[stupac2]

Hey Stupac, what is your deal with Outsider? You have a "problem?" Perhaps state your position/argumentative assumption but "problem?" I thought this wasn't supposed to be Thunderdome where we bite the heads off of trolls and rib each other like HS sophs.

Jesus, talk about overly reactive. I like OF! I said my problem with that post was [whatever I said]. I disagreed with his premise and stated my disagreement. Isn't that... exactly what you think we should do here? Wasn't this reaction... exactly what you're complaining about? I dunno, man, you do you.

That's all fine and good.  But you are completely missing my greater point.

That point is people on this board are so freaking judgmental, and so holier than thou, and so self-righteous, that anyone who says something in a way that doesn't conform to some prim and proper notion of what acting like a Stanford person is, will be marginalized and attacked.  There is no room for respectful opinions if they in any way take away from or call into question anything Stanford does.

This just isn't true. Name a person who you think believes that there's no room for respectful opinion and I'll find a post of theirs criticizing the team. What I think you'll find people arguing (including myself) is that there's no room for inane poop-throwing. It's all well and good to highlight problems with the team or whatever, but to post something like "This team will never win a natty" with nothing else is just pointless and useless.

Teejers is a perfect example.  His takes are never disrespectful to anyone, yet he's got a -58 "respect" score.  Who the hell are we to say whether we respect him or not?  Do you know him personally?  Does he kick dogs and murder kittens or something? He's got opinions just like the rest of the conformists around here, yet because he dares to criticize and/or say unpopular things, and colors outside the lines, he's treated as an outcast.  Why is this necessary?  Y'all already ran off JohnnyO, who was one of the most insightful and colorful characters this board has ever had.  I hope Teejers has the fortitude to stick around.

Well, what are you saying here, exactly? If it's a comment about respect scores, check out ours. I'm pretty sure most everyone here would count me among the prigs or whatever, but I ain't exactly rollin' in respect points, ya dig? Meanwhile I updoot you pretty much every chance I get because I think it's silly you're negative. So, what does that all mean? I dunno, who cares? We'd probably be better off if that feature were removed anyway, if it's causing people to reconsider whether they want to be here or not.




To pull back a bit, something that I find distasteful in sports fandom in general is the sort of reflexive negativity. Game threads on reddit, especially NFL ones, are a great example of that. Look in a thread on /r/patriots to see what I mean, if the team is losing or makes  a bad play you'll see dozens of comments to the tune of "this team will never win the super bowl" or "turn it off we've already lost", which are brutally idiotic considering what that team has done the past few years.

In general this board is pretty light on that, which is incredibly refreshing, but it's still there. I keep harping on that "This team will never win a natty" thread because it's so reflective of this tendency. Will Stanford win a national title under David Shaw? Probably not, the odds are really stacked us for a whole bunch of reasons, plus even Nick Saban needs a healthy dose of luck despite a team littered with 5* talent. But you can't rule it out! We've been a couple unlucky breaks away from having a shot a couple times in the past 7 years. Is it really that hard to imagine that we'll get those breaks some season?

And, even if we never do, this team is still among the most successful of this decade! This current run is probably completely unrivaled in Stanford's history given how much the deck is stacked against us now. But based on some commentary, you'd never guess that. At some point it becomes a little, I dunno, grating? (And, for the record, I don't think you do this.)




Also, on the general discussion, what 2006alum said. At some point a negative tone is infectious and makes the whole place worse. Another forum I'm on just had a big fooforah about their quarantined political topics because some people thought the negativity was leaking out. It's hard to find a balance.

[stupac2]

Hey Stupac, what is your deal with Outsider? You have a "problem?" Perhaps state your position/argumentative assumption but "problem?" I thought this wasn't supposed to be Thunderdome where we bite the heads off of trolls and rib each other like HS sophs.

Jesus, talk about overly reactive. I like OF! I said my problem with that post was [whatever I said]. I disagreed with his premise and stated my disagreement. Isn't that... exactly what you think we should do here? Wasn't this reaction... exactly what you're complaining about? I dunno, man, you do you.

That's all fine and good.  But you are completely missing my greater point.

That point is people on this board are so freaking judgmental, and so holier than thou, and so self-righteous, that anyone who says something in a way that doesn't conform to some prim and proper notion of what acting like a Stanford person is, will be marginalized and attacked.  There is no room for respectful opinions if they in any way take away from or call into question anything Stanford does.

This just isn't true. Name a person who you think believes that there's no room for respectful opinion and I'll find a post of theirs criticizing the team. What I think you'll find people arguing (including myself) is that there's no room for inane poop-throwing. It's all well and good to highlight problems with the team or whatever, but to post something like "This team will never win a natty" with nothing else is just pointless and useless.

Teejers is a perfect example.  His takes are never disrespectful to anyone, yet he's got a -58 "respect" score.  Who the hell are we to say whether we respect him or not?  Do you know him personally?  Does he kick dogs and murder kittens or something? He's got opinions just like the rest of the conformists around here, yet because he dares to criticize and/or say unpopular things, and colors outside the lines, he's treated as an outcast.  Why is this necessary?  Y'all already ran off JohnnyO, who was one of the most insightful and colorful characters this board has ever had.  I hope Teejers has the fortitude to stick around.

Well, what are you saying here, exactly? If it's a comment about respect scores, check out ours. I'm pretty sure most everyone here would count me among the prigs or whatever, but I ain't exactly rollin' in respect points, ya dig? Meanwhile I updoot you pretty much every chance I get because I think it's silly you're negative. So, what does that all mean? I dunno, who cares? We'd probably be better off if that feature were removed anyway, if it's causing people to reconsider whether they want to be here or not.




To pull back a bit, something that I find distasteful in sports fandom in general is the sort of reflexive negativity. Game threads on reddit, especially NFL ones, are a great example of that. Look in a thread on /r/patriots to see what I mean, if the team is losing or makes  a bad play you'll see dozens of comments to the tune of "this team will never win the super bowl" or "turn it off we've already lost", which are brutally idiotic considering what that team has done the past few years.

In general this board is pretty light on that, which is incredibly refreshing, but it's still there. I keep harping on that "This team will never win a natty" thread because it's so reflective of this tendency. Will Stanford win a national title under David Shaw? Probably not, the odds are really stacked us for a whole bunch of reasons, plus even Nick Saban needs a healthy dose of luck despite a team littered with 5* talent. But you can't rule it out! We've been a couple unlucky breaks away from having a shot a couple times in the past 7 years. Is it really that hard to imagine that we'll get those breaks some season?

And, even if we never do, this team is still among the most successful of this decade! This current run is probably completely unrivaled in Stanford's history given how much the deck is stacked against us now. But based on some commentary, you'd never guess that. At some point it becomes a little, I dunno, grating? (And, for the record, I don't think you do this.)




Also, on the general discussion, what 2006alum said. At some point a negative tone is infectious and makes the whole place worse. Another forum I'm on just had a big fooforah about their quarantined political topics because some people thought the negativity was leaking out. It's hard to find a balance.