What I’m saying is that NOBODY on this board is perfect and NOBODY is above reproach. I’m no different. Sometimes I show bad form and the only thing more frustrating to me than knowing I’ve shown my a$$ is the thought of having to admit it and apologize for it.
Last year a fan posted a paragraph long comment consisting of about 5 or 6 sentences and not one period. I thought it’d be so very clever of me to pretend to praise his post while actually making fun of his bad grammar. I actually thought I was subtle enough that my comment would go over his head. Well it didn’t. He came right back saying basically, “Oh hey thanks for your sarcastic remark about my grammar. I really appreciated that.”
Now folks let me just say I felt about 6″ tall. He didn’t say anything ugly or provocative in his first comment. He was just talking some football and I made myself look and feel like a total a-hole. My first reaction was defensive. I started to fire off a comment about how he should get over himself but I stopped myself and made myself write an apology to him saying I was sorry and that what I said was inappropriate. I offered to delete my post if he wanted to me to.
Now some posters would probably have just called me an a-hole and more would probably have just ignored me altogether but he actually said, “No, you’re right. That’s ok. I need to put a little more effort and time into making my posts more readable. But thanks for the apology.
Now I didn’t have to apologize and he didn’t have to forgive me but I can say I went from feeling 6” short to feeling 10 feet tall. Telling him I was sorry immediately alleviated my low opinion of my behavior and being forgiven made me very thankful to him. Likewise I’m sure he did NOT expect someone to insult him and then try and take it back. I’m sure he came away from it feeling better also.
Greenwood fans will remember last year that after a Greenwood fan quipped that they should have had Greenwood’s team in the movie “Radio”, I responded by asking him if he didn’t think they already had enough retarded characters in that movie.
Now Greenwood fans took it good-naturedly and got a good laugh from it but a TL Hanna fan did not appreciate me using the word retarded and thought it was very offensive. She informed me that though she used to enjoy reading my posts very much, she would no longer be doing so.
Now I was feeling pretty indignant because I wasn’t trying to make fun of Radio, I was just poking fun at Greenwood. I sat down and spent over an hour writing a long, scathing, sarcastic response to her post remarking that apparently even Decavelier wasn’t immune to PC. Well I stopped and read back to myself what I had written and realized I sounded like a royal a$$. I was trying to make out like she was being stuck up when it was really I who was too stuck up to admit that I inadvertently offended someone.
Well I deleted everything I wrote and instead wrote a brief apology to her explaining that I wasn’t thinking when I wrote it and asked her forgiveness. I went back and edited out the whole comment I’d made. And to her credit she also apologized in response explaining that she was just very sensitive to words like that and that she was no longer upset with me.
Well once again I’ll say that I went from feeling very agitated and embarrassed to feeling very good about myself.
There are not enough people on this board who will stop and just simply say, “I’m sorry.” Too often I see someone paint themselves into a corner by putting their foot in their mouth and instead of trying a little humility and just freaking experimenting with the idea of admitting they are wrong, they decide they’ll go out in a hail of bullets, both barrels blazing before they admit they might have made an a$$ of themself.
It’s so dang frustrating for me to watch. Everyone of us has been reading a thread and all of a sudden we see someone who is usually balanced and respectable make a comment that’s just totally off base. Now most of the time they’ll get called for it and sometimes it’s a righteous call. Then you watch as this guy, with his back against the wall starts trying to field every complaint and criticism with what he hopes is some logical response designed to justify himself.
And I guarantee that someone who is reading this very post write now has had one of those days on the board where they posted something that blew up in their face and they defended it to the last gasp all the while secretly wishing they hadn’t posted it in the first place and looking for a way out. And most of the time the easiest way out of a situation like that is the last thing they’ll ever consider doing which is just laying down their arms and saying, “Hey you know what? I might be in the wrong.”
And there are too many of you who are reading this right now and thinking, “Not me, I’ve never regretted anything I’ve ever posted. I am never wrong.” I say that based on some of the ridiculous, never-ending diatribes that I read from time to time on here. Some people really do keep the soles of their feet clean and to them I offer applause. They know who they are.
To anyone who constantly finds themselves in a brawl on the board I’ll say, “Hey Pablo, don’t matter how flat you roll your tortillas, there’s always going to be two sides to it.” Now if anyone sees this as stereotyping just let me know and I’ll promptly apologize.
Now I’m not the only person on this board who’s willing to let go of their pride and show some humility when they misstep. Just a couple of weeks ago Chief Whoa posted something that I called him on and he removed it and apologized, admitting he was riding high off the Dorman win and exercised bad judgement. Now he didn’t have to do that. He could have blasted me and told me to mind my own business; some other posters would have done just that. But he didn’t and that day my respect for him as a decent guy went way up.
