Matt

Thanks to all of those that have expressed an interest! The remaining spots have invites out (if you haven't received yours yet, don't worry, you may still get one as I wait on commitments from invites already sent.) Good luck to those that are playing this year!

The official LetsGoWings.com Open (free) Fantasy League has a small number of spots available for this season! This is as 12-team head-to-head league and the competition is fierce! Interested? Here's the details on this Yahoo-based league: Draft: Saturday, September 25th @ 8:00pm ET (Attendance Required) Starting Positions: 2 Center, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4 D, 1 Util, 2 G (6 Bench, 1 IR) Scoring Categories: G, A, PTS, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, W, GAA, SV%, SO Invites will be sent out in groups, so registering for the league is a first-come, first-serve basis. This is a long-running league, now entering its 10th successful season. This league uses the same scoring as the 4th-year Buy-In Challenge. PM me here through the site or e-mail me at mattschwartz@gmail.com. In both instances please make clear the e-mail address you want the invitation sent to. Thank you and good luck!

Thanks to all of you that contacted me regarding your interest in joining the league! Enough requests were sent to fill the league a couple of times over! There are currently invites out for the remaining spots. If you haven't received one and wished to join, you may still get an invite! Two weeks remain until the live draft and a spot may open due to scheduling conflicts with another team. If you submitted a request for an invitation, you're on that list for an invite. If you haven't yet requested an invite for the FREE league but would like to play, I am accepting requests only to the BUY-IN league, which still has openings! (The gameplay rules are the exact same as the free league, only there are end-of-season prizes.)

Nope, nothing like that. If there's a spot available and you're interested, you'll be send an invitation link to register your team (1 of 12 in the league). After that is the live (online) draft where you draft your team, followed by a regular season of head-to-head matchups against the other 11 teams. No partners necessary unless you want to split the $25 team cost and manage your team with a friend.

Apologies -- yes, this IS a Yahoo-based league. Thank you to all of you that have replied via PM! I'll be sending out invites soon!

Priorities, man! She'll understand.

I just wanted to let everyone know that as I type this the main (non-forum related) areas of the site are currently undergoing a security update that should eliminate the problems that the site has experienced over the summer. This update *may* break the front page of the site or it may not. Depending on the severity of the changes (if there are any noticable) I may opt to place an auto-forwarder that would bring everyone to the forums in the interim. Please note: This is NOT the site overhaul update I've alluded to earlier this summer. This is, however, a security fix that should remove the vulnerability that allowed remote malware inclusion that has resulted in countless new gray (and lost) hairs. (crossing virtual fingers) The complete site overhaul will definitively remove any vulnerabilities once and for all. For those of you that became victims of this problem, I sincerely apologize. I've tried my best to eliminate the problems in the past trying to avoid a potential "scorched earth" approach, but that's what needs to be done. The site's reputation and the worry-free visits here are far more important than making sure something is 100% 'perfect' in terms of visuals and functionality at the risk of leaving members vulnerable. Thank You!

Agreed. To be blunt, I think the design laid out in the Detroit News article, well.... sucks. Give me a modernized Olympia rendition any day. I don't particularly care for the exact old-school roof structure, and a more rounded design. I'm thinking more old-school brick look and architecture on the outside to pay homage to the old Olympia, not an exact copy. Acoustics would be big in my mind as well (hence the "fans on top of the action" emphasis).

Yes, actually, there is. I've been contacted by the Panthers' sales office for another group discount for the upcoming season. I'll be posting the details soon!

I just wanted to post up an update to the "Florida Invasion" special group ticket offer that the Florida Panthers have extended to the Red Wings fans here: Most of you have probably noticed or heard about the Red Wings getting a "premium" ticket designation when they play the Panthers on November 14th in the form of a $25 increase over the normal ticket rate for most of the Panthers' other home games. However, a special group ticket rate has been offered to the Red Wings fans on the forums here! Lower bowl "end zone" tickets (behind the nets), which are normally priced around $72/ea. are $97 when the Red Wings visit. But with this ticket offer you can get tickets for just $50/seat! Since the package was first offered there have been almost two dozen ticket commitments, so why not join the group? This is a great opportunity for fans to take part in a nice short weekend getaway to Florida (hotel accomodations near the area are also available!), or for Florida-based Red Wings fans to make some friends. If you're interested, please e-mail me at mattschwartz@gmail.com -- the Panthers are trying to get all of the tickets in the same area/section, so act soon!

Done.

I definitely plan on adjusting the mobile template shortly. I'm not sure about the avatar/photo adjustment -- I'll look into it!

As you've noticed, we're blue again. It's an unfortunate byproduct of the upgrade process that will require some CSS and template bit updating over the next day or so. However, the forums ARE upgraded to the latest version, so you may notice some changes here and there and there'll be some new features I'll be unveiling as the forum template is repaired. The Gallery and Chat functions have also been upgraded as well. Thanks for your patience!

Everyone should now be getting the regular skin, with some minor color tweaking aside. If any of you are experiencing problems, please feel free to contact me through the forum's PM system here. (However, if the issue is color-related -- i.e., something looks a bit off, like a shade of blue or green -- then that's one of the small tweaks I'll be doing over the next couple of days.) Hope you guys like the updates (better Facebook and Twitter integration, a new Member Map, among a whole myraid of other upgrades)!

No, considering this site helps support my family. This place isn't a money-grab for me -- it pays bills (including those it creates). I dislike ads just as much as the next guy, but without the necessarily evil this site certainly wouldn't exist. Your support is appreciated. (Apologies for the gruffness, but this is a severe sore point with me.) Back on topic: The fixed skin will be up tonight!

Thanks for the patience, everyone. Got lots done tonight (the process is far quicker this time around) and should have her back to normal tomorrow.

One of the new features of the latest board release is the addition of a Member Map that is integrated with Google Maps. The map can be accessed by the "Member Map" tab at the top of the page. You're not limited to just entering your address: your city, lat/long coordinates will also work!

The forums will undergo a version upgrade later on this evening, which will result in the forums temporarily going offline until the update is completed. What new features to expect: Link Sharing Easily share links from your community to Facebook, Twitter, and more. Great way to drive traffic to your community! Status Updates Enhancements to the existing member status system in IP.Board to include the ability to reply and more. Topic Preview Preview the first few lines of a topic without loading the entire topic. View Reputation Optionally allow members to see who gave reputation points on their posts. Twitter Integration Your members can now link their account with their Twitter account! Improved Facebook Integration Further enhance the link between the community and Facebook. Profile Customizations Allows members to customize the look and feel of their profile page. Search Engine Overhaul Search engine rebuilt from the ground up introducing more flexibility and power. All new Mobile Skin Mobile skin for many popular devices to enable easy access to the community. Automatic Media Embedding Automatic parsing of YouTube and other media into posts.

The Stanley Cup Final edition of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs bracket wallpaper is now available! Click Here to Go to the Download Page Enjoy!

The link is now fixed -- apologies for the delay in getting this resolved. (I published the wallpaper just hours before departing on a much-needed vacation.) All should be well now!

The Stanley Cup Final edition of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs bracket wallpaper is now available! Click Here to Go to the Download Page Enjoy!

The Conference Finals edition of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs bracket wallpaper is now available! Click Here to Go to the Download Page Enjoy!

That makes two of us. I'm already back to rotating the 40 or so I have Win7 swapping through every 15 minutes...

Thank you. It's good to be back!