Mon, Oct 13, 2008

Sports

Redesign gives UA Web site fresh look

By Patrick Finley
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.22.2008
The Arizona Wildcats have finished a redesign, but it has nothing to do with jerseys or logos or Wilbur the Wildcat.
The athletic department today will unveil a redesigned Web site at www.arizonaathletics.com.
Here's a quick tour:
Why change?
The UA decided to switch to CBS College Sports — formerly CSTV — from Epic Cycle Interactive, a Web service that had run, among others, the Oakland Raiders' site.
All but two Pac-10 teams now use CBS College Sports, making it easier to share live stats and box scores. And with the site's GameTracker function — which the UA used last year for free — allows fans to follow sporting events in real time.
The new site also will allow for easier compatibility on cell phones and features a desktop function that will alert fans with news.
"Everyone wanted some changes, some updates, to refresh the site," said Mike Lowery, the UA athletic department's systems analyst and Web coordinator. "We'll have a lot more up-to-date features."
New look
The redesigned site places what Lowery calls "a larger, more enticing" video at the middle of the screen, sharing a tab with headlines and a calendar of events.
Lowery also wanted to make what he called "common links" — the UA's mission statement and ticket information, for example — in the middle of the page.
"What you might be coming to look for that might not be intuitive," he said. "We're trying to get it out there at the front. Maybe this is something you might not think to look for."
Cost
Watching or listening to sports is now more expensive.
Listening to a streaming radio broadcast of UA football and men's basketball games will no longer be free. To listen, you must purchase the Web site's Comcast All-Access subscription.
Last year, an All-Access subscription ran $9 per month or $75 per year. For the upcoming season, the price is $9.95 per month or $79.95 per year.
The subscription includes streaming video of most live home sporting events — albeit not football or men's basketball. Audio for all other UA sports is free.
Mac users, listen up!
UA fans with Apple computers should have an easier time watching video and listening to audio. Previously, Mac users had to make an extra configuration change on their computers to make the player run correctly.
The Web site also gives the athletic department the capability to produce podcasts that will be loaded to iTunes by CBS College Sports.
More blue?
The redesigned site seems to feature more blue. Only the tabs and the word "Arizona" are in red. The rest is mostly white type on a navy-blue background.
Although Arizona can't seem to decide if it is blue with red accents or red with blue accents, Lowery said not to read too much into it. He said there were "internal discussions" about whether the site used enough red.
"It looks good, so we shouldn't mess with it too much," he said.