ive contemplated writing this before, but after seeing the response to griffins death, i decided to share my thoughts. ive always been astounded how negative this and all boards are, but the moment something bad happens to a player we start the appreciation threads. for instance, juwan howard was bashed mercilessly on this board. then he was traded and 90% of the board expressed kind thoughts. now the same with eddie griffin. where are all the good wishes when things are going bad for someone. why do we consistently run down players, coaches etc until something bad happens to them. and i know, i killed cd...but i wouldnt change my opinion if he happened to be struck by lightening. the board has so many good qualities. but we all hide behind our nicknames. we would never have the balls to say half the stuff we right to the people we talk about here. is anyone else contemplating how we can make this a more positive board at all times instead of only when bad things happen?
yeah I felt that way too, Griffin did crap and was an idiot, but eh he died recently so I guess its just naturally for people to have condolences.
Its easy to bash someone for something like performance on the court but when something tragic happens to them as humans we feel bad for them. While we might've complained about Eddie Griffin's play and laughed at some of his stupid antics its not like we wish him dead.
I hope you include yourself in your short rant up there. Quotes from YOU in the Eddie thread: can you think about anything else? nice. go home.
I know what you mean denniscd, but it's just the way sports fans think, we expect our players to perform like superheroes, go 82-0 in a season and win a championship, and when the players fail to do that we critizise them until something actually HUMANE happens, a family tragedy or blessing. That's the way sports works.
yo yo im not going to change my opinion on someone just because something bad happens to them. but except for cd, i think i keep it very civil comparatively speaking. and i disagree...its not because its sports...its because of the anonymity of boards.
I'm not saying you should. I'm just wondering how you can be the lone shining star of negativity in that thread, and then start a thread about positivity. I'm hoping it's because you realized your own fault... but I doubt that's the case.
i don't think the rest of the board change their opinions that easily. they just choose to say or not say things at the appropriate time/thread. maybe they just have a bit of class about them? that's why this board is ok.
It's the nature of all forums. Who is going to make the effort to post "Hey, Juwan is doing a good job reounding." That won't make for much of a thread. Instead, saying things like "What can we trade Juwan for??" or "Start Chuck Hayes, Howard sucks!" will generate a lot more discussion.
I would poop on this thread, but I just pooped like 15 minutes ago and I don't think I have any poop left.
We talk negatively about people when it comes to basketball when they don't perform well. Someone's life is a much different thing from playing basketball. Just because we feel negatively about how someone played doesn't mean you have to look back negatively on their life.
My screen name is my name. I'm accessible. But there's a general rule for all conversation, and that's to speak no ill of the dead. It's a respectful rule that is pretty common in most societies. So, out of respect for anyone who might have known Eddie, it's best to not say anything bad about him. Believe me, if I found out that you died tomorrow, the last thing I would want to see is someone commenting on your bad grammar and apparent distaste for some of those that you know in the organization. I would hope to see people posting good memories, well wishes for your family, and other nice comments. I agree with a lot that you say and really appreciate your input. But you were way off base on this one.
no we say bonzi is high by looking at his eyes in a picture, we look at the girl mcgrady has at his benefit and we kill her looks or objectify her looks, we talk about players looks...there is never an appropriate time for that...
The main problem I have with the GARM is thread-hijackers of various sorts. Fortunately, V-Span's departure has helped the situation immensely. The negativity is bad sometimes but it's mainly when the Juwan bashers (or basher, since it was mainly one guy) and the like would fill up every game thread with their fetishes. It goes without saying that anonymity affects the behavior of a good many people on internet forums. We have more than our share of macho men here who are tough with the keyboard but are probably not anywhere else. This is where they release their negative energy and aggressions since no one in real life will listen.
Well there are a handful of people who are extremely arrogant, condescending, patronizing, and downright rude and immature. For whatever reason once they set their heart on hating a player, a coach, or MOST OFTEN another poster, they simply cannot stop. It's like a sick addiction. I think everyone here can name these people off right off the top of their heads, so no need to name names. But this is basically what causes this whole problem. Then the fact that some people will say factually wrong things like, "Rafer Alston is a good shooter" causes blow back and thus more ill will. It's unfortunate, but when certain posters are allowed more leeway than others and when these same posters, who are generally just a handful of bad apples, are also usually the ones that most tend to bash bash bash and throw around insults at players, coaches, and other posters, while at the same time picking and choosing their own favorites amongst players, coaches, and other posters (simply out of pure fan boy eroticism I might add), it creates a bad combo. Especially when these people that will literally worship a said coach, player, or other poster for sheer fan boy worship, that THEY are the ones who are guilty of doing what they accuse others of. Of the fan boy worship, and that they most often attack the OBJECTIVE poster, not the subjective ones. This is a perfect method of distorting opinions, manipulating facts, and of course the most successful method of hijacking threads and halting rational and logical debates and discussions, because once you allow that to dominate the board, these types of individuals that want the board to run based on ONLY whatever they believe reality to be, well they will then stick out like a sore thumb and are then summarily banned. It's the method of wolf-pack style gang mentality and of making a forum have a certain belief system and a certain modus operandi. For example, they deem that a "fact" which is really a MYTH about a certain poster, a certain coach, or certain players will become a "fact." When someone dares point out this is not factual, they are gang banged by a wild pack of frothing hyenas. Because if they do not "keep the board in line" their opinion which has become de facto "fact" on the board may actually be relegated to the pile of horse manure that it really is. It creates an atmosphere where when someone says something OBJECTIVE, they get attacked and ridiculed based by others based upon things that are SUBJECTIVE and the bashers get away with it, the attackers then in turn accuse the objective people of being subjective. But that is the way it works if like I said some posters that have leeway are in fact some of the ones that are without basic manners. I think there's an 8th grade mentality that it's "cool" or "funny" to act like you are 12 years old. Then once a certain player, coach, or poster is deemed to be on their hit list it now becomes a gang mentality. To not always attack this individual for whatever reason would be to suddenly become "not cool" or "not funny" to expose said poster to the same immature and lame hit list. Group think and the inability to separate yourself from the conformist mindset are typical diseases of the uneducated and poorly-read masses. The sociological reality of these people is simply that "I make my own rules and my own version of reality. I make my own truths and facts. Whatever I deem to be so is so. Anyone that questions anything I say or believe or anyone that counters anything I claim to be true no matter how factually incorrect, no matter how outlandish, no matter how obviously full of BS is nothing but a nut job or a freak or a commie or a queer or an idiot or a loser or a sack rider or (fill in any racist term thinkable) or whatever other pathetic self-deemed "scientific term" they can apply to anyone that doesn't live in the world of 1984 like they do. Is it any surprise this malignant disease runs rampant on a basketball forum, especially when in real life these types of people can push this as far as they want but know that while doing so eventually they might have to at least pretend to be somewhat normal or functional at least in some settings? On here, they don't even need to form a logical sentence to be "cool" or "funny" as long as their little clique "rules." Now just watch the responses and see it for yourself.
Not everyone hides behind a nickname. There are plenty of people on here who are well known to those of us who have been around since the beginning both on and off the board. Look, the internet in GENERAL is a tough place. Read the comments on Chron stories or on blogs or other message boards. People feel invincible because of the anonymity. For those of us who don't hide behind a moniker, there is always the chance some jerk will exploit it, which is another reason why so many keep their names private. But, this isn't native to this BBS. It's just a part of life on the net. Always has been. Always will be.
