Comments on this article
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Yen
09-05-2005 9:30 pm
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Dear hari
So sorry to hear. We will miss all that.
You are geat hari ji. Please do reconsider your desicion.But i do agree you cannot keep taking losses. Time is not far when hockey will be replaced in olmps due to commercial reason.
what a loss for hockey lovers
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Ankit Desai
09-05-2005 10:29 pm
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Rethink
Please rethink your decision. And I am appling to the corporate world people who are hockey lovers and related to Hockey that please help to keep live this forum.
Ankit Desai
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Donny
09-05-2005 11:05 pm
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RECONSIDER
Hari, you must reconsider. You have provided a forum in which all hockey lovers from all abilities and walks of life can come and learn and be part of meaningful hockey discussions. You have been a source of information to some who have no clue of some of the tournaments be held.
Please Hari reconsider.
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dude
09-06-2005 1:45 am
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sad news indeed
That's sad news indeed for us hockey fans. You've done a great job thus far Hari. We hope that planet field hockey will bounce back soon.
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N.MALAY
09-06-2005 2:34 am
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Ankit
thanks Ankit , i hope you will suceed
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Scotsman
09-06-2005 2:39 am
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Please Reconsider
Please reconsider your decision, this web forum has united hockey fans, players from across the world. I undersatand that commercially things have not worked out, but please think carefully.
Best Regards and WIshes from Scotland
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Jools
09-06-2005 4:19 am
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end of PFH
I took part as much as I could some time ago...I understand why you do it but at the same time your website is the best on line, I hope you will find a way to keep it up.
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Ernst Baart
09-06-2005 6:53 am
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what a shame...
Hari
Being in a similar position but only on a "1 country scale" I completely understand your decision. You've made this site into a quality product and it is a giant loss to the entire hockey community that it won't live on. I sincerely hope you will find some major sponsors or another solution to re-open the site shortly...
But whatever happens thanks for your effort and a great website for all of these years!
Sincerely and with a lot of respect,
Ernst Baart
webmaster www.be-hockey.com , Belgium
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Yan Huckendubler
09-06-2005 8:50 am
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Thank you Hari!
Hari,
Thank you very much for your relentless work over the 5 years of PlanetFieldHockey. Has it only been 5 years? PFH has become so much a part of the field hockey scene that it seems that it has been around for more than that!
Your original concept was to “connect the hockey world” and you have certainly done that. The “Comments” section allowed exchanges between hockey fans from around the world and gave a voice to those often too isolated to have a mean to put their two cents in debates.
It was also a good barometer of the mood of the field hockey community on various topics, and in some instances lifted the cloud of silence surrounding the organization of hockey.
One of my good memories about PlanetFieldHockey: at the 2004 Pan American Cup in London (Ontario), one of the Caribbean players was eager to “meet this Hari Kant guy” because he wanted to meet the “mythical” person who could run alone this whole show.
PlanetFieldHockey had quickly become an institution of the field hockey scene. I am the first one to understand why to have to stop, although the word “suspend” gives us hope that it will be revived some day.
Thank you Hari.
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alan
09-06-2005 9:44 am
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hari
shame your moving on but i wish you luck.
so long and thanks for all the fish.....
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Sam
09-06-2005 10:46 am
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You've done a superb job for hockey. I'm sorry lack of financial support has meant that this really useful insight into the hockey world will be no more. Good luck for your future ventures.
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Kai
09-06-2005 10:58 am
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is planetfieldhockey being shut down then?
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hockey lover wash, dc
09-06-2005 11:04 am
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PLEASE RECONSIDER
THIS IS THE MOST DISAPPOINTING NEWS WE READ ON THIS WEBSITE. PLEASE RECONSIDER YOUR DECISION. WE UNDERSTAND YOUR FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES TO KEEP THIS WEBSITE RUNNING. BUT IN THE MEANTIME, WE REALLY CAN,T AFFORD TO LOSE THIS COMPREHENSIVE FIELD HOCKEY INFORMATION SOURCE. IS THERE ANY WAY THAT YOU CAN SET UP AN ACCOUNT WHERE WE ALL HOCKEY LOVERS CAN CONTRIBUTE OUR SHARE. IF YOU DO THAT, I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT WE ALL HOCKEY FANS WILL CONTRIBUTE GENEROUSLY.
