This is serious.. so pay attention....

[BludOrange]

Censorship sucks. Hijackings can suck. People should use the ignore feature if they do not care for certain posters that they think hijack threads or continue to post mindless crap. This forum is for everyone, correct? Forums should never cater to any group/clique within it's vast membership.

 

[cto]

Censorship sucks. Hijackings can suck. People should use the ignore feature if they do not care for certain posters that they think hijack threads or continue to post mindless crap. This forum is for everyone, correct? Forums should never cater to any group/clique within it's vast membership.

This ain't the FIrst Amendment, and it ain't censorship. The folks who run this board volunteer 24/7 trying to make it an adult, civilized place to discuss SU sports. If people don't like what we are trying to do...they have every right to go elsewhere. Folks are not being held captive here. If we throw up our hands and leave... they'd have another syracuse.com board. If that is what people want, so be it. Go there. As long as we are here, deal with our founding vision of what we want this board to be.

 

[jtorange]

In the past few weeks, I have gotten multiple private messages from several long-time good posters ... saying they are leaving the board because serious, intelligent threads are constantly being destroyed and made unreadable. They point out that many threads that start out intelligently... soon get hijacked by juvenile garbage in which a few posters exchange endless posts that have no bearing on the subject at hand ... and which make no sense to anyone else.

I have discussed this with other admins here. We agree this is a problem for those who come here for information and intelligent discussion.

Please take note: these hijackings into juvenile abysses will no longer be tolerated. Posts will be deleted. And, if necessary, posters will be warned.

Our goal here ... is for intelligent discussion and information exchange about the team we all ostensibly love. It is is not to foster a forum of juvenile garbage.

And, by the way, "juvenile" has nothing to do with age. Some really good posters here are current students and recent graduates.

Sorry - didn't read the whole thread. One OBVIOUS issue IMO is when 2 posters go back and forth and back and forth FOREVER in a "private war" that has virtually NOTHING to do with the OP.

 

[Czar]

I didn't know we had mods. I thought we were an autonomous collective.

 

[BludOrange]

This ain't the FIrst Amendment, and it ain't censorship. The folks who run this board volunteer 24/7 trying to make it an adult, civilized place to discuss SU sports. If people don't like what we are trying to do...they have every right to go elsewhere. Folks are not being held captive here. If we throw up our hands and leave... they'd have another syracuse.com board. If that is what people want, so be it. Go there. As long as we are here, deal with our vision of what we want this board to be.

Instead of posting this, you could have just said F-Off newbie. It would have saved you some time.

Even though that's what I took your response as, I still think you put out a quality product and commend you and your team for their efforts put forth in making this a top notch forum. Sure I think censorship sucks, it doesn't mean that I think hijacks and worthless crap should not be deleted. What do people come here for, in the first place? It's not for reading conversations halfway through a decent thread about Cuse basketball that have nothing to do with the original post.

 

[cto]

Instead of posting this, you could have just said F-Off newbie. It would have saved you some time.

Even though that's what I took your response as, I still think you put out a quality product and commend you and your team for their efforts put forth in making this a top notch forum. Sure I think censorship sucks, it doesn't mean that I think hijacks and worthless crap should not be deleted. What do people come here for, in the first place? It's not for reading conversations halfway through a decent thread about Cuse basketball that have nothing to do with the original post.

I would never say that to you. Hey, we're buds. I mean that photo-shopped picture that Lawrinson made of us... and all that. I hope it didn't sound like an F-U post. I was just trying to explain things. Sorry if I was not clear... or if I came on too strong.

 

[BludOrange]

I would never say that to you. Hey, we're buds. I mean that photo-shopped picture that Lawrinson made of us ... and all that. I hope it didn't sound like an F-U post. I was just trying to explain things. Sorry if I was not clear... or if I came on too strong.

Thanks for the explanation, buddy. It's all good!

And don't ever throw your hands up and leave.

 

[Halo]

I've been a lurker for the past 5 years. I had a previous username here but scratched the account. I know I started a thread on the football board about having a realistic chance to get some national recognition this year and there weren't many responses. That was a perfect thread to have some football dialogue. So is the problem more basketball related? I wonder if the success of the basketball team the past 4 years has caused more off topic chatter than usual. For this year, we're 23-0. How much basketball dialogue can you really have when the team is playing great? When you have this many fans, you can only post a response in so many ways before you run out. Trevor shot great from 3 against ND. Not much else can be said. There is a lot of shoot the sh$t talk that goes on because I think there isn't much else to talk about.

