Copyright © 1998 - 2000 Interclub Coaches Association
Summer 1998
Coach George Williams
Remembered!
an ICA co-founder
Until very recently, except for the Web Rings to which we belong and that are posted on our Home Page, all of the links to other sites from ours were limited to our "International NETport" directory page (where the Web Rings are again posted). There we have made available scores of other links that we hope are helpful to our members and visitors.
In the meantime, we were expanding the "Online Edition" of our periodical "Intercity Sports Review" and adding features that were previously only available in the print versions - if at all. Several helpful and informative items of interest on other Web sites soon came to our attention. To add that material to our own site would have raised serious logistical, ethical and/or legal (copyright and royalty) issues. Even if they were successfully resolved, it still might have made the items outdated ("history") by the time they became available. Practical solution? Add more links! (Even if they are not reciprocal!) Main question -"Where do we put them?"
While our "International NETport" page is like a library, "Intercity Sports Review - Online" is more like a newsstand or book store where items of current interest are featured. ("Oh-oh, we need another 'links' page!" The only question is "Where do we put it?")
When you administer a Web site, you quickly become very familiar with "Murphy's Law", "Parkinson's Law" and the "Laws of Unintended Consequences." Changing one section of a Web site can have unexpected results at other parts of it unless extreme care is exercised in the revision. A case in point: We made what we believed to be an improvement to our "International NETport" page several weeks ago. Thankfully we performed an off-line test before uploading the changed files to the server. The results (since they were only viewed by our own personnel off-line) were hilariously humorous. If we had uploaded them, however, before we had found and corrected the errors, it would have been a major disaster for our site.
We needed to provide a way for our members and visitors to conveniently link to the additional sites referred to via "Intercity Sports Review - Online" and still provide them with an efficient way to return to our site should they wish to do so.(With the exceptions of the Web Rings information posted on our Home Page, our "International NETport" page and now "Intercity Sports Review - Online," none of our other pages are linked to outside Web sites. Most of our pages have a direct link back to the Home Page and to on-Site pages of similar subject matter, which facilitates navigating the Site for persons having varied interests in our increasing number of available services and resources.)
The present link arrangement was utilized in order to focus on the "Feature" and current newsworthy status of much of the "Intercity Sports Review - Online" material. For example, we felt that the President Mandela Birthday Greetings link would not have received appropriate attention on the "International NETport" page and placed it on the "Intercity Sports Review - Online" page instead. We shall continue to simplify the linking process, however, we shall test any changes off-line before attempting to "fix" anything that is "not broken."
Some people may wonder and question why a primarily "sports" organization has such a deep concern and interest in "Human Rights" issues. To this we briefly answer, "Aren't all athletes human beings?" If and when we go into more detail, we can either point to world history where from antiquity to the present there are a multitude of examples of athletic, artistic and culturally involved people advancing the causes of Human Rights, world peace and international understanding. (Remember, in antiquity, they used to stop wars in order to hold the Olympic Games. In the Twentieth Century it has been just the opposite!)
Or, if folks wish to get "personal," we can have one of our many past or present athletes and/or staff members give their own answers. We are readily accessible by E-mail.
While our organizations and personnel began working together when the Internet was in its infancy, our Web site is a relatively recent addition and is in a constant state of development. (Sometimes some of us who have been working together for decades refer to the fact that we were already using the terms "'INTER'-city", " 'INTER'-club" and "Eight Cities 'NET'work" in our organization and program titles as a reason to claim that our people had our own "INTER-NET" years before our computers came online!)
This item is a lengthy response to a query from some of our international visitors who were instrumental in the 80th Birthday greetings to President Nelson Mandela.. That message helped us to write another Web page since much of the information that cleared up those questions may also answer the questions of many other people. It just goes to show that the activities of positive people have positive results. If you know of better living proof of this than the example of President Nelson Mandela, please let us know.
We hope that this Website proves informative, enjoyable and helpful to you. Your comments, questions and suggestions are welcomed.
Stay strong, positive and focused.
The best is yet to come!
Live long and prosper in happiness and health.
Sincerely,
Stan Daniels, Editor,
*******
Intercity Sports Review - Online
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For more information contact:
Interclub Coaches Association
P.O. Box 9041
Jersey City, NJ 07309
or e-mail:
intercity_sports_review@juno.com
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