BYRNES#1 got in a lot of hot water last year in a thread that totally got out of control. Someone wrote a post attempting to nail him to the wall and just as the board was holding it’s breath waiting for total Armageddon he did something so unexpected that CSB posted, “Who are you and what have you done with BYRNES#1?”
He wrote and posted a very long, very sincere apology with no ifs, ands, or butts. He laid himself open for all to see and waited for the slings and arrows. What he got was a thread of very well-wishing people genuinely thankful to him for doing what had to be a very brave thing, especially for Chris. It was without a doubt his finest hour. Now immediately after that he got right back into his old “Tanner Boyle” ways but hey, you measure good times in height, not width. The humility might have been short lived but it lived nonetheless and it was greatness while it was alive.
And in that same thread that caused so much trouble and in response to the post that tried to nail him to the wall, I made a comment about him getting “unzipped” that B1 did not appreciate. To his credit he wrote me a PM telling me that he did not think what I said was cool and that basically I came off like I was laughing and pointing fingers at him. My first response again was defense. I wanted to say , “Dude, it was a joke, don’t be so sensitive.”
But I didn’t do that. I swallowed my pride and wrote back telling him he was right and it was way off base for me to make fun of him after he was attacked on the board. I had been suggesting privately that maybe an apology would do a lot more good than more pi$$ and vinegar but didn’t feel like he was buying that. I told him in my apology that it was embarrassing for me to write that apology back to him because I hate to admit when I’m wrong. I told him that because of that I’d understand if he didn’t want to apologize to anyone either because it is kind of a scary thing to do and something inside you lies to you and tells you that you’ll be weak if you do.
I just left it at that and waited to see what would happen and what happened was pretty dang cool.
NOW, MXDAD! Here’s a guy who apologizes daily. Some posts have actually ended in an apology designed to pre-empt scorn. Some posts of his actually begin with apologies. Sheesh! But more than any other poster on this whole message board, if you can present your case to him that he is not being fair, is over-reacting, or has somehow mistaken something said then he will not hesitate to offer the olive branch. This is one of the least prideful, least stubborn guys that I’ve met. He will always consider the other side of the argument, will always listen to what you have to say, and is always willing to assume that it is he that is wrong and not the other way round.
And MX does this because he wants to be able to look at himself in the mirror every day and know that he’s not part of the problem. He wants to be sure that he’s trying to work with other people and not against them. “Love every idea for at least 15 minutes.” MX is always willing to give you at least 15 minutes and usually more. And because of his great attitude he can say what’s on his mind and sometimes step on other people’s toes without alienating them. He almost always comes away from a confrontation with a new friend.
This is a mighty powerful tool in life. If you want to look like a closed-minded clown then just keep banging your head against the wall of futility. Keep chunking them bricks into the Grand Canyon getting nowhere. Keep going round and round making the same inane arguments never considering any other side to the argument. Go ahead and stay stuck in your groundhog day world of banal immovable ideas.
For you Zax just living to make tracks in the prairie of Prax...
...have fun losers!
If you want to actually bring someone to your side or get them to meet you in the middle then concede a point or two to the other person. Choose your battles wisely, be willing to divvy up the spoils of war between you and your adversary and you just might be surprised how often and quickly things start to go your way. My goal in a debate is to figure out how much I can possibly concede to the other person and still have them willing to at least consider seeing things the way I see them.
So I’ll end there with the lecture about humility and get on to what happened the other night that I began posting about in the first place...
Ok, so here’s what happened. At least as much as I caught...
A couple of nights ago in a thread that has since been deleted, Sparty was trying to get Dbyrd reinstated for some reason that’s totally beyond any comprehension available to me or any other poster on the board.
I made a comment asking why Sparty had such a crush on Dbyrd. Now Sparty knows as well as anyone that I was not actually insinuating that he and Dbyrd are gay for each other. I was only making the point that his effort to keep Dbyrd on the board was bordering on the unexplainable.
Enter Ninjachicken who quips that actually Sparty and 88 had crushes on each other all summer. It was, I believe, a pretty harmless joke. Coming from almost any other member 88 would have laughed it off or at worst just ignored it. The problem is that Ninjachicken is notoriously provocative on this board.
Now Ninjachicken claims he trash-talks as good as anyone and claims too many people are trying to start trouble and not enough people are talking about football. If anyone needs an indication of my opinion of the football worthiness of Ninjachicken’s contributions, consider this...
He is the ONLY member on my ignore list. The only other member who’s ever been on my ignore list was CoolHandLuke, aka KOS, and he’s not there anymore because he was banned of course. When I say the only member, I’m saying guys like likeitRnot, 1CANNON, and Ramm didn’t manage to get themselves there and all 3 of them have had episodes of pi$$ing off multiple fans of multiple teams at one point or another including me.