THANKS FROM ALL HOCKEY LOVERS
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raj - Toronto, canada
09-06-2005 11:41 am
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Best Field Hockey site on the web by a mile
This will be a great loss for the field hockey communuity. Planetfieldhockey.com is the premier resource for hockey news and views and will be greatly missed. I sincerely hope that something can be done to reseurect it. Thanks for all your hard work you will be sorely missed.
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Mohamed
09-06-2005 1:04 pm
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Planet Field Hockey
Best hockey site by a mile. How about a membership fee ?
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JAVAID AKHTAR
09-06-2005 1:26 pm
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DO NOT GAVE UP
Hari Kant Jee,
Please do not give up. Planet Field hockey is a wonderful site of hockey news. It connects millions of hockey lovers. Kindly think other ways or sources to run this site. For instance
You can put a little membership fees.
Hockey Queze. each participant have to pay & winner will get some money. In this way you will make money.
You can ask other ideas from other readers too.
But kindly do not give up. Please remember that
" WHEN GOING IS TOUGH, TOUGH KEEP GOING"
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Another Observer
09-06-2005 2:07 pm
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Support PFH
If there are indeed 1 Mio. page views per month, and each visitor accounts for 10 pages, and only 10% of the visitors would give a regular donation of e.g. 1 $, this would raise 0.1 x 100,000 = 10,000 $. What about that?
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Sukh
09-06-2005 2:10 pm
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Very sad news. I really hope some day we can all enjoy this site again.
Thank you very much Hari.
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LAD
09-06-2005 3:40 pm
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TOTALLY FEELING VERY SAD
VERY SAD TO HEAR THE DECESION TO CLOSE DOWN THIS FORUM.
IT WAS ALWAYS A DELIGHT TO VISIT THE WEBSITE AND READ THE VERY INTELLIGENT VEIWS OF SO MANY HOCKEY LOVERS, LIKE ANKIT, JHARKAND, SUKH, DUDE, YEN, HARRY SINGH. BOY I AM GOING TO MISS THIS FORUM.
ANYWAY HARI, THANKS FOR ALL THE GOOD TIMES WE HAVE HAD COURTESY YOUR UNTIRING EFFORTS.
HOPE YOU WILL GET SPONSORS AND SOON REVIVE THIS SITE.
ALL THE BEST AND GOD BLESS.
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AZ Player
09-06-2005 4:10 pm
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Sad
Thanks for all your hard work. Best of wishes in the future.
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what?
09-06-2005 5:57 pm
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don't give up!
why not try a pledge drive? see what happens. PFH is just too important to so many people. I know it would work.
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Target
09-06-2005 6:39 pm
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we will wait
Thanks Hari for providing hockey lovers the better paltform to communicate. PFH by far was the and is the best site.
I am sure u will be back.
we will wait for the best.
take it easy
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jesse larson
09-06-2005 7:22 pm
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This is sad news indeed, I too think a pledge drive would work.
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Ms V
09-06-2005 8:15 pm
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A call to help!
Frankly,
for many sites I would not bother, but for this site I would be willing to pay for the privilege of being able to view and use it. Is there a way that we could all subscribe for a minimal amount. Consider this, would any of you pay $20 or $40 per annum to be able to come to the site and make comments.
I actually would. Has this been considered? If it has and the research doesn't match up, what other ideas are there out there from all if us who post to help.
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Spaceman Spiff
09-06-2005 8:51 pm
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Blood Sweat and Tears
The thing is Hari has been propping this thing up for years now. You can imagine its likely not about the money but rather the amount of his very valuable time he has to spend moderating the forums and collecting the news. For those of you hwo do not know Hari personally he has, like all of us, comittments to keep and bills to pay. It is probably safe to say that this has been alabour of love rather than one that would turn a profit and in fact it has been an incredible drain on his time. I know for a fact that he has been harassed by many Sport bodies for allowing free expression in fact he has been threatened with legal action on occasion for allowing some of the open comments. This has to be very draining on him.
Though a subsciption service may attract many of you I doubt very much that it would fit in with Hari's philosophy, complete access to information and freedom of expression.
Then again I am speaking for him and I should not be doing so.
If there is such an interest in keeping this site going would there be someone willing to take this site off Hari's hands pay him for all the goodwill he has built so that he can walk away?
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Ankit Desai
09-06-2005 9:34 pm
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Money Matters
If money is the issue, please put the address where we can donate our part to keep live this forum and write & read comments all around the world.
Ankit Desai
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Can Fan
09-06-2005 9:45 pm
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Opportunity for FHC to host PFH...Mr. Plummer..?
What an inexpensive way to have FHC get a "pulse " on how their membership feels.
