site! Keep up the good work! However, like others have said...the new look seems busy. Maybe set the picture to black and white or fade it a little.

Gene Frenkle said...

I think black/white may be the way to go if you did a collage. That's what I was thinking. But...it would only be on the sides. It wouldn't be shadowed in the background or anything.

If you got a few black/white photos, cropped them differently, you could have a wallpaper down the side of new/old players/coaches.

This could look even worse, however, like you guys mentioned. I know I've seen it done on other sites and will try to send you a URL.

At the end of the day, the color photo of the BC and court just doesn't do anything.

Last idea, all the old MU logos after one another down the sides.

Anonymous said...

Love the scoreboard at the top...nice creativity there.

I'd like to see Al's infamous quote in something other than the same font and style as the rest of the site. It just seems worthy of something more than the rest of the words on the page.

Anonymous said...

picture with empty seats? I hope recruits don't find this site.

Karen said...

I love it! This is AWESOME! Can't wait for MU Hoops to begin!

Go Warriors!