Review: (NSR) 2012 Mods Review

Right arm, Monty! Right arm!

 

Does the constant negative threads cut tiresome. Yeah sure it does. But that happens on EVERY message board. I frequent three boards (Pats, Bruins and Revs) and believe it or not this one is pretty damn tame. The Pats board after a loss is unreadable and the Bruins board well we know that is not a happy place.

The point is get over it, it is sports and it is 95% of the time going to be negative. Even when winning.

P.S. Monty how you like to be a Gang Green message board moderator ha

 

It is true that while it can get negative.... And I believe any honest board should when necessary, it never goes too far overboard. That shows the quality of this board. And I have to say, Monty, is very rational.... AND funny.

 

KraftOut is exhibit #1 in why you need a thick skin if you want to post on the Revs boards. But he's not the only poster who lacks the basic civility you expect at work, among friends, in your local bar -- pretty much everywhere except some corners of the internet.

Again, its possible to discuss a struggling team without the posters insulting each other. See for example the Best XI discussion currently on the Philadelphia board; people there are having lengthy disagreements and no one is calling anyone a douche or posting derisive laughter.

Brazile has it right, I think. There's no point in asking people to behavior differently, and the mods here do have a difficult job. Obviously the handful of people still posting regularly here (15? 20?) are comfortable with in-yer-face stye of discussion. Fine. Carry on. I'll continue to read for the news and the occasional interesting analysis and I'll go elsewhere when I feel like participating in soccer discussion.

 

We've been waiting for you to actually participate in discussions about soccer here since you signed up.

 

Is that really how you take it? Attacks and insults? I always thought it was just playful banter, good-natured teasing. And based on some of your replies, where it seemed you were playing along, I thought you took it that way as well.

In the same vein, Monty (patfan1) was teased for years about being a "media whore" (not to mention a Mexican). All in good fun. Sorry if you took it otherwise.

 

My personal bias is for Fans of a team to treat each other with respect and save their pith, snark and attacks for 'OUTSIDERS".

 

This thread is the epitome of the Revs Bigsoccer board: personal attacks and egos. The mods could do more in reigning in discussions and enforcing TOS.

Bigsoccer isn't the only forum to discuss soccer. I suspect that, like myself, many former posters have moved on.

 

Is that because you stopped going to games and supporting the team or because you were turned off by BigSoccer?

 

N

Neither?

While I am not a season ticket holder anymore I still make at least 5 games a year. I choose to discuss soccer in forums other than this one.

 

Please check your inbox.

 

So you came back here just to tell us you post on other soccer forums?

I guess you aren't among the 72% who approve of the mods' performance.

 

Lots of lurkers read this forum, but do not post due to the polarized nature of responses. The mods do okay given the material they have to work with.

Personally, I rarely post here anymore. Any news thread degenerates all too quickly into a series of posts by folks on my ignore list.

 

I've noticed that all three of those that you frequent are New England sports forums.

This type of angst is not universal in sports, on message boards, or on the internet generally. New England fan culture seems to be the most melodramatic, entitled, and self-loathing around (outside of New York, where the entitlement goes through the roof but the self-loathing isn't as obvious). Philadelphia fan culture just hates everyone but itself.

For me, while the KAD vs. NNN thing has gotten really old and some posters beat seemingly unrelated dead horses in the strangest places, the ignore list works wonders and this is still the best place for news about the team. I only wish that some of the old posters who brought substance and humor would come back. I know several of them are lurkers but don't bother posting because of the environment.

 

It's a thread in which the moderators asked for feedback, so wolfp10's posts were on topic. He came back to tell the mods why he left.

And that 72% -- that is a total of 24 people. These board are a lot like the Fort -- a small band of rabid fans. If you share their world view, it's probably a lot of fun to post here -- which would explain the frequency of posting by the one or two dozen regulars. If not, then not so much.

 

I think I understand why he's suggesting Philly fans get a pass, they do indeed have plenty to be negative about. I mean, they're from Philadelphia.

 

Sorry. I didn't realize you were seriously asking a question -- I thought you were just nit-picking my post, looking for something to disagree with, and I'm really not interesting in debating you.

If you are really wondering what I was saying . . . it's pretty straightforward. I wasn't comparing the relative woe-ness of the Union and the Revs. I said that other boards aren't all as negative in tone as the Revs boards, and I used Philly as an example. I said they do have a lot to be unhappy about (their coach unaccountably traded away their stars and broke up a play-off contender for no apparent reason) and yet the posters on that board are not calling each other douches and typing derisive laughter and parsing each others posts to find weaknesses they can exploit.

 

Huh? I didn't say anything about giving Philly fans a pass. I said they have a lot to be disappointed about and yet they keep their discussion a lot more civil than what you find on these boards.

And I guess you're joking about Philadelphia, but if you're serious, I am curious what you don't like about the city. I lived there for years and for me its right up there with Boston as one of the best, most liveable, most interesting cities in the country.

 

A generalized version of the above statement really should be the slogan for this board.

 

After reading all these posts there are so many replies I'd like to make but "the tone" suggests I should not quote anyone. Random thoughts:

1. For those of you taking issue with the mods, what would you really have them do differently? Is it really that easy to decide when to cut someone off. What offends you may be interesting discussion to someone else, even someone who, in this thread, is broadly dissatisfied with the mods. In general, regardless of how you voted, who here is willing to step up and do the job, let alone do it "better?"

2. It's all in point of view I guess. Many of the people crying foul to pithiness, snarkiness, etc. have seemed, to me, very much the pot calling the kettle black at times.

3. If you want every post to be "balanced" I suggest you are frustrated there isn't more press coverage. That's the place for balanced writing. These boards are for passion.

4. If you find another board "more civil" have you actually tried posting there? Until you've emotionally invested in a post only to have someone piss on it in reply, no matter how civilly, your view might be too detached to carry weight?

5. Posting by everyone to these boards strikes me as dramatically down. Does anyone have access to statistics? How many posts in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012? The theory seems to be that only the negative are posting here now but I think all posting is down and I suggest it reflects (lack of) interest in a team that has become pretty consistent in how it is (unsuccessfully) run.

"Personal attacks" aside, my read of the anti-mod posts is that it is too negative here. I find that ironic. I have to say that I often feel I'm drowning in a sea of unfounded optimism on these boards. Maybe that's just how I am. Still, I don't want the mods to change at all.