I would bet that this site has done more for promoting the "grassroots" than any other poll, questionaire, meeting... that FHC has ever engaged in.
An opportunity to listen to their membership.. what a novel idea... save the money on mass mailouts and post on the site...listen to the average hockey enthusiast?
It's all set up.. Any comments?... too far fetched? I'd rather see part of my $4.00 hosting levy go to something worthwhile that I would actually feel I am included in discussion....Rant..Rant..
How about it? Host this site ! It will give you more bang for the buck..
Sorry Harry.. You have done a huge service to hockey in Canada.. I salute you...
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munna
09-06-2005 10:18 pm
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please reconsider,your website is a boon for so many hockey lovers scatttered all over the world,please dont go away
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Aalam
09-06-2005 11:01 pm
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Goodbye Hari
Its such a shame for hockey community. PFH is without doubt the best hockey site in the world and i think it has more reviews (hits) than other hockey site. Hari and Team has been doing great to provide uptodate news, articles and match results. I have been a frequent visitor of this site and visit it on daily basis. Articles commentory has been a unique prime feature of this site and Hari has done hard work regarding reviewing comments before posting.
Hari is so sincere with hockey, he has personally replied my emails re. different issues of hockey. Its so nice of him. Can you please pospone your deceision for a yr or so .
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COOL
09-07-2005 12:49 am
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WHAT!!!???
Hi Hari,
This has to be Hockey's biggest news in recent times and one of the largest disappointments. From my perspective (and I know many thousands would concur with me) the closing of this site would deal a body-blow to the hockey fraternity.
As Ms V said, I'm also willing to subscribe and pay an annual fee to see this site continue and be an integral part of Hockey as it has been since 2000.
Hari, you've done yeoman service, been selfless and dedicated. DO NOT stop, propose a viable solution and continue the change towards hockey's universal acceptance. Hockey needs it! Badly!
Please, give it another shot, we're with you.
//
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Subscription
09-07-2005 2:08 am
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Hari
Great shame if this site is going to stop, as it's been a wealth of info for so long. If it is a financial problem, why not set up a subscription cost for visitors, I wouldn't mind paying a small sum for subscription to news and views.
I'm sure with the number of people using this site a small subscrition wouldn't hurt.
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Homer
09-07-2005 2:38 am
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Hari
Come on Hari CHARGE those using the site. I would pay $100 + p.a. because your sites the very best, and have spent hours reading and posting over the years and on many occasions deliberately playing devils-advocate winding people up to get a reaction.
Good luck in what ever you decide.
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HockeyFan
09-07-2005 3:00 am
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Why don't you approach the Sahara Group who sponsor the Indian Cricket and Hockey teams. maybe change the website name to www.SaharaFieldHockey.com - just a suggestion.
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Maverick
09-07-2005 4:38 am
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Please reconsider & forward us a draft plan!!
So sorry to hear this Harry but I beg you to re-consider.....just look at the responds to the news....it speaks for itself! Looks at all your other options and see how the hockey world can help! I am sure this website brings along and together a large scale of people, coaches, players and observers alike.... Its the world about hockey its the talk of the hockey world. It really must go on....Ideally! Please come up with an alternative plan and I am sure you'd be able to succeed!
Cheers mate....You have done a wonderful and great work!
Mav
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interested
09-07-2005 5:27 am
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membership fee
I totally agree with the membership fee. You provide us with a service that we all enjoy, we pay for that service. A membership fee is not a crazy idea. You can offer different options. 1 month, 3 month, 6 month and annual. This way people who have less moeny have the chance to get online for a read during tournamenst for example. You could even have a 10 login membership fee. After the tenth you can charge your account again to get access. It takes alot of work to set it up, with providing options, providing passwords etc, but it is worth it in the end. if you need help, ask for it, don't just give up. there are nough marketers in this world who can maybe get you some sponsors, set up a membership process etc. I am in the marketing world and am willing to help out and am sure that there are plenty more!!
dont' give up!!
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mike
09-07-2005 8:28 am
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corporate community
c'mon corporate community...keep haris dream alive
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Resonable
09-07-2005 8:57 am
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$$$
Come on you guys, Hari mentioned so clear that it is because of very litty commercial growth not about membership. If he want money from membership fees, I am sure he did this long time ago. Getting advertising is the most important now, someone suggest him to contact Sahara, please approach Saraha for Hari rather than giving out suggesting and asking him to do all the work. He already done a lot for you all.
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Peter Jones
09-07-2005 9:00 am
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Say it ain't so!
