Although I've not played much madden over the past two years, I have been around these parts for a fair few years and participated in many leagues/events. As I've done many times previously, I'd like to express my gratitude to all admins and staff members who put tremendous amounts of time and effort it to helping create a sustainable and fun environment for madden geeks.
With regards to the shout box I think Davo is bang on the money. When I used to be a league member and regular visitor to the site, I used to love the shout box as much as the next man. However, when I decided to give madden the elbow I still fully intended to visit and contribute to the forums regularly. The problem was that it was very apparent to me how, apart from the madden league tabs, the site was very quite with most activity happening on the shout box. As I was no longer a member of a league, I quickly felt far more detached from the site than I had intended. I know I could have made more of an effort, but more threads should help recreate the vibrancy the site had 3 years or so ago and help sustain all the leagues within it.
Big thanks to Riggs and Joe