Actually Cannon and likeitRnot seem to be coming around as posters and are actually spending more effort posting about football than they do posting inflammatory rhetoric. I will be honest 1CANNON, I came within a gnat’s hair of putting you on my ignore list because you came on very strong with a lot of venom and hatred. But I’m a measured, deliberate guy usually and I’m going to wait and give someone several chances before I do something like that. I’ll say that you’ve made a couple of very good posts lately and hopefully it’s a trend.
The first post I ever read by Ninjachicken was the week of the State Game. He came on calling Dorman fans “fagaliers”. Now I’m a patient guy so I pretty much ignored it...I think...but other fans took offense. Ninjachicken was so irreverent and abrasive that C-Wall posted saying not to take Ninjachicken too seriously, that he was a friend of his, and that he was actually a good guy and just having a little fun.
Now I have no problem with that. C-Wall is a guy on here that I have immense respect for. If he says that Ninjachicken is a good guy just having a little fun then I truly believe him. He probably is a nice guy in person. But at the same time the thought crossed my mind that your friend shouldn’t have to go around in your wake explaining to people that you really are a nice guy. If your friend is doing that it might be a sign that you’re coming off as a jerk.
So whatever. So the guy likes to clown around and get under people’s skin. But as the weeks went on I got less and less patient. So I just put him on my ignore list. No big deal. I think I announced it but it was with no fan fair. I suffer no illusions that he cared one way or the other but most people do feel some obligation to at least inform someone they are being ignored just in case they start to think that you know...they are being ignored.
So from then on he didn’t bother me anymore. I had no temptation to ever go ahead and reveal any posts he made because I remember when I first put CoolHandLuke on ignore. He was the first one I ever ignored and the first post he made after I put him on my ignore list I clicked on it and read it anyway. Of course it was a piece of crap comment and boy did I feel stupid. Why the heck would I choose to ignore someone and then un-ignore them? What’s the point?
Whenever I put my hands over my ears when I don’t want to hear what someone is saying, am I ever tempted to drop them and listen anyway? NO. So why wouldn’t I just ignore someone I wanted to ignore?
So I really didn’t ever read another post by Chicken. And to be fair to him he may have been the most excellent contributor the board has ever seen after I ignored him. I wouldn’t know. I also wouldn’t know if he just kept on posting things to get on people’s nerves. I’m not about to accuse him of doing or saying anything between then and now because I’d be lying if I said he’s been a jerk all this time because again, I wouldn’t know.
Now of course there are exceptions.There are the few occassions that someone quotes something he says. Of course I’ll see it then and usually the reason it was quoted is not a flattering one. As such, that is the case with the comment he made about Purple Reign and Sparty.
I also caught what happened the other night with 88 because 88 happened to quote Ninjachicken when the argument began. Now I also have read a couple of posts from Ninjachicken simply based on the context of the thread he posted in, such as his Dorman/Gaffney post game thread. I thought I’d give that a shot and I’ll have more to say on that later but let me get back to what I was saying.
Ok, so I’m going along not paying any attention to Ninjachicken when, while I’m following a thread Sparty created, He decides he as something to share. He wants to stick his nose into a conversation about another member who’d gotten himself banned and what he wanted to add to the debate was something to the effect that Sparty actually had a crush on ’88 all summer long. I honestly don’t remember it verbatim. It got deleted and anyone’s version including the original author of the comment is only going from memory. The point is that he made a joke about Sparty and ’88 being gay for each other. Now this is the second time Ninjachicken has joked about Sparty’s sexual preference.
At this point let me be very clear and very serious in case there is any doubts circling. Sparty is NOT gay. I’ve met him and so have a lot of other posters and they will tell you the same thing. I know for a fact that he’s not gay because I hung out with him at the Jamboree and I tried all dang night to get me some o’ dat and he was having NONE of it. So either he is straight or I’m just not as easy on the eyes as I thought I was...
BWAH HAHAHA. Ok, now I said I was being serious but obviously I’m joking. NOW I’m being serious when I say I’m not gay either. In fact my 10th wedding anniversary is on Oct 12. Me and Russel are as in love now as we were the day we met.
BWAH HAHAHA. OK, I lied again. Was still just joking. Lisa and I have been together 10 happy years on Oct 12th and have an awesome son!
If there is any doubt circling about me now all you have to do is ask Goop. Seriously, we met in Goose Creek a couple of weeks ago and he’ll tell you that I’m not gay because he was tryin to get some o’ dis all day long and I was having NONE of it. And it ain’t cause he’s an ugly guy. That man is BEAUTIFUL!
BWAH HAHAHA! OK, there I go joking again. Goop of course is NOT gay. He’s married also and I hear she’s a hotty. If anyone has doubts about Goop, just ask SLICK...
