Downtime
I’ve taken the forums offline for now. I’m really not sure when they’ll return. I think we all need a little downtime away from the Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com message boards. It’s gotten to the point that I don’t even visit the boards anymore. Most of what I see is infighting and counter-productive to the advancement and FUN of BGSU Athletics.
I’m going to try and come up with ideas and thoughts as to how to make things fun again. Not sure what I’ll end up with, maybe nothing, but I’m going to give it some thought, have some meetings with people, and see what I come up with.
I’ll keep posting things here on the main page, and will post updates as they’re available. Sign up for the email notifications in the upper right of this page to know whenever I create a new post, or follow @AZZdotcom on Twitter. I’ll also refer you to the GREAT OrangeandBrown blog for timely news and info… http://orangeandbrown.blogspot.com.
So, I’m off to seek a way to bring the fun back to this site, not only for me, but also the dozens of others who have expressed concern regarding the direction the message boards had been heading. If you have any thoughts or ideas, please leave them in the comments below.
GO BG!!
Less political talk. This isn’t a politics message board. There has been a lot of anger on both sides and it needs to stop. I come here for BGSU athletic news and sports talk in general. BGSU chatter has been less and less of a topic. When there is talk about BGSU it is mostly the athletic department and administration in general is out to get us. Barely any talk of the good things that are happening on campus. It’s become more of a gossip site to knock people. I think this downtime is needed and some re-organization on the site needs to happen.
I took my own ‘time out’ from the boards last week…and I couldn’t agree more with the decision to shut it down. I rarely read anything other than the hockey forums, so I know nothing about the other forums. Do they often get as personal and nasty as the hockey?
My suggestions:
1. Ban ALL political commentary, including within the poster’s signature. There’s plenty of forums dedicated to the political process…this isn’t one of them.
2. Make all poster’s open a pay-pal account, and charge a small fee for every post. This would encourage people to put some thought into their posts. Donate the money to the scholarship endowment fund or some other worthy cause. Charge extra for spelling errors, poor grammar and faulty sentence structure.
3. Any poster found to be operating without a functioning sarcasm meter should be suspended.
I sort of agree with Mike. Like many of you my interests are varied, and I am a member of many forums. The best, BEST, are those that are nearly 100% political free zones. Hard to imagine even on hunting and shooting topics that people who are active participants are not all politically aligned, but yet manage to maintain civil decorum and keep their eyes on the ball and in the forum keep the Gov out of it.
this means no pics as avatars, no catchy signature files, none of it. The Moderators due fantastic jobs of reminding folks. This is after all a BGSU sports fan site, the politics of a Nation have no real place, what does is sports talk, campus life etc. That would be a first step. I have some other ideas and will post them in time.
I’d like to come and hear what is happening in our sports when I can’t be there. But, I, too haven’t been to the forums for a long time. I agree with Mike’s assessment of the atmosphere.
This site was always different from the other fan sites. We didn’t eat our own. Yes, you can be disappointed that we lost, but not slam young men and women that are representing OUR university. Someone has a tough game- it happens.
BGSU women’s basketball finished with the 5th highest grade point average IN THE COUNTRY for women’s basketball. And they won 30 games. Congrats to them!
THAT is what I come to the site to see.
I’m not sure what goes into policing member posts, but I think a total ban on subjects beyond sports (the best example being politics) would be a good start. Political commetary behind the false veil of internet anonymity has made all social networking sites less attractive over the last two years. A non-political format should also cover avatars and signatures. Imagine what life would like if we all were walking around with red hats and blue hats identifying our political ideology for all to see.
Gossip is sometimes thought of as inside information, and it’s easy to forget that anybody can say anything with little or no consequences.
I’ve lived in Fort Wayne for about 16 years, and I have only once come across another BGSU grad that still attended Football games. Our school doesn’t get any coverage even from this short distance. So, this is the forum is the only real time opportunity to read thoughts and ideas that aren’t scrubbed and prepackaged by the news outlets. (no offense intended to the journalists)
It is really sad that things have gotten out of control on the boards. I haven’t been on as much since spring and summer is a down time for my favorite sports, so I haven’t noticed all the crap lately. I don’t mind political commentary if it is civil. But apparently civility has been severely lacking.
I would hate to see the Free-For-All Forum go away but if Grant thinks that would be best to keep things in check, than so be it. A separate Politics Forum has been talked about before but maybe a separate BG community forum site is needed for all the non-sports related talk.
