If you haven’t already noticed, last night we released a new version of the Play-by-Play that has some really cool new features. You can still see a snapshot of the site Play-by-Play on the home page, as well as tag- and member-specific Play-by-Plays on all section and profile pages, but clicking the “View” links below each snapshot will take you to the new dedicated Play-by-Play pages for each tag or member, or the site as a whole.

These dedicated pages show all recent site activities—meaning new articles, comments, edits, Pick of the Day votes, Bulletin Board notes, and Editor Feedback. If you’re on a tag- or member-specific page, it will show the recent activities relevant to that specific tag or member.

But wait—there’s more. Not only do these new Play-by-Play pages show recent site activities, they update in real time as new activities occur. As new articles, comments, edits, and so on register on the site, they’ll automatically appear in the Play-by-Play—without requiring you to refresh the page in your browser. Pretty cool, huh?

Click here to view the new version of the full site Play-by-Play.

You can also filter by tag to easily see recent activities for different communities on the site that you care about. And for the truly vain writers out there, you can just leave your Play-by-Play up on your screen all day and watch in anticipation as the updates roll in.

As with any new feature on the site, we appreciate any feedback from the community, so let us know what you think in the comments.

Unlike most sports news and opinion outlets, Bleacher Report is a fans-first site. But every once in a while, it’s refreshing to be reminded that the sports journalists and analysts who cover our favorite teams are still fans themselves.

Last week, we were fortunate enough to publish an editorial from guest writer Bob Fitzgerald, television play-by-play voice of the Golden State Warriors. Fitz spends countless hours covering the NBA and brainstorming ways to make the league better. As such, we were thrilled that he chose B/R as a platform to gain feedback and exposure for his idea.

Within a 24 hour cycle, Fitz’s article on NBA realignment and playoff restructuring was the most popular and most commented article on the site—special thanks to our NBA Community for taking time to read and critique Bob’s proposal.

And a huge “Thank You” to Fitz for sharing his thoughts with us, and then going above and beyond by plugging Bleacher Report on his Bay Area radio show, Fitz & Brooks.

Rest assured: our goal is not to squeeze out the fan analyst with big name writers. But when a big name happens to be a big fan, it’s no surprise that he or she feels right at home on Bleacher Report.

A few people have been asking lately about how photos work on B/R, especially since we’ve added the option to upload your own photos to your articles.

Right now B/R licenses images from Icon Sports Media. Premium, professional quality photographs add a lot to a story, and we think it’s important for our writers to have access to a great library of images, without having to worry about copyright issues. While the B/R photo library is by no means exhaustive, we try our best to continually update it with great, relevant shots. If there is a photo we don’t have that you want to use, you can email photo guru Mike Eagan at photos@bleacherreport.com with your request and he’ll do his best to add it to the library.

Realizing that the photo library may not have exactly what you’re looking for, we also recently added the ability to upload your own photos to your articles, a feature that was in high demand from some of our best writers. This has led to a greater diversity of images on the site, and a more freedom for the writer when choosing how their work will be presented. However, there are a few things to consider before hitting the “Upload Photo” button.

The first consideration is copyright concerns. When uploading your own photos, you should either own the image or have permission from the copyright holder. If there is an image you’re dying to use that is copyrighted, you can usually find the contact info for the photographer or publication it was originally printed in and send a request for usage.

Or you can take your chances and post the photo if you feel that the image falls under the doctrine of “Fair use”. Fair use is an ambiguous concept, but generally if you’re writing about a subject and the photo you want to use adds to and/or is necessary for the commentary, then fair use generally applies.

The second aspect to consider when uploading your own photos is image quality. Bleacher Report writers take pride in the clean appearance of the network, and you should do your part to upload only photos that add, and don’t detract, from that quality. Uploaded photos must be at least 300px tall by 400px wide at 72dpi, and should not be blurry, low quality, or hard to identify.

Thirdly, photos should always be relevant to the article and tagged appropriately. Relevant photos add to the article text and, in some cases, amplify or augment the point you’re making in your article. Appropriate tags make the photos easily indexable in the library, and thus easier for other writers to find and use them when writing about similar subjects.

Finally, and this goes without saying, all uploaded photos should be appropriate for all audiences. Obscene or pornographic photos will be promptly removed and the members who upload them will have their accounts suspended.

Another request we get from time to time is for in-game photos, which we agree would be pretty freaking cool if added to the already powerful arsenal of the Bleacher Report writer. Rest assured, we’re currently working on a solution that will broadly expand our image library and include in-game photos in the offerings. Stay tuned for more news on that in the next couple months.

Any more questions on photos? Ask in the comments below.

Calling all Bleacher Creatures: a live chat room to discuss all things sport is now open for business!

Bleacher Report regular Greg Caggiano has taken the initiative and created the Open Source Sports Network’s first official chat room, courtesy of Meebo.com.

The chat room is open twenty-four hours a day—come visit to discuss your favorite teams and players with other Bleacher Report members.

To chat, you do not have to be a registered member of Meebo, though it is recommended. Once a member, you can create your own avatar…there are a host of great moderation features available, in addition to a private messaging system.

We plan on rolling out our own online chat solution right here on Bleacher Report sometime in the near future. This should hold all of you anxious Creatures over until then…

It was everything the Draft wasn’t: short, simple, to the point.

In the time it took the St. Louis Rams to decide on Mr. Irrelevant, you could have taken a crash course on the Top Five Games to Play During the NFL Draft. And to make it all the way to the David Vobora pick at 252, surely you must have been playing at least one of those games.

Out of more than forty entries, James Christensen authored the winning article in Bleacher Report’s 2008 NFL Draft Challenge. For his efforts, we’re sending James and a guest to the opening game of his choice this September.

Runner up honors go to Sean Crowe, who went for the sure thing… stoking the Raiders’ fire.

Good thinking, Sean. However, this is the NFL Draft we’re talking about, and even the best-laid plans have a tendency to backfire. Still, we’re sending an autographed, framed picture of Mel Kiper Jr. your way. He says you have “tremendous upside,” and are the odds-on favorite to win the 2009 Draft Challenge.

Congratulations to James and Sean, and thanks to all who participated.