The Fans Respond To JoeBucsFan.com
January 3rd, 2018
Much like at One Buc Palace, JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters is a place with lofty aspirations.
Unlike at One Buc Palace, those goals are typically met inside the beer-stained walls of JoeBucsFan headquarters, where Tums, broken beer bottles and spoiled beets line the tile floors.
Joe had a simple goal through the 2017 calendar year: 1 million unique visitors to JoeBucsFan.com visiting a total of 7 million times and viewing 17 million pages of content.
Sadly, Joe missed on two of those numbers.
The 17 million pages viewed mark was eclipsed, but Joe only registered 972,428 unique visitors who made about 6.5 million total visits.
Joe loves all the support from fans, but be certain that Joe is not taking this failure lightly. Heads are rolling. There will be changes to playcalling. Processes and personnel are being evaluated. Spending is coming in the free agent market and Derrick Brooks has been extended an offer to right the ship.
A lost Buccaneers season marked by regression, tolerance of ineptitude and shattered hopes is no excuse. There are no near victories or moral triumphs at JoeBucsFan world headquarters, only losses that demand immediate accountability.
On the upside, Joe continues to dominate the market for Bucs coverage and eyeballs. And the podcast network easily pushed 2 million downloads and delivered for its advertisers this year, much to the dismay of local sports radio executives.
Joe is grateful for all the support and is energized by the challenge of hitting bigger 2018 goals, despite a deflated fan base that’s been forced to swallow too many losses, ticket price increases and the shame of a 10-year postseason absence.
Among other initiatives, Joe will team again with The Commish (@commishonline) to galvanize fans on Training Camp Takeover Day, to remind the Bucs organization that a rabid fan base is aching to unify around a good team — or a team that is willing to work with those fans beyond handshakes and token gestures.
Again, Joe thanks you for your patronage.
And to those who hurl a daily diet of insults at Joe via email, site comments and Twitter, well, Joe appreciates your misguided and naughty passion.
January 3rd, 2018 at 1:22 am
Well congrats Joe(s)!!!
I am unique though..lol…
January 3rd, 2018 at 1:23 am
Still talent to build on Joe, don’t change too much. Consistency is important.
January 3rd, 2018 at 1:49 am
First the Compliment…
Joebucsfan is my favorite Buccaneers website.
But…
I have seen this site grow to levels that are not condusive to a casual visitor.
Why???
The ADs!!!
The ADs are so over bearing. I’m All for the American way and the JOES making a buck,
But Geesh!
This site looks like Times Square with all these Billboards everywhere.
and in the content section where we used to be able to hide and avoid the banners and ad columns (on both sides !!!)
Now we get ambushed by the random “Meet Dr. So and so” Ad.
Cheap Shot!
But don’t take my opinion for anything other than two cents worth as I am just one of those Americans who took a stand against the NFL this year and their disrespect of their Fans/America in their backing of that Kaepenick A$$Hat and all those ignorant followers/players kneeling for their “principles”. Well i have my principles too and I also still have my Money in my pocket and my Sunday Afternoons doing other things than giving it away to an ungrateful NFL.
So, Sorry JOEs… My Attendance here has been affected by circumstances beyond your control.
January 3rd, 2018 at 1:59 am
Congratulations boys
January 3rd, 2018 at 2:10 am
Been an almost daily visitor since the Gruden firing, thought it was going to come full circle!
January 3rd, 2018 at 2:26 am
Congratulations Men – On A Job Well Done!
January 3rd, 2018 at 3:07 am
I feel like I viewed a million pages this year. This site is a gift and a curse, kind of like our Bucs. It gives me so much joy and props to you guys for growing this thing to the point where it is now, just amazing how much quality content you guys pump out. This is always my first site I visit every morning when I’m having my coffee and taking the Browns to the Super Bowl.
I wish the comments had some thumbs up or down because I don’t think people realise how crazy they sound sometimes. Then other people start parroting them and form mini mobs. Creating alter egos and pretending pro bowlers should be garbage men. This site is a trip man! Thank you Joes for running this thing, keep it up!
January 3rd, 2018 at 4:09 am
Congrats JOEs … keep up the good work!