But I digress...
Ok, so what happened was that after Ninjachicken made his joke ’88 replies, “Let’s be honest, you’re a dumb a$$.”
Now at this point I’m gonna wag the finger at ’88. You got your own style and I dig that but throwing out a clever joke and calling someone a name with profanity in it are two different things. I did correspond with the moderators today about my post and actually did offer to submit it to them for approval and got this reply...
“No need to run it by us. Just remember we cannot allow anyone to call other people idiots or morons and we can’t denigrate a player, school or fans. I know you know that, but some people take a little bait or a joke and stretch it out, and things go downhill from there.”
Now dude. You know I got your back and any other person on the board who’s not getting a fair shake but you have to read that paragraph one more time because it really makes a lot of sense to me. He’s saying they can’t allow anyone to call other people idiots or morons and if you can’t call them that then it doesn’t take much extrapolation to come to the conclusion that they sure aren’t going to abide calling another member a dumb a$$.
Also let me point out that the moderator pretty much nails what went down. ”...some people take a little bait or a joke and stretch it out, and things go downhill from there.” And that’s exactly what went down the other night. He baited you and you allowed yourself to escalate the rhetoric. Now to be fair, at the time I thought your response was actually kind of funny. You obviously didn’t mean it in a challenging or aggressive way. It was most surely a dismissive gesture of derision and Ninjachicken could have taken it that way and left it at that but he chose to escalate it even more and hence “things go downhill from there.”
That weren’t the moderators first rodeo folks, they have to monitor our stupid thoughts every day. They probably know more about human behavior than any of us and it’s probably not a flattering profile that they would draw.
But let’s pickup where things really start to go downhill...
Ok, to recap Ninjachicken was referring to Dorman fans last year as “fagaliers” again and again. Just a joke folks. He piped up on a thread Sparty posted about Purple Reign insinuating they were lovers. Again, just a joke. And a couple of nights ago he makes a comment about Sparty having a crush on ’88 because apparently they ride together to games? He’s a joke machine. Those comments are just the ones I know about. That might be all of them. I don’t know. I don’t read his posts. But there does seem to be a theme or a trend if you will with this guy’s jokes.
Now here’s the part that just flew all over me...
After making a joke about ’88 and Sparty and having ‘88 reply that he’s a dumb a$$ he says, “Why don’t you say that to my face.” Then he calls him “Harry Potter.”
Ok folks. I’ve met Ninjachicken, even shaken his hand. I’ve met ’88 also. Ninjachicken is taller than ’88 and looks like he’s probably stronger too. ’88 has dark hair and wears glasses. He does not look like Harry Potter but Ninjachicken won’t let that stop him from taunting ’88. And he’s made no effort to hide the fact that he knows ’88 and that’s why he’s not afraid of him. He said as much in another thread that got deleted. It was actually the thread I was writing this post for. Basically if I remember correctly his statement was something to the effect of him saying “You have seen me, I have seen you, you know how that’s gonna go down.”
SERIOUSLY????????
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ninjachicken, where do you get this personality? Where did you get this dialogue? From some 80’s movie about bullies?
You’re going to insult someone and if they insult you back you’re just going to beat them up??????? And because you know you are bigger than them???????
I suppose your hero was Matt Dillon’s character from the movie “My Bodyguard.”
Or maybe you fancy yourself more like this dude...
I mean you are NINJAchicken so I suppose that makes more sense....
So apparently the way I read this is...
You can tease another person all you like and their option is to sit there and take it or meet you somewhere and say it to your face and get beat up. Man, you are ORIGINAL. Now here’s what I find a bit interesting...
In your post about the Gaffney/Dorman game INDIANTRADITION had this to say about you...
“ALL I CAN SAY IS WHAT A DUMB AZZZZZZ THIS NINJACHICKEN IS!”
Now what I find interesting in retrospect is that you did not invite him to say that to your face. Now there may be a lot of reasons why you did not respond to his insult. One reason might be that you did not notice it. Except that in the same post just a few sentences later he says this...
“What a DUMB AZZZZZZZ!!!!”
So I have to assume you read it. So why did you not invite INDIANTRADITION to say that to your face? Now personally I think the reason is that it was a good heated thread about football and people were going back and forth very rapidly. You probably did not really notice or care enough because of the nature of the debate you were having. Maybe the other night you were bored and 88′s comment just hit you the wrong way.
But I will tell what some people would think...
Though I’m not convinced this is why you did not respond to IDIANTRADITION but did respond to ’88, some people are probably thinking that maybe you have not met INDIANTRADITION and therefore don’t know what you might be getting into. You OBVIOUSLY know what you got with ’88, at least size wise. To quote B1, I’m just sayin...
