Season Four of the FCIAC Football Blog is in the books. Will there be a Season Five? Will there be a name and identity change? Is the site relevant anymore?

I think those are all as big a question mark as the world we live in. At the beginning of the football season, we were all worried that $5/gal. gas was right around the corner. Now we’re all worried about even more things: The job market, the economy, our investments, etc.

I used to say that if I lost my job, I’d have a lot more time to run this site, go out and sell advertising, work on a better marketing plan and business model. But if I lost my job now, would the local advertisers be there? And even if there were out-of-work sales people out there, would they be willing to sell spots at a dirt-cheap rate?

Here’s what I can tell you though: Growing the coverage area did nothing to grow the site. Page views and visits were the same as the 2007 season (though there was less content and more kids possibly reading in school only). The radio audience was less than half of what it was in 2007 – maybe the novelty wore off?

And the thing readers said they missed the most from last season – message boards, came in arounf midseason and never gained traction.

Expect the site to stick around though, in some way, shape and form. It’s going to be a long offseason, both off the football field and in the economy. I’m ready to play the hand that’s dealt to me.

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