Does anyone know what happened to Dick in Michigan?

[HarrisonJBounel]

He got frustrated by the way the board had changed. He didn't find it worthwhile to come here any more. He had no use for the sophomoric crxp that was becoming common place here (e.g., name-calling, threads full of nothing but half naked women and people trolling for tees).

Perhaps he would return if they were fully naked?

 

[Cheriehoop]

I think the most frustrating aspect is the hijacking of legitimate basketball/football threads so posters are forced to scroll through to find the on-topic responses vs the buddy joker responses. If it was in its own thread or in the humor forum then people would have the choice to ignore it or not. Having these separate inside joker threads within threads does make it difficult for other posters to ignore, respond on-topic or even read.

Also if the poster thinks their post is truly funny - why not post it in the humor forum? Why would that really diminish the "joke" or is part of the joke actually disrupting and hijacking the original thread? Just wondering. No one is saying everyone has to be serious on these forums - hell no- I know I love a laugh but it would be nice if humor attempts were at least on topic with the subject.

 

[CaptainJ]

I wanted to say that I'm a bit like Lawrinson and whomever else echoed his sentiments about a lot of what I want to say has already been said, and not being able to dissect some of the finer points of the game the way some folks on here can. I try to add something of value when I can, but not everyone is going to see the same value in things.

Sometimes I get passionate about things posted on here that intersect areas of "real life" and I go off on tangents, especially during the times that were slow for SU games. I have made an effort to tone it down this season, although it can be a struggle at times. I guess it's a matter of balance, just like the board itself and life in general.

I am not sure how much of CTO's post was meant to be taken as a joke and how much was serious and may have even reflected some of her own sentiments, but I really respect her for putting them out there. Sometimes some of us, myself included, benefit from an occasional reminder about the sensitivities of others who are different from us. I believe most(if not all) of us on here are good people, but some gentle reminders like this could be of use. CTO didn't call out anyone by name, which I also respect. I think anyone taking her post(or similar ones from other members) a bit hard would benefit to recognize the great deal of restraint some people use before they actually say anything.

Even though I think Jekelish had a great post and agree about the variety we see here being a microcosm of life itself(including in nature), I think we could also choose to see this thread similar to the way Coach Boeheim challenges his players to step up their game, even though their style doesn't necessarily have to change.

This reminds me of the airing of grievances thread, so maybe Festivus is still ongoing? I apologize to anyone I've offended in the past and hope now that the lack of basketball is behind us we can all enjoy this board more.

 

[Orangezoo]

I think a couple things are fair game as a result of this thread.

1 - staying on topic. I don't see any issue pushing that aggressively and threads intended for a recent hoops game should stay that way. Common etiquette should be to remind fellow posters. I think simple respect items like not insulting individuals intelligence is fair game to call out as well.

2- in order to balance out the fact that hoops and football get so much more volume is a hot threads forum something we could do? For instance should a fun humorous thread get started could it not be somewhere noted that its a hot thread with the forum category as a prefix? Convenience plays a role and therefore threads get going in the most active boards. This way those who want to participate can do so as the thread is jumping out at you. Its late and a random musing but maybe there is a simple solution here that benefits all.

 

[otisco]

The loss of an historically valued poster, whose contributions from the very beginning of this community justify his qualification as one of its co-founders, is saddening. Indeed.

This community evolved, and continues to evolve, as the online world did, and does. Meaning access to more members over time, many more members, exponentially in fact compared to the AOL days, necessarily including the younger Internet/high tech generation. With that expansion comes the views, childish or mature (or maturing), of those youngins. As others have rightly made clear, avoiding those posts takes little to no effort.

It seems that DiM, and the other founders and moderators of this community as intelligent as him, should appreciate those things. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem so, however. In which case, the "moderators" of this community should better moderate to ensure that our most valuable members cease to dissipate. Because the evolution of the high tech world certainly will continue in the current direction; that should mean more community members, and more good ones, not the reverse.

Come back DiM, and snap to it, Mods.