I dont agree with paying to post, I do however agree with asking each member to become a supporting member and contribute the same that they may for say an annual magazine subscription, or donate an item that can be auctioned to aid in funding the site and site sponsors gifts-parties etc.
Fewer Moderators, you only need two, your self Grant and one at large, more than that and it gets goofy as well.
I had not noticed anything but I have spent most of my time in scanning the hockey forum.
I have been the only moderator since the site re-launched in the new style.
I say ban the political talk, too. Does that mean the free-for-all needs to go? Or can political talk be confined in one forum? I don’t post much any more. one a-hole is all it takes to really ruin it.
HOW DARE YOU TAKE AWAY MY FREEDOM OF SPEECH!
Thanks for testing, but my sarcasm meter is fully functional.
The ALL CAPS SHOUTING thing WAS a nice touch, tho.
I just can’t take it any longer. Five full days and still no national championship.
Let me be the first to say what we’re ALL thinking: Fire Chris Bergeron!
I wouldn’t mind seeing a yearly membership fee to help both with the cost of running the site and keeping out some of the Negative Nancy’s.
Negative Nancy won’t be kept away by something as simple as a yearly membership fee. Now, if she gets tagged for a buck every time she posts…THAT might make her THINK before she types. It would eliminate the “I know you are, but what am I” sort of childplay.
As usual, I disagree with Bigdog. Expecting a championship this soon is completely unrealistic. He deserves at least a week!
Oh, and Smell-o-vision. Why don’t we have this yet?!
Smell-o-Vision was a pipe dream that never had a chance of success in a free market economy. Considering what crap gets produced for TV, why would anybody want to smell the programming? No business could ever justify the enormous investment in research/development without a reasonable expectation of large profits.
Once Mr Obama dissolves the Union and forms “The Peoples Socialist Republic of America” (I KNOW this is going to happen, I read it on a VERY reliable blog) then the government can provide the massive subsidies needed to make SoV a reality.
PS…Long Live 1940s and 50s Warner Brothers Cartoons! “Arise, Sir Loin of Beef! Arise, Earl (oil) of Cloves! Arise, Duke of Brittingham! Arise, Baron of Münchhausen! Arise, Essence of Myrrh, Milk of Magnesia, Quarter of Ten…”
Hey Grant,
2 ideas:
1) What about requiring people to post under their real names? If there is a reasonably simple way to verify a users name, then maybe it’s worth a try. It will dramatically improve the quality of the dialog very quickly.
2) Become very aggressive in moderating these boards. If a post is angry, insulting, or moronic, yank it!
Politics are never a good idea on a site such as AZZ. But thats not really the issue. Certain members of this forum attack people for posting their opinions. And not attack in a constructive or reasonable way either. I think the term abusive comes to mind. Some on this board think its their god given right to act like idiots, even to other alum. Thats the problem.
Dear Azz Community,
I dont know what to feel about the recent choice of Grants to shut down the board. I am kind of disappointed, but I can also see Grant’s side of not wanting to put his name behind something that lacks quality. I am a 2005 graduate and was a member of SICSIC while on campus and have been at so many sporting events throughout my time in school in mask and otherwise.
Ayziggyzoomba.com was always a place I could come to to talk BGSU athletics a place that I felt pride in and could ignore all of my friends who slobbered over Ohio State. It let me know I wasnt the only one who lived and died with Trent Jacksons amazing defense or Ali Mann’s incredible leadership or the terrible FG kicking over the last decade! I think the major issue ob this board was thing that werent BG related. Anything about the Big Ten, BCS, schools politcs, even adminstration, bands and memories other things other then sports needs to be eliminated.
Maybe setup up some system of checks that the responsible people of this board can self police with the help of Grant. IF someone is taking something other then BGSU sports a message can be sent to Grant about the disruption and then Grant can decide about their standing on the board. I am not really talking about people like FLACONBOY who I will disagree with most times, but he talks BGSU SPORTS and thats what the board use to be about and should be the only thing it is about it in future.
I am a member of LETS GO TRIBE BLOG online and you know whats great about it? It is a board totally commited to talking Cleveland Indians Baseball. The people on the board dont care about politics or even football. They are diehard Indians fans and would break down the pitching motion of Chris Perez for hours if we could. That is what this board needs to go back to something totally dedicated to talking BGSU sports. Nothing else is welcome. You want to talk about OSU or Mich. see your way out. BGSU should not play second fiddle to anyone and BGSU deserves its own board commited with BLOGS and POSTS commit simply to the love passion and greatness of BGSU sports. Thanks for our service to Falcon fans, Grant!
