OT: 30 years and 30,000+ posts. Question for the board on OUR history here.

[DHajekRC84]

For unofficial #30k I'm feeling nostalgic. I recall finding and starting to post on whatever site this was called back in the mid-90's. The site changed and the counter was reset in Aug 2001 like many of you. I was JohnnyRingoes but changed because I kept getting confused with a guy named RingoesJim who liked to give big football practice reports. Then I decided to put my name on my posts and 1984 was gone.

I'm just having a hard time remembering exactly when this thing got started, how John O. got involved, etc. I remember folks talking about something called Exit 9?..edit:109. (which I never participated in).

Seen some people come and go but man has this thing grown under Richie. So what's the history fellas and what's your story?

 

[Bagarocks]

"I'm just having a hard time remembering exactly when this thing got started, how John O. got involved, etc."
Yea father time can do that to ya 🙂
but wow 30 thousand is Hugggggggge

 

[RUPete]

Late 90s, maybe even 2000 or 2001? There are probably several posters here who remember the exit 109 board or whatever it was called (I always get my exits mixed up). I remember following and posting on the old nj.com/nj college hoops forum when Bannon was here, but that board became a disaster. Then I migrated over here. There were some posters on nj.com who did the same.

 

[ScarletNut]

The Rutgers message boards started on a site called Exit 109 in the mid 90"s. I used to access it on dialup with Prodigy as my ISP. Some famous posters include Mike from West Orange who also used to appear on a radio show usually bashing Rutgers sports, and Big Dog (a former RU football player) who then went on to start his own site. Rivals went by another name and was run by Keith something or other. Not sure if Exit 109 morphed into another name I believe before morphing into 247. Brian Dohn ran that site and we would have a weekly recruiting online chat (typed, not audio). Finally, the main moderators of the original Rivals left for 247 some years ago.

 

[Arizona Knight]

I was an OG 109’er.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Exit109 and then, I believe, RutgersFan. I was on the latter before it morphed into Rivals.

 

[ClassOf02]

I started here when it was rutgersfan.com.

 

[bac2therac]

Here is your history lesson from Keith

I also stumbled upon the Exit 109 site on my Web TV in 97 after seeing some use net groups a day then of course rutgersfan.com and hundreds of thousands of post later...

The History of Rutgersfan.com

People have often asked me to recount the history of Rutgersfan.com and the history of Rutgers on the web in general. I have often told parts of the

rutgers.rivals.com

 

[DHajekRC84]

I started here when it was rutgersfan.com.

yes, that would have been my entry year/platform myself. I think that was John O's doing? Thanks (you too Spank).

 

[megadrone]

I stumbled into Exit 109 from AOL. then came back here in to 2002/2003 timeframe when the Big East was falling apart the first time. Hooked ever since.

 

[DHajekRC84]

Here is your history lesson from Keith

I also stumbled upon the Exit 109 site on my Web TV in 97 after seeing some use net groups a day then of course rutgersfan.com and hundreds of thousands of post later...

The History of Rutgersfan.com

People have often asked me to recount the history of Rutgersfan.com and the history of Rutgers on the web in general. I have often told parts of the

rutgers.rivals.com

That's freaking great. Thanks! So not mid-90's but late. Keith. A Legend. I'll read the whole thing later but what a super read so far. So the question asked in 2003 was just asked again 22 years later lol. I hope some of the younger crew appreciate where this thing has grown from.

 

[NotInRHouse]

Exit 109?

Was the program based in Lincroft then?

 

[wheezer]

We have had this discussion several times over the years

Many of us go back a long way, before the 109 site
I seem to remember an aol site that wad not restricted to any one fan base, we had many Seton Hall fans on it also
And even that was probably not the first

As far as this site in its current form, I believe I am the longest tenured still here
beginning June 3rd 2001

The same being true on the scout board

Its been,fun

 

[MADHAT1]

Can't say exactly when I joined but this board was under the Scarlet Nation name and I joined as Madhat, then lost that name due to a ISP ( Web TV to Prodigy) change and joined again as Madhat1 (April,2001 )
I wasn't a regular poster for a long time , I mainly posted on the NJO.com's Rutgers board and State of Rutgers board and occasionally ( very seldom) The Grease Truck board
Then when SOR became Scarlet Report started posting regularly on (Rival) Scarlet Nation and stayed when SN went to scout and The Knight Report became Rivals' Rutgers Board
About 500 more posts and I'll be joining the 30,000 club

 

[DJ Spanky]

Here is your history lesson from Keith

I also stumbled upon the Exit 109 site on my Web TV in 97 after seeing some use net groups a day then of course rutgersfan.com and hundreds of thousands of post later...

