I ask this here only because the people who participate in this particular forum in general seem like decent, respectful human beings. Can anyone recommend a really good soccer forum besides Bigsoccer.com? I'm constantly blown away by how many threads are filled with hateful, racist, negative boneheads who seem to do nothing but try and bring others down. I'm amazed at the level of anger and hatred exibited by a good percentage of members. I very much like the referee forum and will continue to post here. Thanks.
This is the only soccer message board I frequent. And recommending others might be a Terms of Service issue. I never go into any of the Rivalry or Politics forums unless I'm in the mood for attacks. You can customize your "MY" bigsoccer or use "New Posts" ignoring those forums. I agree that it's a downer, but by creating and using those forums we can have a place to direct all trashtalk - freeing up most other forums. Most moderators elsewhere will edit, remove, or redirect insulting posts in the "good forums".
Thanks for the response. I don't understand though why racisit behavior is tolerated. I was sure that it was against all forum rules. Then I see a member with 2500 posts say that the Mexican league sucks because it's full of Mexicans. I don't get it.
Sadly several other soccer message boards out there offer significantly more inane and inconsiderate posts (to be kind) than our board. Bigsoccer is the best soccer board in terms of content. I think by and large the moderators do a good job and quite honestly, the level of inappropriate posts is significantly lower today than it was a year or more ago. I don't see anywhere near as many offensive and racist posts today as in previous years. What I have noticed is a similar reduction in the quality of posts. There use to be more posts of quality than there are now. I know I certainly post less frequently on this forum given that the nature of mosts threads are generally speaking repetitive of topics covered in previous threads. If I have nothing to add to the conversation, there is no need to post.
I look in on many message or information settings. I can attest that the character of many has a bias or at least a leaning to national perspectives. Those that simply permit trash to proliferate drive any sane person away eventually. The moderators here and those who regularly posted particularity in the beginning always had interesting and informative threads. Much has been talked about so that those who posted regularly tend to be repeating or perhaps only finding nuances in subject matter pretty much beat to death. Of course like a good joke that is funny any relevant information you yourself are not aware of is of course fodder for discussion. Fellow contributors like MASSREF who was a great addition to the information agenda on this board post less I assume since most of the circular nature of the threads we revisit the same subject matter time after time. Not to cause friction here as I truly enjoy this board other sites I will step up and say offer perspective that is of a beneficial nature. In the USA <SOCREF-L@PETE.URI.EDU> IN Great Britain the best PERSONAL website (in my opinion)http://www.carosi.freeserve.co.uk/corshamreferee/ The RA site http://www.footballreferee.org/discus/index.html There are some good information sites but they all have a distinctiveness that some find appealing others do not. http://asktheref.com/ is a totally non affiliated site that has considerable output but for final word all referees need to go to their national sites IN the USA. Jim Allen (National Instructor Staff/National Assessor), assisted by Dan Heldman (National Instructor Staff). offer the most credible source askareferee@ussoccer.org <askareferee@ussoccer.org> http://www.ussoccer-data.com/ is a topic discussion of the pro league and has many downloadable programs http://www.edmontonrefs.com/forum/ http://www.officialsports.co.uk/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi http://ausref.com/phpBB2/ these three are well organised sites There are many other sites and good intentions aside fragmenting the discussions is not in my opinion, the best way to increase knowledge among referees. I feel we could be better off to consolidate discussion rather than fragment it over many different websites. Still those of us who care about this game enjoy sharing our views and learning from our fellow referees that no matter where we are in the world we stand united in the spirit of fairplay. My advise use the sites that appeal to your sense of justice and consider all opinions with an open mind but VERIFY tangible outcomes with national directives.
Well...I suspect that part of the problem you see may simply reflect the different interests and perspectives of the posters: On this forum, we're generally all referees...or, at least, interested in learning about rules and officiating. So our discussions generally revolve around a shared goal --- improving ourselves as officials, or getting a better understanding of the game --- and lead us to share helpful ideas and concepts. In addition, we all realize how important a strong ego is on the pitch...since it permits us to withstand all sorts of abuse from the sidelines...and so we usually try to cut each other some slack (with varying degrees of success, of course...but we all mean well), if only to buck one another up, through the hard times. But since most first-class officials also possess a healthy amount of humilty as well, most of us realize that we're not the final repository of all wisdom on the planet...and that we can only learn by listening to each other. On the other hand...many of the other forums involve people with partisan interests --- and, as uncharitable as it may sound, many (though by no means all) of them are the same types who taunt and abuse us from the sidelines. So...I suspect that the combination of fierce partisan pride and no real shared goal tends to bring out the worst in some of them. Multiply this over time...and the result is often mindless bickering --- which can sometimes be hateful and abusive. On occasion, any of us may exhibit some of the same traits here. But there will usually be plenty of people on hand ready to blow the whistle, and point the other way...so it never gets very far. Jeff Caminsky Livonia, Michigan
This is not a complete answer. While some boards are populated by people with a bias of some sort, there are several "open" boards full of refs or rule-interested people as you say that still have personalitys which create interesting perspectives. I am active on three boards and visit others regularly. This board is US based, although not restricted to US refs and that leads to discussions of the top US teams or top US refs as well as the laws. Another board originates in England but has contribuitors from all over the world and we often discuss the local interpretations of the laws. A third board is more personal than this one and several of the contributors know and often joke with each other. Instead of focusing on the laws, we get to know each other's backgrounds and family members who are also involved in soccer. Comments often revolve around the best way to handle situations instead of what we are allowed or not allowed to do. These are all interesting in their own ways. The only downside is that we so often see the same questions posted on different boards because someone doesn't like the answer one place and asks it elsewhere.