Hari
If it is time that is the overriding issue, can we find a volunteer with whom you would be comfortable to take on some of the posting and reviewing of comments?
If it is money, there have been three interesting ideas raised - subscription; sponsorship by Sahara and support by Field Hockey Canada. I'd like to raise one more. Why couldn't FIH support this? It is the only sight that indexes stories by country and continent and is far superior to the news offerings on the FIH site.
Some discussion is critical (and some perhaps overly so), but isn't a "free press" a good sign of life and interest.
Any thoughts?
Peter
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ronaldhino
09-07-2005 9:30 am
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hockey site
hari,
i know how tough it is to maintain a website. one must spend time updating the website as well as filtering through all the replies that have to get posted. the cost/benefit is not there unless more advertisers step up or a fee is charged. the problem with a fee based approach is that eventually people stop paying, credit issues appear and hari becomes an accounts receivable clerk rather than managing the site. advertising is clearly the best approach. companies such as BDO, Shell, Sahara, Grays and other companies should step up to the plate. so inclusion, based on my experience, the opportunity cost of maintaining a website is not conducive to make a decent return on investment.
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StickUp
09-07-2005 9:43 am
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Contribution or fee
Hi Hari,
As most of us want this forum I'm sure we will not hesitate to contribute or pay a fee. Like HockeyFan says get in touch with Sahara may be they can help too.
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Sukh Ram
09-07-2005 10:03 am
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Good job
Hari
You did a great job. Not to be direspectful, but I see this as a relief for Indian hockey fans. I was getting sick and tired of seeing Indians lose for the last 4-5 years. It was especially hurtful to be berated by Pakis on this site.
So, I see this as a blessing in disguise.
Good Luck to you, Hari
Thanks for your efforts.
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Striker
09-07-2005 10:05 am
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site closure
Harri this site has provided us here in the Caribbean with so much PLEASE give us an opportunity to put some money where our Joys have been Consider a pay option and I am sure, to compensate you for the thankless Job you have done to date all visitors to this site would contribute $1.00 .
Should you not get $10000.00 from this effort in 30 days then you would know that it is time to close the site as all the talk is a lot of Hot Air.
Harry Give it one last shot.
Striker
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Martin
09-07-2005 11:08 am
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Dear Hari
Your service to the Hockey community has been invaluable. Thank You for putting in so much
effort as I'm very grateful to have had that information platform on international Hockey.
please reconsider !!
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Target
09-07-2005 11:43 am
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Damn
We can pay for the best service that PFH offered ...common Hari its your call
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masroor ahmed[www.timesofhockey.com]
09-07-2005 12:06 pm
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shocked to hear news of your leaving the website.I think you and andrew are doing a great job for the promotion oh hockey all over the world.please keep continue the mission to promote hockey in the world.
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Chris Bvunzawabaya
09-07-2005 12:24 pm
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Please reconsider
As a sports journalist from Zimbabwe the site has over the years helped me broden my journalistic skills especially in writing hockey.
Planet Field Hockey had become a household name for all hockey fans across the globe and the question is what will we talk about.
With the Junior World Cup kicking off in Chile next week this is going to be a huge blow to all sports journalists and fans around the world.
Wish you the best in all your future plans and hope the site will be back on its feet soon
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rogerb
09-07-2005 1:16 pm
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alternative sites
Sorry to see you go, Hari.
If you want a daily fix of fieldhockey news, try www.fieldhockey.com
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Peong
09-07-2005 2:10 pm
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suggestions
It is indeed a sad time for hockey world wide. Hari my sincerest thanks for what you have provided. It will be sorely missed.
Many have provided suggestions, but all would make this site very commercialized and this would be unacceptable. This site became great because it is not that.
Here we go (these are all my personal opinions... don't hate me for them):
- Membership fees: The site will die slowly. All current members will be more than willing to pay, but no new members will join.
- Sponsorship/Advertising: They will still want Hari to manage it and unfortunately it seems as if this is no longer possible.
- Hiring of management staff: Probably the best option, but again would require investment from somewhere which again turns it into a business. Not good.
- Taken over by FHC: I think the rest of the world would suffer as the focus changes to Canada, and membership will drop. FHC has too many internal issues to deal with and cannot handle a world wide forum.
- Taken over by FIH: Probably the second best option. I think the management of the site will suffer, and it will no longer be a good or up-to-date resource/forum.