Who knows? Maybe you do know him. Maybe you guys are just good friends and can call each other dumb azzzz without getting in each other’s faces.
Now I’m not really sure what else was said because I was reading other posts as well but at some point the thread was deleted.
Now to add insult to injury, right after this thread is deleted Ninjachicken creates his own called...
“THIS FORUM IS OUT OF HAND”
?????????
Now at this point I really am interested to see what he has to say because in a lot of ways I happen to agree with him. Most of what he ranted about is pretty much the same rhetoric he’s using now. There’s no doubt that I will misrepresent his ideas here so I won’t try to reiterate them all. I will mention though that one of the complaints he had had to do with all the negative threads about Byrnes. Folks have been posting quite a bit about how at the games there will be Byrnes fans who taunt visiting fans and then beat them up. Seems he did not like people ganging up and trying to give Byrnes a bad name by making posts about how Byrnes fans taunt other fans and beat them up.
He had to take a break from teasing 88 and threatening to beat him up to complain about people complaining that Byrnes fans taunt other fans and then beat them up. He also did not feel that people were talking enough about football. They were spending way too much time going around stirring up trouble and trying to make them mad.
Alright, honestly let me say something here...
I am painting with very broad strokes here. Yes, I am generalizing and simplifying what went on. The situation is a lot more complex than this simple interpretation I’m giving.
Let me just play Devil’s advocate...
Ninjachicken will no doubt want to defend himself by saying he DID NOT get on Sparty’s thread for the purpose of taunting someone and threatening to beat him up. He’ll say all he did was just make a joke and he can’t help it if someone is so insecure that they can’t take a joke.
Further he’ll say that it was 88 who took a little joke and started hurling insults as a result and what is someone supposed to do when they are called a dumba$$? Just sit there and not say anything?
Ninjachicken will also say that he never said he was going to beat up 88. He’ll say, “All I told him was, ‘Why don’t you say that to my face?”
But come on folks. Some people might buy that, but most know what the score is. Even if he could sell wet matches to a dragon, he’s still not going to sell me on that.
Now look. I’m NOT trying to paint Ninjachicken as a bully. I’m not trying to give him a bad name or even suggest that he shouldn’t be on this board. All I’m doing here is interpreting what I saw unfold the other night, a string of threads and posts and comments that my brain took in, processed and pieced together. There are more things going on here but these are my thoughts, as limited as they may be, on some of the dynamics.
The problem here is that I think Ninjachicken is an intelligent dude. And I’ll be very honest and say that that’s why I blocked him. The knuckledraggers on the board don’t really bother me that much because it doesn’t take most of us much effort to stay ahead of their idiocy. But Ninjachicken is a pretty sly guy and does know how to push my buttons. I don’t mind admitting that so I just blocked him. I can’t be mad at what I don’t read. It’s a shame too because I AM aware of some great posts that he’s made and I find myself agreeing with some of his opinions...4
His Gaffney/Dorman analysis was pretty much spot on. Yeah it was pretty harsh towards Dorman but why shouldn’t it be? We didn’t play good that night. He said there was nothing good to say about Dorman. Now I bet even some Gaffney fans would disagree with that. You can say there’s not MUCH good about the team but NOTHING? Oh well, no prob. That’s just the way he sees it but mostly I agreed with him and found myself wishing that he and other people would compose more posts like that.
One thing that we are in total agreement about is the Dorman crowd. There is NO defending them. They suck. When I turn around and yell at the people behind me to get up and make noise they literally stare back at me like dumb cows. Ninja, you mentioned that NOBODY was cheering on Dorman’s home side except for a few pockets of fans scattered around in the stands. Well I’ve no doubt that my group was one of them pockets you heard. MXDAD, Sparty, Goop, GoBigGreen, and Don will back me up on that. But you’re right, for the most part the Dorman crowd is as pathetic as I’ve seen. Dorman fans on the board will say that they make noise and support the team and I know you guys do. Obviously the majority of our “fans” are not paying attention to this board and they are the ones who think they are at a ballet.
The other thing that I agree with you about is all the comments about what an awful place Byrnes is to see a game. Hey, I’m not saying it is or it isn’t. I’ve been to maybe two games ever at Byrnes and didn’t have a bad experience except for that the visitor’s side was run down and I had no where to sit. Also Dorman got powdered that night so that was another reason that my experience at Nixon field was not pleasant.
But I believe what people are saying about the place. Even Byrnes fans back up the stories. We get it. It’s an awful place. It needs to be said. I get that too. It’s just over and over and over. Why not just make one post and copy and paste the stories ten times in the same post. That would be a lot more efficient and have the same effect.