The History of Rutgersfan.com

People have often asked me to recount the history of Rutgersfan.com and the history of Rutgers on the web in general. I have often told parts of the

rutgers.rivals.com

For those of you who want to read the latest version of this, click here:

The History of RutgersFan.com

The links have changed because it's under .com now and not .org.

 

[onesimus]

I started becoming a regular on this board thanks to Brodo(?) who would post videos of Rutgers related content before Youtube was a thing.

Hope he's still around!

 

[thegock]

Can't say exactly when I joined but this board was under the Scarlet Nation name and I joined as Madhat, then lost that name due to a ISP ( Web TV to Prodigy) change and joined again as Madhat1 (April,2001 )
I wasn't a regular poster for a long time , I mainly posted on the NJO.com's Rutgers board and State of Rutgers board and occasionally ( very seldom) The Grease Truck board
Then when SOR became Scarlet Report started posting regularly on (Rival) Scarlet Nation and stayed when SN went to scout and The Knight Report became Rivals' Rutgers Board
About 500 more posts and I'll be joining the 30,000 club

I remember u from the NJ.com comments section, playing WAKA MOLE with the trolls. Good times.

 

[Loyal_2RU]

The Rutgers message boards started on a site called Exit 109 in the mid 90"s. I used to access it on dialup with Prodigy as my ISP. Some famous posters include Mike from West Orange who also used to appear on a radio show usually bashing Rutgers sports, and Big Dog (a former RU football player) who then went on to start his own site. Rivals went by another name and was run by Keith something or other. Not sure if Exit 109 morphed into another name I believe before morphing into 247. Brian Dohn ran that site and we would have a weekly recruiting online chat (typed, not audio). Finally, the main moderators of the original Rivals left for 247 some years ago.

Mike Fasano ran 109, later joined by Brian Dohn.

 

[29PAS]

I was an Exit 109er also. I knew the person behind it was Mike somebody and thanks to whoever it was who mentioned his last name, Fasano. I've often wondered if he posts here.

Before Exit 109, there was subscription snail-mailed newsletter but I can't remember the exact name. I'm pretty sure it came out every two weeks during football season and maybe that frequently during basketball season also. It was run by a guy from Temple who may have been from NJ and he did one for both schools. I moved back to this area in 1985 and found it shortly thereafter and it was a great source of info for a year or two. I liked it so much, I re-upped for a 2 yr subscription and he promptly went out of business right after!

 

[HPNJRUfan]

Found this website and started posting when it was still Rutgersfan.com in the summer of 2001. Schiano had just been named coach and after his first spring practice, the fact that Schwenk left because Cubit was named the starting QB (guess it helps to have your Father as OC) was all the talk.

I was 12 years old, we had just setup our home internet for the first time, and my Father (a university employee) got us season tickets for the first time. Life would never be the same.

 

[knightfan7]

Joined in 2003

At the time I was not thrilled with TOS so canc'd my sub and joined here.

 

[SHUSource]

We have had this discussion several times over the years

Many of us go back a long way, before the 109 site
I seem to remember an aol site that wad not restricted to any one fan base, we had many Seton Hall fans on it also
And even that was probably not the first

As far as this site in its current form, I believe I am the longest tenured still here
beginning June 3rd 2001

The same being true on the scout board

Its been,fun

A lot of the user dates show those early days in June 2001, but as I recall, that was the relaunch of rivals.com. Remember, these boards (PirateCrew.com, too) existed for a while -- maybe a year or more -- under the network name of Alliance Sports. But previous to that, it had been Rivals.com since 1997 or '98. Probably 1998. I know I go back to that, though I'm also marked as June 2001 on my profile -- that's just when it switched back to Rivals (or became Alliance; I honestly don't recall anymore). You probably do, too.