This is the ONLY Bucs site I post on and the only one I constantly refresh 🙂
January 3rd, 2018 at 4:40 am
Great job Joe – you have a fun and entertaining setup going and I hope it never changes. The idea of being “Joe” Bucs fan and writing from that point of view instead of the obvious and boring typical sports writer point of view was gold. Keep it going and I hope you many years of success even if you did say in preseason that corner was the deepest position on the time. Maybe you were having a stroke that day and it cut off the oxygen to you brain or something, but it sounds like you’re doing well now so that’s good!
January 3rd, 2018 at 4:52 am
I’ll be honest, I wake up, grab my phone to view messages and then go to JBF. I come home from work and typically the first page I veiw is JBF (doing hat right now). This site is part of my daily routine…for whatever it’s worth!
PS: I should be studying right now…GO BUCS
January 3rd, 2018 at 5:08 am
Joe,
Like your site. Started coming here instead of the official site. Less sunshine blown up my butt, and more entertaining due to the comment clowns.
January 3rd, 2018 at 5:15 am
Amazing job, Joes. I agree with Alaskan. This site is both a blessing and a curse…but mostly a blessing. Some of the comments are way out there and you wonder what minds they come from. It’s all a mystery– But in any case we mostly want the same thing. A good football team to follow.
Who knows what year the team will finally turn the corner, but you guys deserve to once and for all report on a playoff team. Thanks and best of luck for 2018!
January 3rd, 2018 at 5:16 am
I don’t post as much as I once did, but I still hit the site several times a day and tell others Bucs fans about the site. Best place for Bucs info hands down. Keep up the great work guys!
January 3rd, 2018 at 5:18 am
Congratulations for your well-deserved and earned success. I missed you on 620 as you were often the only ones who made sense of Bucs issues. There was one key issue that I wished you addressed and that was the fan reaction to the so-called protests.This was conspicuously ignored. The attendance across the nation indicated fans are not simpatico with this so-called protest movement. We turn to sports for 100% recreational reasons, not to have politics shoved down our throats. Otherwise, bravo for your work. This is the best site for Bucs news. For that reason, I do scratch my head when I read that some talking sports head breaks Bucs news. Why them and not credit you? Not sure I’ll ever get that.
January 3rd, 2018 at 6:29 am
So your saying there will be changes… I guess that means everything stays the same… Aka the Bucs. (Dripping with sarcasm BTW)
January 3rd, 2018 at 6:32 am
Congrats Joe……especially about the satisfied advertisers…..that’s what it’s all about…..all the views hopefully lead to advertiser support…..
Let the advertisers know you buying their product or service because of their support for JBF.
Here’s to a better year ahead!!!
January 3rd, 2018 at 6:42 am
Congrats!!!! The only Bucs site i come to daily and probably the best buccaneers content to get on any platform!!
Thank you Joe(s)
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:00 am
I visit this site not only daily but hourly sometimes ever 30 minutes
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:01 am
I used to go to BucPower and Buccanneers.com everyday. I found you Joes about 6 years ago, and you’ve been my go to Bucs site ever since. I can’t bare to read the dribble that some of these other sports writers put out. I find it refreshing to know that I am not the only Bucs junky who comes to this part of the interwebs every single day to get my Bucs fix. Thanks Joes!
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:09 am
A morning cup of Joe might help. That and the Bucs winning.
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:09 am
Congrats Joes, like any small business it’s a lot aof work just to survive let alone thrive!!
I too am a proud contributor to the daily visits, and love the content. Quick and broad tidbits about our beloved Bucs. I don’t mind the ads, but it does seem busy, any changes I hope to see are faster smoother page clicks and maybe a better audio driver for the podcasts. I like to listen in the morning but hate using the site to do it. Unlike I Tunes, I can’t do a quick rewind or lose where I “paused” and have to start again then try to find where I left off.
I have said this before, I don’t know what these things cost but eventually you will have to improve the mechanics to stay relevant.
Again Joe Bucs Fan is a consistent part of my day, thank you!!
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:16 am
Congrats, boys. You guys deserve all the success that comes your way. Keep up the good work.
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:19 am
Congrats on almost hitting your lofty goals.
Content wise – JBF runs circles around the “competition”.
Some of Joe’s “takes” about the Bucs are pretty out there (like the “CB is our deepest position” one, or “Oline is just fine as is”, or “Manziel is a GREAT NFL prospect and should be picked #7 overall”, etc.) – but that’s part of the fun and uniqueness of this outlet as is Joe’s tendency to “mix it up” in the comments section with your readers from time to time.