Just my two cents. GO FALCONS
Josh 05 and 07
I think I’m like a lot of other people, in that I really haven’t had much desire to participate lately. I’ve had a lot of fun on these boards over the years, and I can’t shake the feeling that I have been part of the problem that has led to this. I really enjoyed the banter with Redwingtom and others, but I’m sorry to say that others started to take it way too seriously after a while. As a result, I lost interest, and I can understand why others have, as well. Still, I kept reading the boards because this is the only place I can go for up-to-the-minute news and information about my Alma Mater – AZZ is still my homepage, and it is almost reflexive that I read through each board on a daily basis at this point.
I think one of the things that needs to happen is recruiting moderators for each individual board again. I have often wondered why that didn’t happen after the redesign, because I certainly don’t think it is just that you, Grant, have to bear the sum of that responsibility when you put so much work into making sure the boards are functioning. The moderators need to be given a great deal of latitude, as well. If people feel like their first amendment rights are being violated because their whiny/irritating/intentionally provocative post has been deleted need to go back and read it again. Period. I have been ‘moderated’ in the past on this board and others, and I have always understood it and the necessity for it. The intertubes can make all of us a bit bold at times.
I am also not averse to a membership fee. I don’t think any of us truly respects what it takes to keep a community as convenient and big as this one functioning. The only concern I would have would be keeping new grads or alumni from joining solely because of a small fee. I think that can be largely avoided by granting new registrants free access for a month or two to let them know what they would be getting. This place is highly underrated for the amount of information that it provides.
All of that is just drivel, though. I’ll respect whatever you decide, Grant, and I hope everyone else will, too.
I can always get news from ESPN, SI, Sentinel Tribune, and the Toledo Blade. Out here in the Welsh Valleys where men are men and sheep run scared though, I always feel like I am “in the loop” – in the stands, or at the tailgate. AZZ does something no news Goliath will ever emulate. I have restored important friendships that I am sure I would not have managed via alum sites, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. I hold out hope for a few more as yet lost contacts, and so in the empty time between “the Spring Game” and the run into the first game of the football season, I understand why Linus likes that blanket of his so much.
Och away, Grant, you’re a bonnie lad!
Now, what I want to know is, who can pronounce the name of that volcano in Iceland that’s turned off all the airports around here? It has always been really neat watching the transatlantic flights hitting the west coast here at 30,000 feet or so on a crystal clear morning, knowing that people would be landing at London, Amsterdam, or perhaps Frankfurt within an hour or two. Between 6:30 – 9:00ish, there would always be two or three “inbound” way up there. Not now.
I am completely in favor of a separate politics forum. However, the Free-for-all has been a nice change-of-pace to enjoy, especially when the sports I enjoy are out of season. I am able to go to the free-for-all and discuss pro sports, politics, world events, local events, etc. I can go to that forum and know that if I don’t find something interesting to discuss, I can just create a topic and somebody will surely discuss it with me.
Earlier, somebody suggested eliminating anything not dealing with BGSU sports. These people must realize that the band forum is rather popular, and the food section has been a great posting adventure for many on here (and a great way for me to get new recipes to try). What we need to try to do is keep a short leash on some of the newer members until they become a little more seasoned with our ways on the board. Rather than charge a fee to make people put thought into their posts, perhaps put a posting limit on new members. For example, a limit of 1 new topic per day or week, and 10 posts per day. After 100 posts, those limits are increased, and then increased again at 250, and then once the member reaches 400 or 500, they are limitless. Also, during the probationary period, all of their posts should endure higher scrutiny. It may not seem fair to limit the number of posts of a new member, but how many people currently make 10+ posts per day? I usually make 3-5 per day, but some days I get close to 10 if there is a really interesting discussion occurring.
One thing I have enjoyed about this board is that it is free. We have google ads attached to the boards which help pay for the site, and I know that donations are periodically accepted. Charging a fee will most likely cost us a few members (including myself). Every message board that I have ever posted on has lost me as a customer when they decided to start charging for memberships, simply because there are always other free options out there that, although maybe not as nice, still offer the same opportunities that once existed with the other site.
It’s not the “new” people that have caused most of the problems….
