So you're here now. The site is new, shiny, useful, and functional. Much like a first date though, you've not seen much below the surface. All the neat features and fancy graphics in the world can't help if the content isn't there. Thankfully, you won't have to worry about that here. We'll keep the Xavier news and notes coming just as quickly as you can comment on them. You know who we are from the Welcome post, now it's time to get into what it is we do. As a brutally hot summer stretches on, here's what you can look forward too.
Feature stories: Whatever the big story is, we'll give you our spin on it. Last year we interviewed Mark Lyons, broke down Dante Jackson's jumpshot, invented a stat, and insulted Brian Gregory as often as possible. Feature stories will come out whenever the news does so we can keep you up to date on what is happening on Victory Parkway.
Shootaround: A vital cog in every good coach's machine is the game day shootaround. Our version is a bit different. Shootaround is generally published on off days and is a rundown of Xavier clippings from across the internet. Whether it's a front page article on ESPN or a blurb on the Cincinnati Enquirer, we'll track it down. Major national stories will pop up from time to time as well.
Game Previews and recaps: Before each game we'll give you a primer on the upcoming opponent, complete with a scouting report, keys to the game, and a Toughness Factor. Our previews tend to be numbers heavy to reflect our belief in the new metrics coming into the college game. No preview could be whole without its accompanying recap. In the recap we'll have a look at how the game played out, award game balls (two, because we're so witty), and point out where the team could get better.
Box Score Breakdown: Joel's living situation prevents him from seeing all but the marquee games. While this is a negative for him, and his wife, who is forced to watch him watch text updates, it gives the rest of us a chance to benefit from his breakdown of the raw numbers.
Twitter Recap: Probably our favorite feature to write, the Twitter Recap takes the pre and post game tweets from the players and associated media and compiles them in one place. The narrative is often stunted, never grammatically correct, and always entertaining. Sometimes it even includes a Benihana run.
It's Never Too Early... is our look at how the current opponent will effect Xavier's chances and seeding in the NCAA tournament. It's never too early to start looking at March.
Know Your Non-Conference Opponent: Everyone has seen our A10 opponents time and time again in the last few years. Non-conference opponents are a different story though. To that end, we'll spend this offseason breaking down the big, and small, name teams XU will take on this year.
That's a bit of what you can expect here at Banners on the Parkway as we move forward. We'll do our level best to make sure that anyone who stops by will leave a more informed Xavier fan. Or at least get to laugh at a funny picture of a big guy on a plane.