I do find it hard to believe that this particular site design and format is considered desirable for Joe’s needs much less the reader’s desires – especially if approaching the 1 million unique visitors per year mark. But that is up to you guys as to how you want your product to look and perform as this ‘little site that could’ continues to grow and to become more and more relevant.
I will give you kudos for figuring out how to ‘soup this baby up’ and get it performing at a mostly acceptable level in the past year or so – as previously there were major lag issues on an almost everyday basis and just “issues” in general with trying to read or comment on this site. I see very little to none of those site performance problems these days so congrats on getting those “issues” fixed.
At some point you will outlive the usefulness of this format. Hopefully when the time for a site re-design inevitably comes (preferably sooner than later) it will be decided that a CLEANER look is needed/desired and that a more ‘user friendly’ interface with standardish user tools (like an ‘edit’ button and thumbs up/thumbs down button for commenters) is needed to help sustain your growth. Ahh, so you want Joe to be “standardish.” That’s funny. …And sorry, but a thumbs up/down button is not about to drive growth. Just understand there’s a clear reason for everything happening here. Conventional thinking and processes would have killed this site long ago. –Joe
In the meantime – Keep up the good work Joes! You provide the best Buccaneers coverage of any available outlet and its not even close. Thanks for all your hard work guys.
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:24 am
Congratulations and thank you, JBF!!! This site is a godsend for a Bucs fan relocated to Virginia. Here’s to your continued success!
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:28 am
JBF QBR for 2017 is 51.3 a point higher than Winston QBR. You should start next year. lol
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:28 am
Joe- Every GOOD organization must have a strong foundation. In this aspect you have succeeded. This site is a melting pot of down-trodden, vagabond, opinionated Buc fans. You have sparked many a conversation that ends with SMH’s and a few LOL’s. For me, JBF has become a respite from my day to day. It’s a place where I can learn about different flavors of ice-cream, super-heroes, and America. I can trade barbs with posters, or help them run for office.
In short, I enjoy the site. Keep up the good work fellas. It won’t be long before the subjects become about the “winning” Bucs. There will be a many poster who won’t know how to act! Myself included!
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:33 am
Dilly! Dilly!
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:33 am
Now Del Rio or someone of that quality might go to Green Bay to be their new D coordinator. But here? Working for coach “thin ice”? No.
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:48 am
Have been visiting here at least once a day since Barrett Ruud was the face of the franchise. Was not like TMax but for sure targeted him constantly for what I thought was soft play. So thank you (JOES) for the constant coverage as well as a place to vent our frustrations.
January 3rd, 2018 at 7:48 am
The fact you even draw readers with covering this organization is a miracle! Great job fellas and please keep it up. BTW love the podcasts, great addition.
January 3rd, 2018 at 8:05 am
Awesome. Every day, multiple times a day for me.
January 3rd, 2018 at 8:05 am
Great site,probably spend a thousand hours reading and posting a year here.
Keep it up!
January 3rd, 2018 at 8:10 am
“a thumbs up/down button is not about to drive growth” – maybe not Joe – but perhaps seeing 897 thumbs down to 6 thumbs up on a nonsensical 1st post – would keep idiots like tmax from taking over entire threads spouting predictable and off-topic ‘GMC is a Cancer’ drivel – and virtually ending any reasonable/useful discussions that might be occurring on the topic at hand.
This site is like a magnet for troll commenters – it would at least be nice if other readers could express their disdain for stupidity without direct engagement (better known as feeding the trolls). And it would also be nice for those commenters who take the time and make the effort to write thoughtful, informative and/or intriguing posts to see that their ‘takes’ are agreed with or appreciated…
January 3rd, 2018 at 8:16 am
Honestly, Joe, one of the things that I liked about JBF for the longest time was the way that you guys interacted with the commenters through the site. As you’ve grown, there’s been a pretty steep drop in that over the years. I’ll see you guys pop up from time to time, but that’s mostly to wag a finger for bad behavior. I always thought it was cool to see you guys engage in topics being discussed and not just popping up to defend the JBF practices or to admonish a particularly dumb commenter.
I know that you guys have limited bandwidth given that you’re not only growing the brand but also still providing great content, but that might be something that you put in the back pocket that I thought was always well received by the fans of the site.