I really like the idea of limiting the posts, maybe even not to new members. That way people could think about how important that post was? Just an idea. But I do agree about the charging to use this board. It always seemed like a forum that was for everyone, and I guess I realized that caused the problems, but I think that would eliminate students joining because, let’s face it, a lot of them aren’t going to pay to voice their opinion. Which would in the end get sort of sad I guess because the students should be informed about what is going on. This board is how I found out about the hockey fiasco while on Spring Break last year, only to allow me to come back early and sound the on-campus alarm. I have gotten many students to at least read this site, even if they never joined. I’m just afraid a fee would distance them even more. Whatever is decided, I will of course be on board and supportive of it.
I think taking the boards offline for a while was a good idea to show everyone what is really happening and that it is not just in one area.
1. You can’t charge a fee or limit posts or no one will want to be here.
2. Many posters give money from time to time to help with things. I know it is a drop in the bucket, but it is something and usually anytime Grant makes a request we are there to help!
3. You need individual forum moderators and more than one of them. When Grant says that he is not on the forums and he is the only moderator, things get out of hand. Take it from me, I certainly did not want to have to e-mail Grant to tell him someone was posting an unauthorized picture of me (twice) when it could have been handled immediately by a moderator.
4. Don’t take away the free-for-all forum. But instead, give registered users the ability to disable any forum they don’t want to see or post in.
5. A new forum, if it is opened, needs desperately to have a posted AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) which clearly states what is acceptable and what isn’t and what the consequences of your behavior are.
6. If possible, the foe (or ignore) feature needs to prevent the receiving of PIM’s from foe’s and needs to prevent the viewing of foe’s posts if someone else quotes them.
Lastly, even I became disgusted at what this board became and what I became on this board and I do apologize to any and all that I have offended. I even removed the link from my favorites for a couple of days before I decided that I was not going to let one stalker ruin it for me, so I added it back.
Flipper bad…azz.com…good.
Maybe we just need a time out chair for those of us who can’t control our douche tendencies….
I will say this though…the downtime is keeping me from telling you all how I burned myself with a clothes iron…that’s prolly a good thing.
Do what you think is best Grant…it’s your show.
Did you do it ironing something you were already wearing? I did that. My wife still falls out laughing when that comes up.
AZZ seems mild compared to a lot of boards but I know you are looking for something more than just “better than” some other board. I try to keep things light and like Tom and Flipper, apologize if I offended anyone (except about three people who I totally intended to offend- and thye know I meant it). Anyway, I’ll miss our little chats but hope you figure something out, Grant. AZZ is a pretty good place to hang out sometimes and I’ve certainly enjoyed meeting many of you, in person or just here.
Word to the wise…when ironing, wear pants.
Although I have done the iron the shirt while wearing it tthing as well….
I probably have learned more from participating on this forum with politics than on any political forum I have been involved with. I would hate to see it go, but wouldn’t mind it limited to a politics forum. If it has to go, do it. That’s not what this board is about.
I also feel personally hurt by this forum more than any other.
When people make disparaging comments towards a coach or player or group and it gets personal, I don’t know if there is much you CAN do about it.
One DBag will ruin a board. In fact, every message board I have ever been on has had the positive feel of the site ruined by one a-hole dragging everything down.
It’s like the political conversation in the country – it’s dominated by the crazies on either side, and the moderates in the middle get shouted down and don’t want to participate in the discussion.
If you want it to be positive, it will need to be moderated much more strictly than in the past. Don’t be afraid to ban the tekekinis of the world. People won’t ignore the trolls or the inflammatory posts. Remove nasty posts.
The people who are ‘good’ posters (I don’t consider myself one) will lead the way.
Perhaps we can use this probationary period (with limiting post counts, etc.) for members that consistently abuse the rules of the board (which, if not already developed, could easily be created). This would allow these people a form of a time-out. The people that don’t cause trouble and at least contribute something meaningful would be unaffected by this, and this type of policy could be implemented as more of a last resort and on a case-by-case basis.
In regards to Tom’s post, I addressed (1), and agree with everything else except (4). I feel that a person can just skip over a forum they don’t want to read. I do that right now with quite a few of them simply because they are not interesting to me.
Bottom line, this is Grant’s site. If he’s not feeling it anymore, if he’s become disgusted with the discourse on the site, then it’s his prerogative to wash his hands of it. There’s no reason for him to foot the bill and deal with the aggravation if he derives no pleasure from his time and dedication to the forum (and his alma mater). If you don’t like it, then you create your own site. I am sure Grant would be a happy contributor (when he wanted to) and not have to deal with all the crap (including the bills) he does now.