I can't remember if there were any others, but my suggestion is along the lines of Peter's. Hari needs to find some volunteers (emphasis on the plural) who share his love for the sport and this forum, and (this is the tricky part) who have the time and knowledge to take over from him. Hari would still need to be an "Executive Oversee-er" to ensure that his vision is not destroyed.
And finally, my most outlandish suggestion... Hari, I don't have a clue what your current situation is, but you are an ambassador for the sport, and I believe that FIH should recognise that, especially in these times of struggle for the sport world wide. I think that FIH should hire you to specifically keep this site running (even if it means turning Planetfieldhockey into FIHplanetfieldhockey) and to continue going to turnaments world wide to provide reviews, articles and most importantly, coverage. I think they should give you a technical staff of your choosing and a photographer and then give you full control.
World wide hockey is going to take a hit, and FIH needs to understand that and do something about it without screwing it up and again, for this site not to get screwed up, Hari has to be involved with control.
I'm sorry to see you go, and wish I could have helped. Best of luck to you in the future. Hope to meet you on the field again sometime soon.
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Jacko
09-07-2005 2:14 pm
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Subscription time
Hari,
I gladly pay to watch Fieldhockey.tv when I watch Champs trophy also do the same for Meidazone for Rugby.
I suggest an annual subscription to Planet Field Hockey of say 30 US per Participant which would allow the company to budget and cover overheqad expenses and salary. You could set a Tome frame whereeby you need 5000 subscribers to participate and if not it all dissapears.
Thanks for all the support for California Cup over the years.
Best Regards
Dave Jacko Jackson
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MO33
09-07-2005 2:21 pm
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Great job so far Hari? You have connected the Hockey World far more effectively than the powers that be ever did. We will see you online again soon I'm sure of it
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SpaceMan Spiff
09-07-2005 3:36 pm
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Peter J and the free press
One thing we know about taking on sponsorship whether its CNN or PLanet FH freedom will be curtailed the minute corporations come on board. Please do not suggest that FHC will be the saviour of this forum they have often berated and threatened Hari for posting opinion critical of FHC .
To recap
Hari's options are
1. Charge a subscription fee
2. Suddenlly strike a long term deal with corporate sponsors
3. sell this mother in its entirety to someone else
4. close down and walk away
Subscription fees will undoubtedly solve the short term problem but then what about the infrastructure required to perpetually chase subscribers?
If a sponsor was goign to forward then please help Hari out with this as mentiond here he has tried his level best to sell this site to advertisers, time for the consumers of this site to speak up.
If someone is willing to buy Hari's brand (PFH) I am sure he would entertain any reasonable offer
Hari has a life to lead and FH don't pay the milkman so if he walks I would say more power to him for bringing it this far
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Lizzie
09-07-2005 4:11 pm
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Why FIH won't support this site
The FIH is trying desperately to direct as much traffic as possible to their site, as this is one of the criteria examined every four years when the IOC votes on which sports stay in the Olympics and which have to go. So they will definitely not support any site that draws people away from their site.
As for sponsorship by Sahara, ahem, I wouldn't mention that in one breath with free press - if Sahara sponsors they will want to have a say in what is written. They will at the very least oppose articles that are critical of the Indian team and management - just remember that funny little letter they sent the FIH a bit ago requesting that India get good umpires from now on. They pay, they think they make the rules.
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Peter Jones
09-07-2005 8:53 pm
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Could PFH have the same flavor as a part of FIH?
Lizzie raises good points as to why FIH might not keep PFH going separately, but why could they not make it a part of their site? harry's structure, format and info flow beats anything that they have. The issue remains, who would do the work, as that is probably what has driven Hari to this point. My guess is that he is struggling to justify the hours spent on PFH if he is having to turn paid IT work away.
Perhaps we come back to the volunteer option. Are there any field hockey playing students out there who would like to add "running a million hit a month site" to their resume and who would be acceptable to Hari? Could they commit for a year, then hand over to someone else?
Peter
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Peter Munsing
09-07-2005 9:35 pm
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I hope it's temporary--but three thousand cheers for Hari.
Hari Kant--student, family man, wage earner, goalie extraordinaire, and impresario/writer/organizer/printer/typesetter--we ask too much to say to Hari, reconsider.
We should give thanks that for a few years we have had a forum on which to exchange ideas (and yes, trade a few quips and occaisionally dross). As Joni Mitchell sang, "Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you got 'til it's gone."
This website was a gem, Hari was waaaay overextended, and it's a wonder he was at all times I met him pleasant, self efacing, genial, interested. How he did it, I can only wonder. But he did, and for that we should thank him and cheer him wherever he goes.
