Web forum gives fans opportunity to chat

It's 6 p.m. and gametime quickly approaches. In a little under an hour the Bonnies will tip off against the Boston College Eagles. In Olean, 475 miles from the game, mild-mannered postal employee John Firkel assumes his alter ego, Fox. Fox is the driver of the fanatic Web site BonniesBandwagon.org, a site dedicated to all things Bonnies basketball.

Fox took over the duties of webmaster in 1999, two years after the site was founded by then-St. Bonaventure student Scott Rucinski. When he graduated in 1999 and took a job out of the area, Rucinski asked Firkel, a friend of the family, to take over as the leader of basketball afficianados who frequent the Bandwagon.

"When they asked me, I said, 'Sure. Why not?' It sounded like fun, and it has been," he said.

As part of becoming webmaster, Firkel adopted the moniker Fox.

"I work for the post office, and I was a fan of 'The X Files' so I naturally picked the name Fox, as he's one of my co-government workers, sort of," Fox joked.

For about an hour every morning before and after work, Fox logs on to the Bandwagon to update the scores, check the links and read over the new messages. Despite the hours he puts into it, Fox wouldn't want it any other way.

"I make no money off this Web site, and I don't want to," Fox said. "I've been a Bona fan my whole life. Always."

Since Fox took over, the Bandwagon has gone on an impressive run. From its birth, over 1.7 million fans have jumped on the Bandwagon. Fox says that currently the site receives about 1,000 to 1,200 daily hits. Although Fox says most of the hits are from the East Coast, there are also hits from the Midwest, California and from points around the globe. Fans who frequent the Bandwagon range from students to alumni and even former Bonnies players.

"Peter van Paassen is on every morning from Belgium. We have quite a few from Argentina that are regular visitors and some from Lithuania, I assume they're friends with Saulis Dumblauskis. They're pretty diverse," Fox said.

The Bandwagon's message board is not limited to just Bonnies basketball talk. Discussions range from talk of the strength of the Atlantic 10 conference, to political discussions, to banter about who was the best athlete ever to come from the Olean area. The Bonnies' recruits are one of many hot topics discussed. Long before the men's basketball team signed Dan Cage and Patrick Tatham for next season, they were the topic of rumors and speculation on the Bandwagon. On Wednesday, a fan posted Tatham's stats from his latest high school basketball game.

The Bandwagon is also a sponsor of the St. Bonaventure Pep Band. After hearing that the band was in need of sponsorship, Fox put a request on the message board asking for help in earning the $1,000 needed to sponsor the band. Within two weeks Fox received $1,200 in donations from alumni and fans.

Aside from the cyber sports bar of conversation on the message board, the Bandwagon also offers links to sites related to the Bonnies and Atlantic 10 basketball as well as links to local newspapers.

There is no television coverage for the Boston College game, so soon the Bandwagon's chatroom fills up with fans from throughout the United States and the world. Dunga, an alumnus who comes to the chat room to talk about the game, hails from Libson, Portugal. Fans from Atlanta, Ga.; Jackson, Miss.; and Midland, Mo., also meet in the chat room to discuss the Bonnies' game plan and senior guard Joe Shepherd's improvement over the past year.
At halftime, they take a break from the basketball banter to talk about each other's families and catch up on old times.

"For those that can't get the game on the radio or listen on the Internet, they can just check back on the Bandwagon, on the message board and you have someone putting updates on every couple minutes," Fox said.

The patrons of the chat room profess their devotion to the Web site.

When asked what the Bandwagon mean to them, Bonadona, a fan, responded, "You mean the Web site that I can't live without?"

After each game, Fox posts the box scores as the board becomes flooded with many fans who come to put in their two cents on the Bonnies' performance. The loss to Boston College has the fans lamenting the Bonnies' poor shooting and looking ahead to their upcoming battle against Alabama with wariness. Despite the loss, Fox quells growing fears and offers a message of optimism.

"Now let's build on this and knock off the No. 3 team in the country on Saturday afternoon," Fox posts.