But at the same time, if he does decide to bring AZZ 3.0 online, I would hope that’s it’s not this heavily regulated, error on the side of non-offensive opinion, website. B/c then you lose the spontaneity and sharing of ideas and opinions for fear of offending someone. But here’s the score, people are jerks and there is nothing you can do about it. I am sure we have all posted something too quickly (which is why I have used the “edit” or “delete” options multiple times). And I think certain things are out of bounds (such as blatantly stalking someone online…Today it’s posting pictures of someone, tomorrow he/she is trying to wear your scalp as a hat…). I would love to live in a world where we all got along, everyone was prosperous, we were all kind, and we had little to no strife. But that’s not the world we live in. We are all adults (well…sans the Freaklings) and no one is forcing you to participate. If some calls you out, there’s no need to continue to escalate, as a majority of the time, you have no idea who you are talking to…Just be the bigger person and let it go.
Politics is always going to cause debate (and thank God know one started a religion thread). But outside of that, I think that running down college students and berating programs mercilessly are all contributing factors. But even beyond that, there is no reason to personally attack the character, personality, or intelligence of another person (even if he/she did graduate from Toledo) if they happen to disagree with your opinion. The only time people resort to personal attacks is when the discussion has reached an impasse in which one side can no-longer logically reach an alternative conclusion, so instead of “that’s a really good point that I haven’t thought of before” you call them an ass-hat.
I will miss AZZ. I hope it comes back as there are a number of people I have met “virtually” whom which I enjoy talking and discussing differences of opinions. If AZZ does not make a phoenix-esque return, I will miss those connections. But at the end of the day, it is still just a website designed to discuss a variety of BG-related topics for entertainment purposes. Thank you Grant for running such a great site. It will be missed.
The MACbbs board has a user rating and a warning level percentage. Something like this could be used to put someone in a timeout for a set period of time if it reaches a certain level. Then it could be reset when the timeout is lifted.
I just suggested the option to disable a forum as personally I don’t see that much political talk and/or bad behavior between posters in anything but the free-for-all forum so that was the basis for my suggestion.
Bottom line, without a posted policy on what is allowed and what isn’t and what lines have to be crossed to get banned or suspended, how can anyone be expected to know where the line is? And I don’t think it is possible or fair to put all this squarely on Grant’s shoulders.
Here is a link to the AUP on the MACbbs board: http://ncaabbs.com/html/aup.html
1. No more personal attacks.
2. Get at least one moderator for each section of the site (it can be the same person if necessary)
3. If anyone personally attacks another person, then they will receive one warning and then a ban for a set amount of time.
4. Stay positive, even if you don’t agree with a situation
5. Don’t attack any member of ANY BGSU team or anyone in the athletic department.
6. Share your feelings, just keep an open mind and stay positive. We have all disagreed with the athletic department from time to time, but just saying one person sucks isn’t the way to go. Let’s be productive and build bridges instead of roadblocks.
7. Use tact.
8. Make an effort to support the fun and advancement of ALL bgsu athletics and athletes.
9. Remember that student athletes are students first, athletes second.
10. Did I say use tact yet? That should be on here.
Ideas to make it fun? I have some that I’ll throw at Grant in the form of a wadded up paper ball(s). I will post pictures when said paper ball attack occurs. Did I say attack? I meant… delivery.
No offense but bad blood from Political forums with in a site boil over into site related discussions. No place for it.
I used to check the site a bunch. I don’t anymore. It could be that every stinking thread was hi-jacked. If it wasn’t a political hi-jack it was a “I saw you at the bowling alley” hi-jack. This gave the whole site a clique-ish, small town, closed “we’re using wacky internet names but we really know each other” parochial newcomers need not apply vibe.
Go BG!
Alright, this is something I’ll echo as well, as a student and big BGSU supporter, I came to the forum excited, however it seemed that there were only 20 or so people on the forums, they all knew each other very well, and every third post was about someone’s recent BBQ or weekend.
While that kind of conversation makes for a nice community, it also made me feel slightly unwelcome. Often posts made by myself or others outside of this ‘close knit community,’ even if on topic, would go unnoticed or ignored as personal conversation would fill a thread.
Staying more rigidly on topic in this setting is very important. This isn’t as important for smaller messageboards, but that’s because there is only 10-50 members to begin with.