If anyone knows sponsors who can see the amazingly good demographics of this site--the market it represents, please write them and write Hari. Don't car manufacturers, banks or others want to take a look at this cadre of consumers? Look at rowing sites, other sites which cater to sports with similar demographics.
Is there somewhere a budding group of journalism students willing to run this perhaps? Could not a journalism department manage it while it exists under sponsorship of readers and others, as well as advertisers?
Perhaps something like Public Radio in America which has sponsors as well as donors.
If anyone knows any group or corporation or individual willing to pitch in now's the time.
In the meantime, a thousand thanks Hari, for letting people say that which National Organizations did not want to hear, let alone print. Thanks for giving us great and detailed how-to articles, rather than the abreviated simplistic drills so often seen in the few articles published on the sport (at least in N. America). Thanks above all for covering the mens game and adult coed game in North America.
Readers, the best way to memorialize PFH if we can't help resucitate it is to keep alive it's spirit, to share ideas, to think of solutions rather than merely criticize and descend into an orgy of self contempt an athletic nihilism. DON'T MOURN, ORGANIZE!
.......AND THANK HARI! THREE THOUSAND CHEERS, HIP HIP HOORAY, HIP HIP HOORAY,
....................Au revoir, Hari, aloah, shalom, may peace, health, and love be yours.
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Ms V
09-08-2005 12:17 am
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Hari,
I also agree with the many other comments, and show my support and admiration.
Another idea that came to mind, that I thought of. Did you set up this website design? As one of the others mentioned you're the only site to catelogue posts by country. If this is correct, and you are the mastermind behind it, would you be intrerested in hosting other sports forums eg cricket, basketball, golf etc etc. With this particular format of a website, it could be the product that you could sell. I am not sure what you do for a living behind this website, but perhaps it could be a new (and daring) venture. I am sure you would find a few investors to help back you - we've been posting our support.
Love to hear what the story is...
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COOL
09-08-2005 12:38 am
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SORRY HARI; COULDN'T HELP IT!
Dear Lizzie,
Get a life and stop politicking an issue confined to your regional domain and (hate to say this, lady)...your naked bias!
This is not a time for petty bickering, but is definitely a time to unite and support this site and Hari.
You're way off the mark and well beyond your depth.
Think global and open your mind.
I apologize for this post, but yours warranted a response to stop this thread from going bananas and loosing focus. Defuse the situation...so to speak.
This is not about petty issues and surely beyond corrupt individual perceptions.
Trust you exercise decorum in future.
//
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George Brink
09-08-2005 5:49 am
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Sorry to see you go, Hari
As the webmaster of the other site, I appreciate exactly how much work goes into running this site. It isn't so much the money as the financial return for the amount of time you have to spend doing it, as well as the strain on your family life. At some point it gets too much.
Funding options? Subscription and membership fees are out of the question because most of the stories come from other media sources and are technically a breach of copyright. The papers tolerate us because we don't make money directly out of their content. Most of the World's hockey writers have given us permission to use their articles because of this as well. As soon as we start charging to read the sites tehy are going to want some money too. This also rules out site sponsorship from large corporates as once big money comes behind the site then again the papers are going to want their share.
FIH/FHC/USFHA taking it over? See above, but I am sure Hari will tell you of the number of emails he has had from those bodies asking him to remove comments/stories. They are happy for us to cover the sport and not to have to pay for it, but only want to hear the good things and not the bad - and there is plenty of that! You can guarantee the first thing to go will be ability to criticise hockey.
That leaves the only options as increased advertising revenue, or selling the site off. Nobody is really prepared to pay for the goodwill of 5 years of effort to build the site to where it is now. I have had offers of £1000 for mine which is laughable as I get much more than that in advertising per annum. As for increased advertising, the hockey companies don't have enough money and the corporates are hamstrung. I used to have a corporate ad on my site until the shareholders queried the link between the chairman's interest in hockey and the adspend on a hockey site.
The best way to help Hari financially is to click on the ads he does have even if they are not hockey orientated as some of them pay per click. Buy from his advertisers as they will want to continue advertising that way. If you can advertise without having to face shareholder questions, offer to advertise on the site.
Anyone wanting to take the site over should know that it takes 2 - 3 hours per day every day just to get all the stories in by reading 40 - 50+ websites around the world. It is a daily task so Chirstmas, New Year, Eid, Diwali or any other holidays you thought you might have have gone. Family holidays get interrupted every day as you dash to the local internet cafe to update the site. Your partner is going to get fed up with the time you spend on that Bl***y machine. Major tournaments mean you spend the day watching the action either online or by being there (more expense) - more flack from the boss. And what for? Purely for the love of the sport and nothing else.