Just my two cents. Of course, we all know that the real issue with all of this is fan fatigue after a particularly taxing season. I know that I’m guilty of checking out for most of the season. After having such high expectations and really buying in and believing for the first time in so many years for them to come out and simply fall on their faces like that took a lot out of me and I’m sure a lot of the fanbase. I really just didn’t even have it in me to invest any emotional capital in to the team like I normally do. That’s not JBF’s fault.
January 3rd, 2018 at 8:24 am
Breaking some stories instead of just reporting what the Times or Ian Rappoport is saying would be helpful. You’re in the building amongst this team and yet rarely, if ever, break a story. And that shows you rarely pay attention.–Joe
January 3rd, 2018 at 8:35 am
Joe, I appreciate all that you do and I’ve been a loyal reader since late 2009. I’m sure you would have reached all of your milestones if the Bucs had a winning season with a playoff run. It goes to show you that when the team is down all the businesses that support the team and make money from the team suffer. I’m sure the chicken on a stick vendors outside of Ray Jay noticed the difference between last year and this year.
January 3rd, 2018 at 8:38 am
Gratz! And thank you for not allowing this site to become like the old Buccaneers official forum that they closed around 2007, it was then wasn’t it?
January 3rd, 2018 at 8:40 am
JBF is a very good site for Bucs fans. The key growth was the podcast and addition of Irv….Ira. I was being facetious on QBR comment above. Keep up the good work.
I like the comment vote button idea as I think some of the comments are dead on (tmax and db55) and others (DoNUTS) not so much. lol Bucs related Emoticons in comments? The podcast integration needs to be tighter and more visible thru the menu – maybe a menu font-color change would help. The current “pirate” font gets lost IMO.
Go Bucs!
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:20 am
Congrats and keep it up!
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:30 am
You Go Joe’s! Always fun to have a site where fact is mixed with opinion. Keep up the good work
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:38 am
Great job. Next year when Bucs do better your uniques will skyrocket.
I have just one piece of advice.
Shorten the podcasts. 20 minutes max. An hour is just too long. I listened to one podcast this year. One! I go through the comments to get the jist of what was said but it’s usually Tmax blaming GMC for everything 🙁
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:47 am
Nice work JoeBucsFan team… This is the ONLY site I visit everyday, no matter what.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:47 am
Stop putting every one of my post “Under further review,” status and I’ll be glad to contribute more. Congratulations however on your current market accomplishments.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:51 am
Congratulations, you get better and better. I’ve been addicted to your site since I found you the first year you launched. Over time you have become my only source for Bucs news except the little bit of interesting stuff you find from the team site.
You keep on doing what you’re doing and I will keep coming back nultiple times a day. There are a few great ideas in the other comments, I particularly like thumbs up/down on comments……
Wishing you a great 2018!
January 3rd, 2018 at 10:22 am
Simple answer – bring back the Hooters Calendar girls. JBF is just not the same without them.
January 3rd, 2018 at 10:27 am
Hey Joe’s , I am 39 years old & a life long bucs fan . I grew up in Seminole Florida & now stuck in Ohio . my point is I love everything you guys have done for me . I barley visit another bucs site due to the fact that morning , noon or night you Joe’s provide me with up to the minute news , notes & info on everything bucs ! I can wake up at 5am & there is a new post . I check at lunch & there is 5 or more new posts & I can even get back on late , late night & here we go ! More bucs thoughts to feul my addiction ! Great great job you Joe’s have done all year for me & keep it coming ! I also love the fact that even tho I might not agree with everything you guys post it’s a great opportunity to be able to get involved in the comments & post why I feel differently knowing you guys are in tune with your fans , I might get a response from you ! Someone that’s close to the action & I love it !
January 3rd, 2018 at 11:05 am
Congratulations!
January 3rd, 2018 at 11:38 am
Do I get a check?
January 3rd, 2018 at 11:45 am
My only gripe with JBF is that, with the addition of the podcasts, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with all of the quality content!
For those who complain about the ads… they make all of this possible!
January 3rd, 2018 at 12:20 pm
Yet another victim of the Bucs sorry, cursed 2017 campaign
January 3rd, 2018 at 12:21 pm
You would have hit those numbers easily if the Bucs had been marginally good.
January 3rd, 2018 at 1:22 pm
When the Bucs play better, you’ll receive more traffic. 5 wins doesn’t help the bottom line for anyone.