The joke is funny once in awhile, but it's overused. I think the problem I have are the meltdown's after a loss. Saying a player sucks is too much. It's too curt. Player's have poor shooting performances, it happens. I think that's all that needs to be said instead of saying player X sucks.

I think the off-topic board is the worst.

 

[jvbj01]

I've been a lurker for the past 5 years. I had a previous username here but scratched the account. I know I started a thread on the football board about having a realistic chance to get some national recognition this year and there weren't many responses. That was a perfect thread to have some football dialogue. So is the problem more basketball related? I wonder if the success of the basketball team the past 4 years has caused more off topic chatter than usual. For this year, we're 23-0. How much basketball dialogue can you really have when the team is playing great? When you have this many fans, you can only post a response in so many ways before you run out. Trevor shot great from 3 against ND. Not much else can be said. There is a lot of shoot the sh$t talk that goes on because I think there isn't much else to talk about.

The joke is funny once in awhile, but it's overused. I think the problem I have are the meltdown's after a loss. Saying a player sucks is too much. It's too curt. Player's have poor shooting performances, it happens. I think that's all that needs to be said instead of saying player X sucks.

I think the off-topic board is the worst.

Overused is and understatement.

 

[Orangezoo]

Jvjb- I get your point but piling on in this sense makes things worse. Respectfully call out what you dont like when you see it and dont care for it. That was my final point last night and I think it serves better than throwing lighter fuel on a point made previously. For someone like myself who has probably enjoyed a few too many posts in jest it comes off a bit condescending. Anyways points all around are well made. Lets work on maybe being straight with eachother for things we dont like and do so in a civilized manner .

 

[PeteCalvin]

I've been a lurker for the past 5 years. I had a previous username here but scratched the account. I know I started a thread on the football board about having a realistic chance to get some national recognition this year and there weren't many responses. That was a perfect thread to have some football dialogue. So is the problem more basketball related? I wonder if the success of the basketball team the past 4 years has caused more off topic chatter than usual. For this year, we're 23-0. How much basketball dialogue can you really have when the team is playing great? When you have this many fans, you can only post a response in so many ways before you run out. Trevor shot great from 3 against ND. Not much else can be said. There is a lot of shoot the sh$t talk that goes on because I think there isn't much else to talk about.

The joke is funny once in awhile, but it's overused. I think the problem I have are the meltdown's after a loss. Saying a player sucks is too much. It's too curt. Player's have poor shooting performances, it happens. I think that's all that needs to be said instead of saying player X sucks.

I think the off-topic board is the worst.

Many times a thread isn't responded to if the topic has already been discussed adnaseum.

And there is always plenty to talk about with our 23-0 team. Some people in this town think 23-0 equals 13-10, and I heard a handful of them last night on the call in shows. People in this town will find anything to complain about. Last night it was lack of scoring.

Those are the people we have been successful at keeping off this board. Well, mostly. We have a couple. They lurk until we lose.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I certainly agree with the premise of this thread and can understand where some are coming from. Speaking of juvenile.. what I think is juvenile is someone threatening to leave a free INTERNET forum.

"Will you pretty please stay if I get on my hands and knees and beg!??" Good grief.

Anyway- I've been to a lot of sports forums, this is hands-down in the upper echelon, even with all the juvenile stuff.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I'll give you an example of what I think CTO is referencing: I opened the thread about Keita to check if there was any information about his condition.

Not surprisingly, the thread was hijacked with numerous futile attempts at humor. I learned that a doctor friend of one of the board wind bags sent a text message that Baye has a subdural hematoma. In an attempt to "one-up" this really childish post... another poster stated that Baye will have his leg amputated and play Wednesday's game wearing a prosthesis.

Let me ask you...what intellectual value do posts like this contribute to this community?

Man, talk about first world problems..

 

[Marsh01]

I will take the blame for the posts. I am a pretty superstitious guy and have done this all year and I will be dammed if I am stopping now at 23-0 regardless of who I offend. So with that I say...

!

 

[SmilinBob]

Helped develop and run a website for years and as someone that knows this stuff very well, I appreciate the work the mods do here and it is always a delicate balance between topic, off topic and blatant BS. What wore on me was the constant angry folks and believe me Chicago has a lot of those types and is second to none...ain't no second city there.

Just communicate like CTO said. Don't take it personal, see the point being made and talk about it and learn what the other person is trying to say.

 

[rocklloyd]

Would subscription based site work? I know it was here at one point, but don't know the pro/cons of that arrangement...there must thousand of people registered, but it seems like there are only several hundred folks driving the posts and content.