And lest someone think I’m siding with Byrnes or defending Byrnes’ stadium and school I will say that I defended the same stories about Gaffney last year against people who wanted to rehash the same horror stories over and over again.
Here’s the deal. Several posters have suggested what is a pretty good idea. Go to the game and if you see anything inappropriate then video it with your camera. Come home, post it on youtube then post the link on the board. Or don’t go to the game. If I make it to the game I will have my Ipod and I will video anything that shouldn’t be happening and you better believe I’ll post it.
I also agree with Ninjachicken that a lot of Noobs are running around spewing hate and creating threads for the purpose of ruining people’s experience. But dude, you gotta lead by example. I’m not trying to paint you in a bad light. I’m trying to hold up a mirror and show you how other people MIGHT be perceiving you.
It would be a real shame if you were held back on this board by people’s perception of you. I’m not talking about being held back by the person you are. I’m just talking about how people perceive you and how those perceptions make your experience not what you say you’re looking for on the board.
Again, lead by example. If you want to get more football talk and less sh*t the give more football talk and less sh*t.
I agree that things are more difficult these days on the board and I agree that some fans on the board make it less enjoyable but there are just as many fans that make it more than worth it to stick with it.
As an aside, I will tell fans this...
Down in Goose Creek I was speaking to my new low-country fans (both Gator and Wave fans) about Gaffney fans and Byrnes fans.
I asked them, “So I wanna know...which ones are the worst? They’re both humble and behaved when the team is down, but which fans behave worse on the board when their team is on top?”
What I got was a unanimous response. Of course they all agreed Dorman fans were the best fans ever when they’re on top but between Gaffney and Byrnes fans, 10 out of 10 low-country fans prefer one team’s fans over the others. Now I’m not telling what the answer is and if they wanna say that’s their business. Maybe I’m having some fun here and being mischievous but I DID think it was interesting what their answer was.
Ok so just to wind this up I’ll say I’m not trying to totally throw anyone under the bus. A LOT of people play a part in letting things on the board get out of control and I’m just laying out the way I see things. And everybody brings something good to the table also. I also know you gotta have a little chaos with your order or things will get boring. Every once in a blue moon someone will comment on a post of mine that they wish there were more posts like that. But I submit that if everyone were trying to be nice and fair to everyone else all the time, the board would be a pretty dang boring place. But come on, let’s try and keep a lid on things.
I’m not saying that no one should be trash-talking on this board. I mean hey this is the 4A board, not the “No Trash-No Bash”. We are not here trying to play patty-cake. I get that. But when threads are getting deleted and people are getting banned then I think it’s going to far.
If you wanna trash-talk then you should talk to the best, classiest trash talker on the site, Chief Shooting Bull. What can I say about this cat? He’s the bomb. He’s always got a great one-liner. He’ll always come on and put the smack down but he has an uncanny ability to support his team, talk some smack, joke at other fan’s expense, but always keep it light and funny. He’s thuh Guv’nuh of trash-talking. I have NEVER seen him start a fight on the board and anytime anyone took issue with him, it was because the guy was a noob and had no sense of humor. Shooting Bull, you should teach a class on the harmony of class, spirit, and smack. And above all, you should post MORE.
Now Sparty is a great fan also. And no one will deny this. I will say that I defended him saying that if Spartanburg turns things around Sparty will straighten up and act normal but damned if he ain’t crazier than ever!
Sparty, let me say this...
I tease you a lot and give you a lot of grief on your style but it’s only because I think you’re a great guy and great fan. Cheering with you at games is fun as sh*t and just like you said you wished I was a Viking instead of a Cav, I wish you were a Cav instead of a Viking. Now that’s just at the games mind you. If you were a Cav I’d let you out to go to the games but I would probably have to have you banned from the message board.
Because dude, you are really starting to act like the drunk uncle at a wedding. If you continue your ways we will have to take the karaoke mic from you, put you in a cab and send you home. Because it is just embarrassing at this point. I wouldn’t pick on you about it if I didn’t think you had a good heart and weren’t a worthy contributor. I you were a clown like some of the other guys on the board and I thought that I had no use for your contributions I would totally ignore you which I don’t.
Me and a LOT of other fans on the board really would like to see you stop spamming every thread with Spartanbug and Summerville comments. Even the Summerville fans think you talk too much about Summerville. (Ok, I made that up but it doesn’t mean it might not be true)
Seriously though...just as an experiment search back through the threads to last year and look through my posts. Find a post where I was commenting on another team’s thread that was not playing Dorman and tell me how many times I mentioned Dorman. And we went undefeated all year. (Til those nasty Rebels did their thang.)
Hell, I even made several posts in your epic Viking thread last year and I didn’t sit there and talk about Dorman. It was a Viking thread by and for Vikings. If there was a similar thread this year by and for Dorman fans commiserating our winless season, you’d no doubt paint it up one side and down the other with your Viking propaganda.