Suggestion – find ex Bucs to do a podcast / dictate you an article each week. Would love to hear more insight the pen and mic club does not have access to. They can be as dirty as they want to be a la the Commish (without the fan calls).
January 3rd, 2018 at 1:29 pm
Love the site and the freedom to debate as lonf as we stay within the parameters. Rules are rules…have to have them.
But Joe’s, about 3 months ago an issue started with my mobile access. I would access a few pages to read during my breaks at work since my net connection there is horrible unless I get close to an outside door (huge place). So I cant always do that. Anyways, I could access the pages, turn off my internet (so it wont drain my battery) and still see them at break. The past 3 months when I try to pull it up on my phone w/o internet turned on, it says page unavailable (when i used to be able to pull it up and no problem). Now I cant visit as much and save the page open to read later when I work. Its very aggravating. If its happening to others too, that might limit how much your site is viewed.
Just sharing my situation. I figure its a code thats been added to the site to cut off the page from being viewed if its not available (at that moment) from the internet. Otherwise, keep up the great work.
January 3rd, 2018 at 1:59 pm
I check this site out daily when the season is on. That says it all. 🙂
January 3rd, 2018 at 2:56 pm
CONGRATS!!!!!!…..I LOVE THIS SITE!!!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
January 3rd, 2018 at 4:20 pm
Any chance you can make an app or am I just unaware of it?
January 3rd, 2018 at 4:23 pm
The best place to come for all your essential and nonsensical Bucs news. I like the fact you don’t try to fit into the status quo of reporting but keep it fresh and professional with alot of great humor. The fact you have positive and negative as well as confrontational posters makes it the most interesting site in sports. The only thing that brings it down are some of the maroons who post and all the flash adds on the site. They really really slow my internet down to a crawl as its doing this very minute. The two different Joe’s with separate writing styles is cool.
So congrats to you Joe’s for a great job on a great site. Just don’t change the good things about it!
January 3rd, 2018 at 4:45 pm
Joe..Thanks for having this site. I meam it lets me vent and I like the way you just..put it out there and let us..DOGS either eat it up or go at each other. A Buc Life is a hard life. And not very pleasamt. I hope one day..we will all see our Bucs become Champs again. Unfortunately, I don’t see that for another 4 or 5 years. But one never knows. Great site and keep up the good Work!!
January 3rd, 2018 at 5:41 pm
I thought the city of Lakeland population was greater than the amount of Bucs fans.
January 3rd, 2018 at 6:53 pm
It’s the best site for everything Bucs. I was having withdrawal symptons when away. Go Joe’s and go Bucs.
January 3rd, 2018 at 8:37 pm
Thanks for all the coverage Joes!!!! Glad there’s a place I can vent my frustrations about my team and not be considered a raving lunatic
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:40 pm
Bring back the ‘Morning Cup of Joe’!!!
January 4th, 2018 at 12:37 am
Thanks for all the kind words guys. Without readers like you, this site doesn’t exist.
To do one right — Joe doesn’t want to do one half-arsed — it would be terribly expensive.
January 5th, 2018 at 3:46 pm
I appreciate the site and enjoy posting now and then. My compliments would be the access JBF has to all of the workings around the Bucs and all of the information you put out there specifically about the players and who is winning battles and who is losing them. Most of the writing here is well done from a journalistic standpoint. It is a better read getting the facts and the stories vs a site that is specifically driven by opinions.
There has been a handful of articles that seem written through “rose colored” glasses. I think one of the fundamental issues with the Bucs has been the lack of focus and lack of hard hitting by many players and coaches. The way they start off the games in a sleep mode is something that cannot be overlooked because they have rallies later in the games.
No pass rush, fumbles, interceptions, no points, fouled up communications are all indications that the players and coaches are not buying into the system 100% and players and coaches making same mistakes aren’t changing. Its a broken record.
I suppose its accountability and perhaps because the Glazers havn’t been accountable to put a higher quality product on the field it is filtering down to the players and coaches.
I hope the JBF commentary turns more towards the steps we fans and your writers think will fix this broken ballclub and allow this losing Buc team to do what Philadelphia, Minnesota, Los Angeles, Jacksonville and Buffalo did. Those teams were all lost in the desert and now they are in the playoffs with their fan base excited. This fan base hasn’t had much to be happy with.