Hari, in a way I admire the guts it has taken to make this decision. I hope that all these expressions of appreciation for what you do make you realise there are many more people out there who honestly appreciate what you do and you do reconsider. If you don't I for one know exactly why and wish you all the best.
Cheers
George
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Paddybear
09-08-2005 5:56 am
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please dont go
This is the best website in the world!!! It's the only forum for offering truly honest and in your face criticism. We will be lost without it.
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Worker
09-08-2005 7:15 am
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I was informed about this site 2 years ago by a work colleague, and have thoroughly enjoyed reading articles and debate from throughout the hockey world.
I have to admit i often visit the site as a work avoidance tactic, but have always found it extremely interesting and current.
I hope that a solution is found to keep the site up and running - otherwise I just may actually have to do some work!!
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Al Mattei
09-08-2005 8:53 am
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I join with George.
In this day and age of a 500-channel universe that is actually shrinking rather than expanding (due to omnibus corporate interests), independent voices and information sources about hockey are extraordinarily valuable.
A few weeks ago I attended a retirement party of my former boss at a daily publication, and just listening to the pessimism of the present staff, plus the major cuts at other American newspapers, hardens my resolve that this is the direction in which journalism is headed.
The unfortunate thing is that many good information sources have gone; SportsHuddle no longer has original stories, SportsJones got bought out by ESPN, and StudentSports merged with Rivals.
And now, PFH.
I must thank Hari not only for keeping the site running, but running our eyewear editorial even whilst the forces looking to put goggles on every player in America have been running wild.
It is not up to me to suggest a business plan for the revival of the site. But what I can tell you is that any hockey webmaster, past or present, invests a lot of personal capital and passion into the body of work. It's not a matter of money; heck, it's beyond that in our case.
Instead, all we can do is try to better inform the public as to what is going on, and, perhaps, to form comparison and contrast between countries as to not just what is going on, but why.
I believe that PFH performed a great function, allowing conversations and commentary in a blog-esque format. Although some of the anonymous posters engaged in hearsay, axe-grinding, and outright lies, the exchange of ideas was most valuable.
This can continue, either at the PFH Clubhouse or at TalkHockeyDotNet. If those persons who snipe anonymously are willing to put away the claws and engage in honest dialogue on those two sites, perhaps a community similar to that found on BigSoccer.com can be realized.
I, for one, am willing to go this route.
Regards,
Al
(topofthecircle.com; righttorightisright.com)
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Peter Jones
09-08-2005 9:14 am
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George
George
Your comments are thoughtful and classy. Both you and Hari have made it possible for hockey lovers to stay up to date on the sport worldwide. While in other circumstances, it would be easy to envision you as "gloating" at the demise of a competitor, I think you recognise that you and Hari are probably the only ones who know how much work it really is to keep your sites going.
george, I know you have thought of quitting at times, but found a way to continue. i hope that Hari will similarly find a solution.
Best wishes and many thanks to you both.
Peter
PS. A crazy thought. is there any way to cooperate and share the workload?
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Lizzie
09-08-2005 10:22 am
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Whatever
Dear COOL,
thanks so much for your insights, especially given that you seem to know where and who I am and in what capacity I am involved in this ballgame (see subject).
I don't think this thread was in any danger of "going bananas" (whatever that means anyway) or losing focus (except through your attack on someone who doesnot share your opinions).
Just one thing I am puzzled about: where's the bias? I don't get it. The FIH thing is fact (you are very welcome to send Matt Slade an email and get his opinion on the FIH taking over PFH), and so is my comment on Sahara. They sent a letter regarding umpires (fact), and I gave my opinion that it might well be the same here (fair deduction).
Don't get all worked up. I suggest you examine your own before you advise people to "get a life".
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George
09-08-2005 10:43 am
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Al & Peter
Thanks for the comments guys. You are right though, I have also often thought of giving up quite seriously and getting my life back, but when the mortgage gets paid for surfing up hockey news that is one less big bill to pay. Doesn't really pay for the time spent though.
We have been unofficially cooperating in that I have mainly left the the Pan American scene alone as Hari has done a much better job of it than I am able to mainly because of his contacts and presence in the region. He has also done a better job of finding stories from around the world in obscure papers than I have.