 

[HPNJRUfan]

A lot of the user dates show those early days in June 2001, but as I recall, that was the relaunch of rivals.com. Remember, these boards (PirateCrew.com, too) existed for a while -- maybe a year or more -- under the network name of Alliance Sports. But previous to that, it had been Rivals.com since 1997 or '98. Probably 1998. I know I go back to that, though I'm also marked as June 2001 on my profile -- that's just when it switched back to Rivals (or became Alliance; I honestly don't recall anymore). You probably do, too.

There was some other glitch or relaunch as well - hence why my date shows 2003, but I definitely first started posting summer of 2001...

 

[Spartared]

The 109 days during the Shea era was brutal. The year when he was named BE coach of the year gave some of us hope for the future vs those who predicted otherwise as we were throttled in all the losses to good teams. Boy, were they right.

 

[SHUSource]

There was some other glitch or relaunch as well - hence why my date shows 2003, but I definitely first started posting summer of 2001...

Yeah, I think there are smaller facts I've lost to time. Another thing that changed was that post counts used to accrue across sites, but Now I'm at 25,000-something on the Seton Hall board, and only 20,000-something here, a product of my much more frequent posting there than here (although I used to post here and on the BB board nearly as much!). Now they only accrue on a per-board basis.

 

[wheezer]

A lot of the user dates show those early days in June 2001, but as I recall, that was the relaunch of rivals.com. Remember, these boards (PirateCrew.com, too) existed for a while -- maybe a year or more -- under the network name of Alliance Sports. But previous to that, it had been Rivals.com since 1997 or '98. Probably 1998. I know I go back to that, though I'm also marked as June 2001 on my profile -- that's just when it switched back to Rivals (or became Alliance; I honestly don't recall anymore). You probably do, too.

Yes, June2001 was some sort of a launch
I do remember a previous board that was not as specific to RU or the Hall, that both schools were on
I distinctly remember an argument between the fans when it looked like SHU would get a bid(NIT?) And RU would not. And some RU fans were arguing not getting the bid was better, for some weird reason

Twas long ago

 

[DJ Spanky]

Yeah, I think there are smaller facts I've lost to time. Another thing that changed was that post counts used to accrue across sites, but Now I'm at 25,000-something on the Seton Hall board, and only 20,000-something here, a product of my much more frequent posting there than here (although I used to post here and on the BB board nearly as much!). Now they only accrue on a per-board basis.

Yes, when thread history launched in 2015 the post counts diverged on different boards, only accruing when you posted on that specific board. So, for example, if you had 10,000 posts when this occurred, and you posted 2,345 times here and 14 times on the Main Board, you'd have 12,345 posts here and 10,014 on the Main Board

 

[bac2therac]

This rival board definitely existed in its present form with many us posting in the late 90s despite the dates given but alas those totals were wiped away

 

[ScarletNut]

I was an Exit 109er also. I knew the person behind it was Mike somebody and thanks to whoever it was who mentioned his last name, Fasano. I've often wondered if he posts here.

Before Exit 109, there was subscription snail-mailed newsletter but I can't remember the exact name. I'm pretty sure it came out every two weeks during football season and maybe that frequently during basketball season also. It was run by a guy from Temple who may have been from NJ and he did one for both schools. I moved back to this area in 1985 and found it shortly thereafter and it was a great source of info for a year or two. I liked it so much, I re-upped for a 2 yr subscription and he promptly went out of business right after!

In 97 and 98, I actually wrote the football recruiting updates for a newsletter called the Big East Football Report. Richard Kent was the owner of the newsletter. It was fun but doing the research back then with dial up and snail mail was time consuming.

 

[Rhuarc]

I'll never forget the day that I logged into Exit 109 and read about OO making us a national champion when he came here. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

 

[RUPete]

I'll never forget the day that I logged into Exit 109 and read about OO making us a national champion when he came here. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Yup. There were a few of those false alarms - that was a big one, Josh Moore was another.