 

[ORRange]

Without the funny posts I'd only want to read General20, Orangeyes and a few others. Real time saver. Kinda like the new Post Standard.

 

[alibrat66]

well then hes a poopoo head!

Actually, Dick is extremely knowledgeable about basketball, among other subjects. He also loves SU. That said, it's his choice and right not to wade through the negative fair-weather fan dreck and high school hot dog comments that are the majority of offerings on this board. I also went on a prolonged sabbatical from this board for the same reasons. The attacks on Dick for opting out, made by people who don't know him, make me wonder whether I should exit left once again. As it is, I read this board to learn the views of a few select people; those who are trashing Dick in this thread I treat like being around oral flatulence. I turn off my ears, hold my nose, and pass right on by.

Maybe the reason that I'm still playing on this board is that I've lived out of the country most of past 12 years. I can't sit down at a coffee shop in Syracuse and have a conversation with someone about SU hoops. To be honest, if I had to listen to some of stuff through which I have to wade in order to find anything substantive and knowledgeable, I'd probably get up walk away from the guy in the Syracuse coffee shop!

Then, again, I don't like most people anyway.

 

[orangefog]

I just turned 71 so I always make sure I cover my eyes on those threads dealing with half naked women.

You mean, you cover your eyes with your glasses, right?

 

[SUMBA]

The cure for reading bad posts is making good ones.

I find that the cure for bad posts is the ignore button. At last count I am ignoring over 70 posters. Yes, I miss some of the threads that they open. However, there is a "show ignored comments" option on most posts. Occasionally, I will use this option. Most often this confirms why I ignored the poster in the first place.

Thanks to the mods for providing this option, it makes the board much more enjoyable. It is too bad that it gets so much use.

 

[jordoo]

SUMBA no wonder you never respond to anything I post. In all seriousness though that function is there for a reason so I'm glad someone is using it rather than leaving. I just you know ignore the old fashioned way if needed and scroll down to the next post.

 

[SUfanNC]

I'm more of a lurker than poster. As for DinM I hope that he returns to posting because there was a lot of value to reading his posts but everyone makes there own choices.

There are many different types of people and I think being tolerant of the more serious person or the ones that like to goof off more is part of of being around different people.

I was thinking of maybe a board etiquette list for the board that gets pmed to everyone every 6 months or a years as a refresher to regular posters and as a guideline to newer posters just to try and get everyone on the same page. Just an idea. I certainly can't attest to what everyone likes but it may help people to respect some boundaries.

 

[SWC75]

I find that the cure for bad posts is the ignore button. At last count I am ignoring over 70 posters. Yes, I miss some of the threads that they open. However, there is a "show ignored comments" option on most posts. Occasionally, I will use this option. Most often this confirms why I ignored the poster in the first place.

Thanks to the mods for providing this option, it makes the board much more enjoyable. It is too bad that it gets so much use.

I'm glad you didn't use it on me!

 

[SWC75]

I think the view each of us have of the board is tailored by the posts we tend to make. The first thing I look at when I log on is my alerts to see what kind of discussion my posts have created. Obviously, those people that respond to my posts are going to have similar concerns and approaches to analyzing things, even if they might not have the same opinion as mine. So those posters become "the board" to me. I do look at what else is on the first page of a board and I click on the posts that seem to me interesting or are from posters whose work I have some regard for. I don't need an 'ignore' button. Thus it's a mystery to me why someone would be so upset about the content of the board that they refuse to post anymore.

Syracuse.com in the old days was a different story. it was totally ungoverned and taken over by juveniles who posted racist statements and other types of garbage and who forced the most thoughtful posters, including eventually me, to seek another forum. This board has never been remotely like that.

Of course, if you are an administrator, you are like a movie a critic who has to watch everything good and bad. They can be forgiven for a sour disposition if it results. I think Dick was an administrator and maybe he just didn't have a thick enough hide for it.

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

Does anyone know what happened to Dick in Michigan?