Al, my host made a mess of renewing talkhockey.net which whas snapped up because of the traffic I got going to it. It is now Talkinghockey.net, but there is no anoymous posting there and it is fairly closely monitored.
Competition is good because it makes you look for new ways to improve yourself. The ending of competition is not good because it leaves less choice for the consumer. Hari has succeeded because he has found a good way of making his site better than mine while I hit bandwidth restrictions that meant I had to slow down on promoting my site. Part of the reason why I am upset about Hari's decision is I am going to have to spend more time on my site trying to fill the enormous void left, but I will not see any extra income for the extra effort.
Please come back, Hari ;)
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Al Mattei
09-08-2005 1:33 pm
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Truedat re: competition
The years that HockeyPoint was up were years that I really felt I had to step it up. But what has gotten me more motivated to get things spot-on was the weekly national high-school rankings. Those have gotten so much site traffic that it's unbelievable.
My network of writers have a lot to sift through, and we can't just go on gut feeling anymore. Kind of like the Bowl Championship Series!
But hopefully, one of the two pHpBB boards (either PFH or TalkingHockey.net) will become a repository of thoughts. Perhaps you could leave one "lightly moderated" thread like BigSoccer does?
Regards,
Al
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HARRY SINGH
09-08-2005 2:53 pm
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HARI KANT
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE MEMORABLE MOMENTS.YOU ARE THE GUY WHO MADE US HEROES ON THIS SITE.YOU ARE MOTHER INDIA,WHO LET US DISCUSS THE THEMES IN A DEMOCRATICAL SENSE.YOU DID LET THE DEBATE OF FIELDHOCKEY TO THE WORLD,WE HOCKEY FANS DID REACT TO THE SPLENDID HOCKEY.MR KANT,THANKS FOR YOUR DEDICATION.THE SAME DEDICATION WHICH BROUGHT THE HOCKEY WORLD TOGATHER.LAD,DUDE,SUKH,COOL,YEN(THE PERSON WHO ALWAYS WRITES WITH FEW
WORD,BUT DELIVERS THE MESSAGE)AND MANY OTHERS,THANKS FOR SUCH A MEANINGFULL DISCUSSIONS.
A TRUE INDIAN HEART TO OTHER TRUE HEART,
HARRY SINGH
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Roque
09-08-2005 3:52 pm
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Hari -
Sorry to see you go, I think peter Jones and many others had some good comments and recommendations. Hopefully you'll come up with something to keep the site going. Thanks for all your hard work in keeping an excellent field hockey web site. See you soon at NAPL.
Roque
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Uknow
09-08-2005 8:24 pm
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Appreciation
Thank you Hari. We are all hoping this to continues.
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desi paki
09-08-2005 10:25 pm
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sad
very sad to hear that ! i usually use this site on daily basis , i enjoy it and many others like me?
plz reconsider to keep this great site up and running? closing the site will definitely reduce interest in hockey...
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Minibus
09-09-2005 3:25 am
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from a scottish perspective
I will be losing my homepage if you go, we get very little chance to input to the world stage, this was perfect.... hope you reconsider....a fan
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Mere female
09-09-2005 5:18 pm
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This site has been of great interest to many. It has also created a forum for discussion missing from other sites. I will miss it and hope a way can be found, for a change of heart by Hari to be possible. I had not realised until this post how difficult and time consuming this site is. I just loged on and enjoyed myself without thinking about the person providing me with my enjoyment. I wish there was a way for this site to continue. I will miss my 'daily fix' but wish you all the best for the future. You know my email if you think I can help - though I warn you that i have no computer skills above those shown here.
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Peter Munsing
09-09-2005 10:58 pm
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Before it goes, e mail friends with corporate,academic contacts
Given the demographics, no reason advertisers have to be limited to fh products--cars, brewery products, deodorant manufacturers and more--all could benefit from the traffic at this site. So if you know of anyone in marketing, e mail them.
Similarly, it would be a great real life opportunity for journalism school or compsci website types at university to get some real life experience to put on their resume--a possible perpetual, rotating internship for some lucky university. Heck, throw in the ads and they can have their business school types run it and see if they can at least cover overhead and perhaps make a profit for the U.
So if you know of any university department heads that might be sufficiently prescient to take the opportunity to give their students real life experience for not a huge investment (OK free tuition for members of the Kant family, but a small price especially if Hari agrees to coach their students [and goalies]), please e amail them.
And again, let us raise a glass to Hari.
And again.....well not too often or you won't get those e mails off.
Give 'em hell, Hari!
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x106
