Community Thread VII

[Slava]

Tony, I understand the frustration man! The only thing as worse as the Portland announcers seem to be their fans.

Anyways the best way to defeat the trolls is actually by ignoring them, which kind of defeats their motive in instigating a ruckus and baiting good posters. Mods do have their tools to punish these guys and all the good work is done in the background to keep the boards clean.

[milesfides]

It isn't easy, this whole thing.

Now there are definitely people who have attitude problems, but they're not breaking any specific rules. I struggle with this, and it's still difficult, despite being a mod, giving these people the room to be jerks. But it's a reflection of the real world: people who speed up to prevent you from changing lanes, cutting in line, talking loudly on the cell phone inappropriately, etc. Rude, but what can you do? Our better sense tells us to ignore them, but it's human nature to want to regulate, just like in real life (give the guy in the next lane the finger, telling the jerk to get behind the line, telling the inconsiderate cell phone man to shut the hell up). But responding in kind degrades the soul.

Another problem is the difference in sports fans. Some are casual fans. Some are diehard fans. People are in between. Some people log on every hour, sometimes once a month. Every now and then, some infrequent poster would post a trade scenario, and a veteran poster would completely crap on it. "That trade would never work you are an idiot" kind of response. Which is true, but hella discouraging if you're a newcomer - or maybe it's just a young fan.

But who's at fault? Ignorance or intolerance?

I think it's important to give space. In a word, respect, not only for the positive, but also the negative. I'm not talking objectively, but subjectively. I'm learning (albeit slowly) to give people the benefit of the doubt for the sake of civility and sanity. You can't make the world conform to what you think is right. You can't make people behave the way you think they should behave. You have to accept the world for what it is, or it will crush you.

It can also be frustrating due to the nature of an internet forum. The benefits of being a mod with a PM is that you get feedback that you've never gotten before. It's much easier to understand that you're not on an island. Many people read what you write, they'll agree, but never respond. So sometimes you feel you're on an island.

But you've got to let your own words stand on their own merit, no matter how great the desire to get in the last word. This is personally tough for me, since I feel like I make the effort to back things up, provide evidence, do the research and present a convincing argument. But the other side might not play by the same rules, or maybe I think they're not using sound logic.

But at the end of the day, I'm the worse perpetrator in trying to win an argument. I want people to agree with me, to see the light as I see it. It's pretty arrogant, but the reality is, nobody wants to admit they're wrong. Better to simply state your piece, as clearly as you can, and let it stand for what it is. I'm very far from this, but hopefully I have the discipline to be able to do it someday.

I've just realized this is a rambling post, and perhaps some of this is inappropriate to talk about as a mod, but hopefully some of the things I say can resonate with others.

It's a complicating thing, a forum, with so many people, about something that is so complex as sports fandom. Fan is derived from fanatic, and it's crazy that we even try to hold logical discussions here. But one thing I realized about realgm, fandom means different things to a lot of different people. And sometimes you just have to step back and let haters be haters, ignorant folk be ignorant folk, wise asses be wise asses, etc.

I think realgm is one of the best forums out there, and it's evolving towards a better place. At least we're trying to make that happen. Maybe one day, people can be civil all across all boards, and moderation will be standardized, and it'll be awesome. Organizing the chaos, taming the best. Good natured competition without malice.

But until that day, we have to just try to take care of our home, our little plot of land, our mother ship.

[kno]

^^

Amazing post miles. tons of props on that.

As a Mod, I feel the same way you do on many of the points you brought up. I just wouldnt be able to put it all into one coherent, intelligent post like you did.

Its definitely tough. I mean, we go about our business every day or every couple of days on the board posting our thoughts and opinions on topics. We never really think of the big picture and how this whole forum thing works.

That 3rd to last paragraph was money Miles. We should make it an announcement at the top of this board (or, at teh top of RGM for that matter) so it can be visible to every poster on here, as it applies to everyone.

[TyCobb]

Is this all from the incident that involved my erect penis like posting style?

[DoctaJ]

So, I'm scheduled for Septoplasty and Rhinoplasty tomorrow. Don't know how long I'll be out for.. hopefully not too long. Was told I can't play ball for 3 weeks, though so today was basically the end of my summer, lol.

Hope the rest of your guys' summer is a lot better than mine!

[hermes]

doctaJ that sucks man, hope everything goes ok, and your back ballin' in no time

great stuff miles

[Danny Darko]

Miles-great great post.

Doc-so you got the braces off and now you are gonna get beautified too? Preparing for your career in showbiz?

[Danny Darko]

I'm going to ask Howard if the new PHP allows for longer threads now, otherwise we're ten pages from a new comm thread.

[hermes]

hey the county fair starts today, i can already smell the livestock

[RJM]

Ditto on the post kudos btw....

I GOT A NEW CAR!!!! Can someone say 2009 Toyota Camry!?

8)

[kno]

Ditto on the post kudos btw....

I GOT A NEW CAR!!!! Can someone say 2009 Toyota Camry!?

8)

Nice. Very nice.

All I got is a bike and a board.

But im getting there. hah.

[Danny Darko]

So Hermes smell pig sweat and bull crap and Iceburg gets new car smell? Hmmm tough decision. heheh.

Congrats on the new car, man.

The fair is near and dear to me. I was raised on a ranch and I used to show animals at all the fairs in Cali. Sheep, goats, Cattle, and llama's. Best to eat? Definitely goat.

[Sedale Threatt]

Fried candy bars/Twinkies for me.

[Blame Rasho]

So Hermes smell pig sweat and bull crap and Iceburg gets new car smell? Hmmm tough decision. heheh.

Congrats on the new car, man.

The fair is near and dear to me. I was raised on a ranch and I used to show animals at all the fairs in Cali. Sheep, goats, Cattle, and llama's. Best to eat? Definitely goat.

Ah.... Cabrito...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cabr ... terrey.jpg

[hermes]

just heard on the radio, that some kid made his own radio for a fair 4-H project

[Slava]

Hermes, I've been to fair at a near by town few months back and couldn't take the smell for more than 5 mins.

Iceburg, 2009 Camry, Nice and reliable!!

Excuse me for the stereotyping but are you asian btw?

[hermes]

the smell is bad, but i've gotten used to it so it doesn't really bother me, i just don't like going because its the same thing every year, cows, pigs, sheep, nothing i haven't seen before

[Slava]

just heard on the radio, that some kid made his own radio for a fair 4-H project

Designing an FM transmitter ain't very tough. I did it back in high school, it got very interesting when I started transmitting stuff.

[hermes]

i don't know, they made it sound great though, like sliced bread all over again

[Slava]

http://www.free-electronic-circuits.com ... tter-1.gif

This is all that you need to build and doesn't take more than 3 hrs to get it done. The tougher part is to solder it onto a board to make it look compact. Anyone with high school level knowledge of physics can do it.