Arctic air mass moving in?

 

[jekelish]

I'm still trying to figure out what the hell happened to Baby Jane, myself.

 

[Orangezoo]

In the spirit of being blunt this really appears to be primarily an age difference related issue. I am sure all of you are on other boards at times. I myself moderate a few other academic related boards and although the sophomoric stuff is different it is far worse and driven heavily by age difference. Of course there are like minded folks of different ages for sure so its more than that but it appears to me that is a sizeable factor here. This is why I posted about staying on topic and a hot thread forum or quick viewing option as the data modeling forum I moderate (insert nerd references here) has a similar approach. All forums need side topics and a bit of reasonable unfiltered fun to balance out the repetition foud within specific topics. Find the tolerance boundaries and moderate to those and make it a place for all to enjoy. I will also say if its not having a select group of posters that is ones reason for leaving then that is that individuals option to be that way. Content is a different matter. Again I think its fair game to discuss alongside fair game to come up with some basic easy tolerance levels.

 

[jekelish]

In the spirit of being blunt this really appears to be primarily an age difference related issue. I am sure all of you are on other boards at times. I myself moderate a few other academic related boards and although the sophomoric stuff is different it is far worse and driven heavily by age difference. Of course there are like minded folks of different ages for sure so its more than that but it appears to me that is a sizeable factor here. This is why I posted about staying on topic and a hot thread forum or quick viewing option as the data modeling forum I moderate (insert nerd references here) has a similar approach. All forums need side topics and a bit of reasonable unfiltered fun to balance out the repetition foud within specific topics. Find the tolerance boundaries and moderate to those and make it a place for all to enjoy. I will also say if its not having a select group of posters that is ones reason for leaving then that is that individuals option to be that way. Content is a different matter. Again I think its fair game to discuss alongside fair game to come up with some basic easy tolerance levels.

I certainly think there's some merit to that. I mean in the most simplistic terms possible, look at it this way: the older generation grew up on Leave it to Beaver and Brady Bunch, and the younger generation grew up on South Park.

(Obviously, you can be older and enjoy South Park, and be younger and dig Brady Bunch, but you get the general point I'm trying to make)

 

[SUMBA]

I'm glad you didn't use it on me!

At least not yet but you ARE on thin ice...

Seriously, SWC, your posts are a good example of why I keep coming back. They are informative, insightful, and on topic. I can't always listen to the coaches show so I appreciate your weekly summations. Thank you for putting in the work.

For me it came down to using the ignore function or leaving the board entirely. Leaving the board would mean that I would miss the good posters like you, Jake, CTO, TomCat, arbit, and John Syracuse. When I found the ignore function and began putting it to use for those whose posts I didn't care to read it made the board enjoyable again.

I am glad to see that the esteemed gentleman from the Wolverine State still stops in. I do miss his posts, though. His posts were always very insightful and I was impressed with his knowledge. It was hard to believe that he didn't have an office in the Carrier Dome sometimes! If he is reading, I hope he will consider liberal use of the ignore function to filter the posts he doesn't like.

 

[jordoo]

Posters do understand that is it possible to be insightful, funny, humorous, sophomoric, have great bball knowledge and have all of those things wether you are old guard or new guard right? I mean we are blessed to have so many awesome posters on here who are openminded and flexible (that could go sophomoric quickly) and make this board great. I'd hate to see it too one dimensional in any direction.

I will refrain from listing any names of my favorite or least favorite posters as that seems not in the spirit of this discussion.

 

[OburgOrange]

The only beef I have is when someone posts something like " if you only knew what I know" type stuff, and then won't say what "it" is that they know. Drives me insane. If you are going to make a post like that, back it up!!

 

[jvbj01]

Actually, Dick is extremely knowledgeable about basketball, among other subjects. He also loves SU. That said, it's his choice and right not to wade through the negative fair-weather fan dreck and high school hot dog comments that are the majority of offerings on this board. I also went on a prolonged sabbatical from this board for the same reasons. The attacks on Dick for opting out, made by people who don't know him, make me wonder whether I should exit left once again. As it is, I read this board to learn the views of a few select people; those who are trashing Dick in this thread I treat like being around oral flatulence. I turn off my ears, hold my nose, and pass right on by.