 

[SmilinBob]

Would subscription based site work? I know it was here at one point, but don't know the pro/cons of that arrangement...there must thousand of people registered, but it seems like there are only several hundred folks driving the posts and content.

We had one. A general site and an "Insiders Thread" and the post quality difference was huge. That said, I was the guy that was all for letting everyone in and you can see both sides of this imo.

 

[OrangeAl]

Not long after I gradutated from SU I went to a local SU Alumni club meeting in which it was painfully apparent that the club president had an antagonist who wouldn't stop until he could defeat his "adversary." I never went back to that alumni club - it was just too painful to witness this drawn out catfight. That's my biggest annoyance with this board - when posters are busy defending their egos with those "you said this" and "I never said that" kind of posts. Please keep it focused on sharing information and enthusiasm for SU sports.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

I noticed an increase in people antagonizing each other recently but I was thinking that was just cabin fever. It's worse on the football side.

 

[OrangeTown]

In the past few weeks, I have gotten multiple private messages from several long-time good posters ... saying they are leaving the board because serious, intelligent threads are constantly being destroyed and made unreadable. They point out that many threads that start out intelligently... soon get hijacked by juvenile garbage in which a few posters exchange endless posts that have no bearing on the subject at hand ... and which make no sense to anyone else.

I have discussed this with other admins here. We agree this is a problem for those who come here for information and intelligent discussion.

Please take note: these hijackings into juvenile abysses will no longer be tolerated. Posts will be deleted. And, if necessary, posters will be warned.

Our goal here ... is for intelligent discussion and information exchange about the team we all ostensibly love. It is is not to foster a forum of juvenile garbage.

And, by the way, "juvenile" has nothing to do with age. Some really good posters here are current students and recent graduates.

I'd say my posts fall about 50/50 with half being somewhat informative or links to relevant SU articles and half being somewhat poor attempts at humor or other lighthearted things. That being said. please inform me if I cross a line because I have to admit that I do have a somewhat childish side to me and as my girlfriend so happily reminds me (and anyone else she has a chance to) - I'm not the brightest when it comes to common sense things.

 

[mike32768]

So, how about those Mets?

I also run a busy board (completely different genre) and if there's one thing to come away from it all is that you cannot please everyone.

There are the serious types who just don't get the Internet, and those who do (fortunately the majority).
There are the lurkers who read, process, learn, and post infrequently.
There are semi-caustic types who seem to live to post negative responses. Not really trolls; they often fit the "serious" category very well.
There are the goof balls who like to add humor but it's easy for them to go too far - that's the nature of humor when you don't have a small audience. (You know, that off-color joke, or anti-<pick your favorite politico>-barb that you share with one or two close friends? Doesn't work as well on a board, i.e., in public.)

There are other types - some are kind of a mix.

On "my" board we try to let the members have their way with one another. There's a "Report to moderator" feature (for a specific post) - this works sort of well (if I give a spit) - and an "Ignore" feature (so you never again have to see a specific member's posts) - this not so well: others might just refer to those posts and <gasp> you might see something!

We solicit donations and sometimes a paying member thinks he can hold us hostage by threatening to take his cash and go home. Not gonna work.

I'm asked over-and-over (sometimes by well meaning folks, and sometimes by someone trying to set me up - someone who doesn't think his 5HIT stinks) - to post some kind of "rules" and I have deliberately avoided it. Any rules I post will be challenged (get its nits picked) or used against me.

Personally I find this board's balance excellent. Kudos to the mods/admins and the members.

 

[44cuse]

nothing wrong here that thread view wouldn't solve in an instant

Absolutely BANG and DING DING! See a conversation spiraling, go to the branch of discussion you want to participate in. Very, very simple.

44cuse

 

[jekelish]

I didn't know we had mods. I thought we were an autonomous collective.

I see what you did there, and I like it.

 

[RF2044]

Absolutely BANG and DING DING! See a conversation spiraling, go to the branch of discussion you want to participate in. Very, very simple.

44cuse

Why was the thread view feature not designed into this forum? It was my preferred way of viewing threads.

 

[shandeezy7]

Absolutely BANG and DING DING! See a conversation spiraling, go to the branch of discussion you want to participate in. Very, very simple.

44cuse

Yuck, thread view makes me feel like I'm back at the beginning of the internet!

As for the topic at hand - I think it's pretty simple to delineate between what is appropriate banter and what is just annoying drivel. Trust me, I enjoy the off-the-cuff humor of this board and I partake in it myself to a certain extent, but I think a little common sense as far as what is appropriate and what is over the top and/or annoying would go a long way in helping to maintain the quality of this board.