 

[bac2therac]

Yup. There were a few of those false alarms - that was a big one, Josh Moore was another.

nothing will top Aditi writing that shameful piece taking the worst reactions from our board after Lance Thomas spurned us. She even used posts from Richard Kent and a 14 year old Josh

 

[T2Kplus20]

Joined in 2003

At the time I was not thrilled with TOS so canc'd my sub and joined here.

 

[T2Kplus20]

I'll never forget the day that I logged into Exit 109 and read about OO making us a national champion when he came here. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Those days when you were young, gullible, and had hope!

I started posting here in 2005. Don't remember how or why. LOL.

 

[RUinPinehurst]

On this momentous occasion, may I suggest a befitting subtitle for our beloved Rivals presence?

THE KNIGHT REPORT: ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE.

I kid.... I kid....

 

[RUPete]

nothing will top Aditi writing that shameful piece taking the worst reactions from our board after Lance Thomas spurned us. She even used posts from Richard Kent and a 14 year old Josh

Maybe, but we were at our worst during that time if I recall correctly. Sometimes they just have to call them as they see them.

 

[newell138]

I had the Same username on exit 109. I forgot all about the NJ.com forum, what a mess that place was. I also remember that witch Ann who moderated the SHU board when we were more rivalrous and she had a quick trigger finger banning anyone who spoke ill of SHU

 

[RU848789]

I remember stumbling upon some of the old RU related use.net sites before internet browsers became available, but the text only capabilities kind of sucked, so I mostly just read posts and updates and then once the internet was really born with graphics and browsers, it was cool to see sites like KnightCourt (John O's first site), Rutgersfan.com (Keith's first site), Joel Recht's page and more.

But then, like many of you, I discovered Mike Fasano's Exit 109, which was the best RU sports site on the then nascent WWW. Loved scrolling through the white on black posts and RU stories getting my fix of RU sports news from an insider. And then when he created a message board, I was hooked - and luckily he let Keith take that over sometime in 1998 on Rutgersfan.com, which gave us a much better board and it's been like that pretty much since then, apart from the restart in 2001.

Those early Rutgersfan tailgates, with nametags for everyone, since nobody knew anyone's real name, lol, were a lot of fun, since for many of us, it was hard to find anyone to go to RU games during the Shea Error. I had 2 tix back then and half the time I couldn't even find one person to go when my wife and/or young son didn't go, so it was fun to tailgate with like-minded RU dreamers and I recall the incredible optimism when Schiano was hired and he held The Meeting and we started getting at least decent recruits. I still see Mike Fasano at an occasional football game, as he's a few rows back from us in 224

By year 3, I had my first taker on tickets and went to 4 season tix and stopped going to the Rutgersfan tailgates and that happened for many of us - but a lot of the folks who went to the Rutgersfan tailgates also went to most of the RU bowls during Schiano 1.0, which was fun. By 2006 we were up to a group of 12 and we've been 12-14 since then. Been RU848789 the entire time and started doing winter weather posts in the early 2000s, which is when I started doing weather emails; the gameday weather threads started a couple of years later. Still a shame we have no post history prior to 2015, though. What a long strange trip it's been...

 

[RU848789]

I had the Same username on exit 109. I forgot all about the NJ.com forum, what a mess that place was. I also remember that witch Ann who moderated the SHU board when we were more rivalrous and she had a quick trigger finger banning anyone who spoke ill of SHU

Shhhh. Keith and Ann eventually got married, lol. Haven't heard from Keith in years, but I'm still in touch with John O and as I just said in my other post, I still see Mike Fasano at RU games once in awhile as he's also in 224.

 

[T2Kplus20]

Shhhh. Keith and Ann eventually got married, lol. Haven't heard from Keith in years, but I'm still in touch with John O and as I just said in my other post, I still see Mike Fasano at RU games once in awhile as he's also in 224.

I remember John O for making a truly asinine business decision by moving to a vastly inferior site and expecting everyone to follow. Tough lesson to learn.