Maybe the reason that I'm still playing on this board is that I've lived out of the country most of past 12 years. I can't sit down at a coffee shop in Syracuse and have a conversation with someone about SU hoops. To be honest, if I had to listen to some of stuff through which I have to wade in order to find anything substantive and knowledgeable, I'd probably get up walk away from the guy in the Syracuse coffee shop!

Then, again, I don't like most people anyway.

Don't do it, Ali! You are a high value member of this board.

 

[Niastri]

My problem with the ignore option is that some of the worst offenders of tomfoolery posts also are fully capable of really terrific content, whether news or analysis. You can't predict which they are going to post at any given thread.

Ignore isn't a "smart" option where it merely ignores the posts you don't want to read, it ignores completely. That would be a loss for me. What would be better is if the posters here showed a little self restraint instead of filling up every thread with junk every day.

 

[cusetown1]

This is how I view this place when a games not going on.

 

[alphaorange]

I've been to the different iterations of this board for nearly 15 years. It is worse now and far more juvenile and disrespectful. I understand the social networking generation that feels everything they think, do, and feel needs to posted for all to see, but it was better when the posts had to do with team and school. It is much better when civility rules, and sadly, I have had a part in the incivility at times in the past. Dick is a great fan and a valued former poster. That so many mock his choice to not participate here is exactly why he doesn't visit. He is not the only one, by far.

As longer tenured posters leave, they are often replaced with a new generation of mocking, "in your face" type of posters, who don't seem to understand that the board they are on is possible only because some of the veteran people here made it happen. As I recall, it was as an alternative to the other board where insanity ruled.

 

[Orangezoo]

I've been to the different iterations of this board for nearly 15 years. It is worse now and far more juvenile and disrespectful. I understand the social networking generation that feels everything they think, do, and feel needs to posted for all to see, but it was better when the posts had to do with team and school. It is much better when civility rules, and sadly, I have had a part in the incivility at times in the past. Dick is a great fan and a valued former poster. That so many mock his choice to not participate here is exactly why he doesn't visit. He is not the only one, by far.

As longer tenured posters leave, they are often replaced with a new generation of mocking, "in your face" type of posters, who don't seem to understand that the board they are on is possible only because some of the veteran people here made it happen. As I recall, it was as an alternative to the other board where insanity ruled.

I am not sure who you mean by newer posters. I can say I have at times joined the fun and I apologize. I have been around myself since 2001. Others who I think you may be referencing have also been around just as long. I spoke to the issue being an age gap and I still believe that to be partially true. What has happened is that the clique mentality that plagued the board for so long during what some call a more civil period has been replaced by a more modern social media quick post, meme , tweet frenzy at times. Its uncomfortable for some and I can understand that and feel its as far to moderate that stuff to ensure it does not fill up the hoops board while still recognizing times are different and those threads mean no harm. Just the same as the select group of posters who made up what once could be considered the sufan clique acted the way they did due to familiarity and shared interests vs having any sort of animosity towards new people or change( of course there were some grouchy and arrogant posters who are still that way but it comes with the territory).

I think you could say the clique , elitist or whatever mentality is as over used as the juvenile one in terms of how frequently it occurs. I hate to lose a poster and remember great insight all the same but I think peace has been spoken and all that is left is finger pointing. Your post has hints of that in it as though to call the people out as juvenile and I don't think we need to go down that road. Again I willingly admit to participating on an evening or two of posts that likely belong on the hunor side or shut down do to going off topic after a 100 hr work week or after spending 10 mins being called an idiot by an abusive poster in an off topic thread. So by all means point your fingers at me as I can handle that. Im 30 and in the younger generation and enjoy having a good time as much as the very good hoops discussion.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday- go cuse!!!