Miami Marlins Season Preview: What Can You Do On Fish Stripes?

We have talked a lot about the Miami Marlins and their upcoming 2012 season. One thing we have not fully discussed is Fish Stripes and the upcoming 2012 season. Yes, since taking over the site, I have instituted changes that have shifted the type of discussion and interaction that occurred here on the site. We have a lot more analysis and insight and a little less breaking news coverage that the old site boasted so well. However, I would like to think that the new crew at Fish Stripes, myself included, are trying to take things in a good direction for the fellow Fish Stripes readers.

But the one thing I did not want to take away was the way for readers to interact and be a part of the Fish Stripes community. To that end, I wanted to discuss a little bit about what you, the readers, can also contribute to make the 2012 season awesome not only for the Marlins, but for the burgeoning Fish Stripes readership.

Game Threads

The backbone of reader interaction for Fish Stripes, as with all of the blogs of the excellent SB Nation network, is the open game threads. On Fish Stripes, we have a lot of discussion about player analysis and discussion of baseball concepts, but we do not always have a place to just be a fan. Game Threads are exactly when we get to do just that. Fish Stripes will be present for each and every game in the 2012 season and we will be ready to be just as big a Marlins fan as the readership here is. That means that when you see Giancarlo Stanton blast a three-run homer into the bleachers to give the Fish a ninth inning lead, you will get to read about me jumping up and down out of my seat just as you do the same from your seat. It is that kind of interactivity that I hope to see in each and every game thread in 2012.

The game threads are also a great place to get to know your fellow Fish Striper as you both take in a Marlins game. We have not really continued our weekly Off-Topic Threads, but as the season begins, I feel like it may be worth bringing up again. Nevertheless, game threads are a great place to interact on-topic with your fellow Marlins fans about the team we love. Essentially, it is like enjoying the game with friends, even if they are "Internet" friends.

Part of the magic of the game thread is in growing the community and its lore. Prior to coming here, Fish Stripes had a community and a way they went about things, but with the new regime, we are looking to rebuild and rewrite a new history with a brand new Fish Stripes. More than anywhere else, game threads and live game discussion are where the best memes, inside jokes, and other community-specific aspects will sprout and spread, and these sorts of interactions can make the community vibrant and exciting to be a part of.

But all of that is not only on the writers of Fish Stripes, but also on the readers. The game threads and discussions and interactions within are only as good as you make them to be. So if you want to help build a vibrant community and show those other blogs that Marlins fans can also support their team hard, let's make the 2012 game threads an exciting and fun place to be on game night!

Ichthyomancy

For those of you who were around with Craig at the helm, you may remember Ichthyomancy, the prediction contest that was run every season. For each game, Fish Stripes readers would prove their powers of ichthyomancy (divination by the entrails of fishes!) by predicting a few parameters of the upcoming game. I knew that this was something that Fish Stripes would hold onto from the old regime, and this is yet another thing to which the readers can contribute here on the site.

There will be a pfull post explaining all of the details of the new Ichthyomancy, but here are the basics:

- Before each game, the game thread will be posted. Once it is, you guys can contribute your picks for the game.

- After each game, one of the Fish Stripes authors will write the game recap, and within the game recap, the winning picks of two of the categories will be announced. At that point, your points will be awarded.

- You can keep tally of the points by checking the side bar on the front page, which will have a running tally of everyone's scores.

Again, we will have a full post on the matter describing all the rules, but Ichthyomancy is one of the many things that made the old Fish Stripes great, and I would like for it to continue to be a part of the Fish Stripes community.

FanPosts

Just because Fish Stripes has a set of authors, it does not mean the community cannot also contribute to the front pages. At Fish Stripes, we encourage you guys to post FanPosts that have insightful, interesting points to be made. And just because we run a lot of analysis on the site, it does not mean that your posts have to be filled with numbers. Let your voice and opinion be heard from any angle, whether it be analysis, fan perspective, humor, or just editorial pieces about your favorite Miami Marlins. All posts are welcome, and if they are interesting enough, you might even make the front page of the site! Feel free to make your own weekly series of posts and you too could be contributor on the best Marlins blog on the Internet!

Those are just a few things that you can do here on Fish Stripes in addition to commenting on the excellent content found in these pages. I urge the Fish Stripes community to be active in the game threads and play Icthyomancy in 2012, and let us make this season the best in Fish Stripes and Marlins history!