So just stop because sooner or later fans are gonna start complaining. Start experimenting with making entire posts where you do not mention Spartanburg or Summerville at all.
Start small and work your way up. I suggest comments like, “I hear ya!”
Then you can work your way up to more challenging posts like, “Well I think Greenwood will give anyone in Div2 Hell this year.”
Then do a whole paragraph and see how many words you can script without mentioning Spartanburg or Summerville. I’m not suggesting you not talk about them but just stay in context. If you post in a thread that is not about your favorite team then show the authors respect by staying on topic.
Ok, folks I’m doin my part to air your grievances but I have to ask a favor from you...
For GOD’s SAKE, if you see a really good post...COMPLIMENT IT! And if you see a good post that was already complimented...COMPLIMENT IT AGAIN. Reinforce what you want to see. If you only respond to negative stuff, even if you’re not like that, then you are encouraging it.
Ignore crap and praise what you appreciate. HOLY CRAP, we recently had a thread where people reminisced about the worst posters. They actually wanted to talk about who they hated the most, who caused the most trouble. When’s the last time someone had a thread about great posters of the past? And we wonder why trolls are so prolific.
At this point I want to pause and reach out to likeitRnot and share something that has been on my mind for about a week. Most of you have probably been observing me and him sparring a bit on the board. Up until last week I’d only ever reacted to his comments but last week I took a shot at him that was unprovoked and maybe just a little below the belt.
Without going into too much detail I posted a pic of a speak and spell with the caption that it was likeitRnot’s new laptop. He shot back a comment about Dorman’s record and I took it a step further by posting some pics of apes insinuating that he was one. We went back and forth a time or two more and always he stayed upbeat and tasteful but it did occur to me that the part I played was in poor taste.
For the record I am taking this opportunity to offer my apology to him. Something tells me he has pretty thick skin but whether I hurt his feelings or not is irrelevant. Making fun of people is really below my standards and I am sorry dude if you have any hard feelings. You picked on me about Dorman’s season this year and instead of talking about football I took personal shots at you.
In all honesty I REALLY did not like your personality as soon as you started posting last year and I watched in the offseason as you began to alienate more and more people from all over the state. But Ive read some really good posts by you lately. Not just your comforting words about Dorman but also good posts about Byrnes and Gaffney. I don’t know how you tick bud. Maybe you like attention any way you can get it. Maybe you get off on giving and getting venom. Maybe you just like pushing people’s buttons.
But I’d to think that when you make a great post and get a positive response in return that it feels better than getting hate. I know that we as a group appreciate you when you are shooting straight and not playing games with people. I’m saying here that I intend no more personal shots at you. If I do, anyone can post and call me on it. I’m not saying I won’t ever make a good natured jab from time to time but I WILL try not to be mean. And I hope you feel the same way towards the rest of us as far as saying things that upset people.
Ok, I apologized to likeitRnot. Now I’m going to apologize to Mike79...
Mike, you say that you don’t mind playing the part of Otis on the board but I can’t help but get the impression that comments directed at you kind of sting a bit. You’re never defensive or ugly but I just don’t think it’s something you appreciate either. I know that I made a post at the beginning of the season calling you Mikey Beerseed. I thought it was funny at the time and was basically continuing what was started by some other friends of yours but I will say this...though you did not come out and say it exactly I didn’t get the sense from your reaction that you thought it was all that funny.
So I wanna apologize if I ever teased you in a way that stung you and I decided I’m not gonna make any beer jokes because most people from last year know that though it was a subject of humor for most of the year last year, some fans took it and used it to be downright hateful. And if people are going to read things I write and use it to form a negative opinion about you then I want no part of it. So again I’m sorry. You might not have been sore at me but somehow I think you’re the kind of guy who wouldn’t tell me even if you were.
Again I will offer an apology to Ninjachicken if he’s offended by this post. If there are inaccuracies or any statements that you find apocryphal feel free to set me straight. My only intent was to just get down in words how I have processed a lot that went on this past weekend. Some quotes are hearsay because they were deleted. I’m going from memory and your recollection of events my differ from mine. I know that Sparty, ’88, and Mike were reading a lot that was said so they might also have a different version of what went down. I’ve taken you off my foe list. I’d be rather surprised if you cared one way or the other. It’d be a shame if you considered me an enemy because from what I’ve read you’d be fun to hang with at a game sometime.
Ok, I think that’s all the people I need to apologize to but if anyone else feels as if I need to make amends for something, just fill out the necessary forms and PM them to me.
Oh wait! I have to apologize to SLICK for offending him. He was trying to be friendly all week following my trip to Goose Creek by visiting every thread I was on and saying things that were not nice and I kind of blew him off. I was only kidding. I think the world of SLICK.
