For the past season and a half, everyone's been really great at going in and out of rival team forums and discussing topics and matches without being a nuisance to the club regulars. With as little traffic as we get on the WPS boards, it makes sense to let people come and go so long as they're civil. But recently there's been posters who think it's OK to talk smack in team fan threads or start ripping on a player or coach. This is trolling. Even if it's meant in jest, or as a light-hearted jab, the forum regulars don't appreciate it. If you feel the need to make such comments, do so in the Women's Rivalry forum. Start a thread, talk trash, rip a player, have fun. But keep it out of the normal WPS forums. If you think someone's trolling in your forum, hit the report this post button under the person's username. It's the exclamation point icon and will alert the mods to the offending posts. This is everyone's warning. (The above applies only to the individual team forums -- meaning light smack is fair game in the main forum unless it gets out of hand.)
So we can talk smack and smear all other teams in our own Fan threads and not let anyone else from the teams we smear fanbase to make any comments ? Just trying to clarify rules here. I want to know that if I want talk bad about a team, using slur names for their team and players that they cannot respond in our forum.....
i think yes. you can sit at your bar table and talk crap about whoever you want. if the table next to you doesn't like it they can talk crap louder about whoever they want. if you two tables need to settle your differences the bartender demands that you take it outside.
Yes. If anyone wants to start anything, they'll have to do it in the women's rivalry forum. I'm not trying to limit the flow of people between forums -- that's definitely not my intention. Everyone's free to jump in and discuss matches and issues in another team forum without being labeled a troll. But if the only reason you're posting is to insult the team or a player or coach, then that is trolling.
It seems to me you are, at best, drawing a very fine line, and at worst being really silly and having a chilling effect on these boards. These are professional teams, not amateurs. IMO, the purpose of team threads is to discuss the team in all its aspects. If that includes thrashing a player, coach or squad, so be it. As long as posters have reasons and can make it an interesting post, I think its fine. Besides, who is to say which is my Home thread, and which is not. What if I live in Chicago and cheer for the Beat? Or live in a town without a team? Maybe I haven't seen the offending posts, and would agree with you if I had, but in principal this seems overly controlling and thin skined. People on these boards know how to ignore trolls. Just my opinion.
I live in a town/state without a team. My home thread is Sky Blue FC because that is the team in the league that I support most. (That was easy) I don't think she's targeting constructive criticism, but more so people just showing up to start trouble. I don't know about any other posters of their relm, but I don't want garbage contributing to my fan board's post count. If you're bold enough to just show up and back someone into a corner to fight and talk trash then you should be bold enough to do so out in public. Kitten's analogy is very very fitting. I believe the same rules apply in other areas of this board.
The "offending" posts are here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1298513&page=33 (See the posts headed "Dear SBFC fans....") I think the bottom line is that there's a difference between critiquing and insulting.
98% of the people on the WPS boards know the difference already and abide by this rule whether they know it or not. It's the other 2% that doesn't seem to get it and routinely get their posts trashed. So, it's not as if I'm suddenly punishing everyone or even changing the rules of the game. Trolling has always been a BS TOS violation. It's one thing to discuss a player and say, 'Wow, you know, Seger really sucked out there today, she looked off her game,' while discussing a match. But quite another to go into a thread and post 'I hate Boston! I hope Kelly Smith breaks her leg! Your team sucks!' When things like that happen, it doesn't matter what your team affiliation is -- it's clear you don't care about discussion. And finally, if a team's fans want to start a team fan thread and sit around and talk with each other, I feel that they should have that as their own little hang out and not have to accommodate rival fans coming in and spoiling it for them. The men's forums have enough traffic that they can use their entire forums for this purpose. Hell, during the WUSA days, the team forums then were run much the same way. Atlanta would openly trash the Courage and Spirit in every single thread. And then the Spiritless and Cowardly lions would mock the mighty Beat Down in their forums. Believe it or not, it was damn fun and built some great friendships and rivalries. So, to summarize: Nothing's really changed. If you're going to trash talk, don't do it in team forums and fan threads. Go to women's rivalries and slug it out.
Tell me Freedumb fan, do your ears still ring with a thousand little girls screaming MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAA?
I have to disagree with you Bonnie Lass. What I like about the WPS forums is that they ARE NOT like the MLS forums where a fan of one team goes to another team's thread just to give an honest opinion and gets ridiculed and trashed and has their mother cussed out. Many of us on the WPS boards know each other. I personally know many posters here from traveling all over the country to watch USWNT games, WPS games or college games. I also know many parents of players who read these boards and media. I've been doing this in the women's game for over 15 years. Yes, there are times when we go overboard on piling on and/or trying to prove our point or playing the devil's advocate. But I consider us as a WPS "family" where I do not feel so on the MLS boards. Thus I post more here. If this is pertaining to the Hope Solo discussion, I don't think anyone is trolling, just giving an honest discussion between "family" members. I, as a Chicago Red Stars fan have no problem with another WPS team fan coming on our thread and giving an opinion. On anything.
Have you read the whole thread? If someone wants a fan thread, they get to have it without others coming in and starting shit. Out and out trolls get trashed. The discussion and flow between forums doesn't change.
Can something be taken to the current Rivalry forum when posters are bickering about constellations in the past? Just wondering about the etiquette when there's a new league.
I am offended by your constant cussing, so clean up your own act before you tell people to clean up theirs, please.
Cussing isn't trolling. BS censors all of the really bad words. If you don't like it, don't read my posts.
If I say that next year the Chicago Red Stars are going to smack down all other WPS teams, would that be considered Trolling?