Fave sports websites kill me with the big homepage

[shakespeare]

ESPN switched to the big look, so I switched websites. Then Bleacher Report (I know BR takes a beating from forum members but I enjoy the site plus a friend of mine recently signed on as editor or something) did the same, so I switched to Pro Basketball Talk. And now that site has done the exact same. Smh. I guess I'll go back to YardBarker who also displays the big look, but not as big as the others.

Is this a new online trend or something?

[Irv]

It's largely a product of putting more emphasis on designing for mobile devices, especially tablets. Smartphones get kicked down to a smaller responsive viewport, so the view for them is mostly unchanged, but designing big for tablets so you can scroll with your fists means that everything looks like it was designed for the old and the blind on PCs.

There is a trendy element to it too, which I think basically consists of feeding the user instead of letting them self-direct because people are stupid, illiterate, and susceptible to big pictures.

[shakespeare]

Thanks. Smart man. And too funny. I don't know why that never crossed my mind. I like the Flipboard app for my tablet but that's about it. But I definitely understand what you're saying. What I dislike about it all is exactly what you said about feeding the user. I preferred the previous ability to glance the homepage maybe once or twice and run across an interesting read opposed to the constant swiping and swiping and then realizing there are no interesting reads.

BTW, what's your fave sports website to receive sporting news?

[Irv]

If I'm looking for scores or videos, I'll go to the official league site. For news, I got used to CBS Sports because they still have an older-style layout, but I have to say their writers and editors kind of suck with the clickbait headlines, so I just go there for news and not opinions from bloggers.

I originally started going away from ESPN in protest years ago and ended up at CBS because I figured since they broadcast the AFC NFL games that they were a legit outlet. SI isn't bad either now that it's not CNNSI anymore.

[shakespeare]

Just checked SI and definitely worthwhile. CBS doesn't look bad, either, but I'm not familiar with their sportswriters. I absolutely loved ESPN's Page 2 back when Ralph Wiley and Bill Simmons were kings, and then Henry Abbott's True Hoop. I've read Sporting News' Sean Deveney so long that I still click onto the site for his column. Same goes for Bethlehem Shoals (formerly known as Free Darko) and his column on GQ. Abbott eventually merged with ESPN (and became big face) but the sidebar linking True Hoop articles still allows the old school feel, so that's a plus.

Sports Illustrated, it is.