I think this is about all I had on my mind. Since most people have been making comments to the effect that this post is a book, I feel it’s only necessary that I include an appendix.
Not so much an appendix as just some random thoughts that didn’t really fit into the flow of the above material.
First a shout out to the cut, dried, and cured classy posters. These are people that anyone would do good to emulate...
LumberJackFrost always keeps it cool. He’s always going out of his way to act with grace and humility and makes a great ambassador of Byrnes fans. He’s had his scrapes with folks but always makes amends as far as I can tell.
Beaufort Eagles Fan seems like the most down to earth friendly guy you’d every wanna meet. He’s got great poise and great balance. The best thing about him is that he’s a great fan of football. The other best thing about him is that he’s an honest caring person.
Yankee/Rebel never bothers to climb into the pig stye when crap is flying and for that I respect him a great deal. He’s also friendly and easy to talk to.
Chief Shooting Bull is not only funny and spirited but I think it’s obvious to everyone that he’s got a great big ol’ heart.
Mike79 gets bogged down every now and then with turkeys on the board but I consider him the Sam Elliot of the board...
He’s got a cool slow demeanor and except for the color of his hair and lack of a mustache almost looks a bit like him.
Darth Rebel doesn’t come around much but is always ready to provide great football notes on the Rebs. He also knows about as much about Byrnes’ rivals as the rivals fans do.
GoBigGreen was one hell of a fun guy to hang with at Goose Creek and I can always count on the fact that what he has to say on the board will be relevant and fair.
Purple Reign is a bit of a serious guy. With regards to his sense of humor some people make visualize him thus...
And he’ll go toe to toe with anyone acting like a fool but I met him and he’s a great guy and knows a LOT about football and life.
Trojangrad78 is another person who will admit that he’s calmed down just a bit from when he was a few years younger. He really doesn’t have much to say if it can’t be said in a positive helpful way.
Goopinggator is about one of the most fun loving, friendly football fans you’ll meet. I was immediately a fan of his after the first I-95 Sporting News Thread last year. Absolute Genius!!! Now don’t say nuthin bad about his Gators and he’ll be your best friend.
Hughes is just dang nice nice nice. Just doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. (Don’t even go there CSB!)
Now there are a LOT of other posters who make this board great and most of the ones not mentioned here are not mentioned for a reason and thats....
Well some of the ones not mentioned are not mentioned because It’s kind of inevitable that I’d have a brain fart and leave out the person most deserving of recognition. If you think you were left out then make a post patting yourself on the back and I’ll say HELL YEAH, THAT GUY!
All the Greenwood fans, I put you all in a group of awesome, responsible posters.
Others are left out simply because I don’t have the time to list everyone who makes this board a great place.
And guys like Gatorfan, BYRNES#1, Chief Whoa, Chief Bojack, and others are simply one of a kind. They have their good days and they have their bad days but it’d be a shame not to hear from them.
Ok so that’s why I don’t make lists because someone’s going to get left out who deserves praise so I’ll just stop there.
Let me point out to folks who didn’t notice. I did NOT address any fan base as a whole. I DID NOT take the actions of one fan and apply it to the whole group. Any grievances I expressed in this post were made very directly to the person whom it concerned. So let’s stop lumping all fans together. It will be a step in the right direction when people will simply take someone to task for exactly what is bothering them instead of saying, “YOU __________ fans are the worst!”
I was trying to think of an appropriate way to wrap this post up and it came to me on the way to work this morning. First I will quote part of the Berkley County Sportsman’s Creed read before each football game at Goose Creek....
“Let us win with humility and lose with dignity.”
Remember that folks.
Finally I will just end this with a prayer.
Please bow your heads...
Dear father,
We thank you for giving us each fall season so that we may enjoy this great South Carolina pasttime of High School Football. Keep our players safe. Keep our fans safe. Help us to be better fans every day and not to conduct ourselves with hate and bitterness but with love and respect. We thank you for giving us each day that we can partake of the fellowship that we experience on PalmettoFootballTalk. Thank you for the Upstate and for making Upstate fans intelligent enough to be able to create something as sophisticated as a message board environment that the less intelligent low country fans would be able to operate.
In his name we pray...
Amen.
Peace, love and good happiness stuff,
Decav
). I have had plenty of arguments with guys like Sparty and B#1, but really despite the trash talk and personal attacks on both of them i like to think that if i was anywhere near Duncan or Spartanburg they would welcome me with open arms; and i hope they know i would offer them the same hospitality without hesitation should they find themselves in North Charleston. It’s true some people are more sensitive than others, and if i have offended anyone in the past i really am sorry for it and hope that by now you see i’m a more mature poster than i used to be.