More moderation and more consequences would be nice. Enabling a + rating for people who post good comments and a – rating for those who don’t would go about setting up a reward/punishment system. Furthermore, you can limit the post count of people with lower ratings. Say everyone starts with 15 posts a day or so–trust me, new member never will use that many–and have it increase in increments as you gain rating. Negative rating removes your posts, if you get low enough, you don’t get to post (aka, banned)
I think the +/- ratings on individual posts is a great idea actually. Kind of like what’s on Youtube for example.
Grant,
You’ve done a heroic job in keeping this site up and running for all these years, and for years in my opinion it was above other internet message boards. The personal attacks were rare, the conversation was intelligent and people even occasionally brought the funny.
However, I can agree that things have gotten tiresome. I hope you can come up with a solution, but some of the ones suggested — limiting post counts, restricting topics, etc. probably won’t work. It may be time for you to set up a subscription only site, but that has its own set of drawbacks.
It would seem that all could be solved if people remember two fundamentals:
1. It’s not political correctness — it’s manners. Treat people like you want to be treated and assume that your grade-school daughter is reading the messages.
2. You can’t logic someone out of a belief he wasn’t “logiced” into. If someone hates XXXXX because they’ve always hated XXXXX, then no amount of reasoning, insults or any other persuasion will move him off it. Ignore it and move on to the next thread.
Good luck with coming up with something, but in the end, I hope that we continue in some manner.
For this one time, this really is something I “could care less” about. (insert evil laugh)
Grant’s the man and can/should do whatever he wishes.
I’m going to go a little contrarian here and encourage people to not this thing more seriously than it needs to be taken. It’s a fan internet message board. These aren’t secure cables between former Soviet satellite nations, they’re posts about the merits of moving a recruited safety to a rover linebacker position.
We shouldn’t let the 10% bad (that will be present at any time under any circumstance) obscure the 90% good: discussion, analysis, recruiting info, insider team news/updates, humor, etc. that we have enjoyed for years.
And Flipper: two words…Stanley Steamer
I can completely understand how things get pretty ugly from time to time around here. I personally have always been an advocate of a separate political forum instead of it simply being in the free-for-all section. Just as “Other Schools” or “Falcon Food” weren’t in there, I think a “Politics” thread could have had its place, as I’ve seen work on a few other boards. It should of course come with the stipulation that if somebody wants to post there, they have to actually be mature about it, which may require some heavier moderation, and could end up being more of a chore than it’s worth.
Two ideas that I’ve seen tossed around that I would definitely not want to see however:
- Making any new forums strictly about BG sports and nothing else.
While I’m sure it works in a few other places, I also know that communities like this become just that, a community. The posters here start to become your friends and as happens, you sometimes want to ask a friend their opinion on something, or just discuss something else. We all love BG sports, which is why we’re here, but we also have at least some semblance of lives outside of them too. As long as people are willing to self-edit and keep ourselves in check a little (perhaps with help from time to time), I think there’s no reason to scrap the other side of this forum.
- Charging per-post or making the board subscription based.
If this were to happen, I would unfortunately be gone immediately as soon as it was instated. It’s not that I would be unwilling to kick a little money towards this site, as I love the ability to come and discuss BG sports with people who actually care about them as much as I do, but money is just too tight for me to be able to justify spending it simply to post on a message board. I would be willing to bet that I am not the only one in this position, either. Personally, what little extra money I have after I pay my bills, get a few groceries and some gas to keep my car running is generally spent on either visiting my fiancee or trying desperately to save some up (very slowly accumulating) so I could actually marry her some day.
All of this being said, this is Grant’s site to do with what he wants and I completely respect his decision, whatever it may be.
Communities need direction. This forum has been self-guiding for many years. And for many years there have been calls for active moderators and policing of the forums. If this is to continue, it requires a level of administration that has never been attempted. Moderators with authority and the will to use it. Head admins that can manage a community with a fair hand. No politics. No sex. No over incivility among members. Do that, and this will be an entirely friendly and useful forum. Even if it rubs some the wrong way, I think the wide-open approach has run its course. This is Grant’s site, how he would like to see it be, is entirely his right to pursue. We should be able to live within that vision and purpose.
The problem becomes how to manage the transition when those moderating will be from among those who have almost certainly expressed views others don’t like.
A different approach might be to have a “board of trustees” and punt individual responsibility. Policy to be determined by that group, moderators approved by that group, and blame according attributed when somebody doesn’t like something.
Nathan, at one point in the not to distant past, there were several moderators for each forum and I think that worked quite well. Recently however, Grant was the only one IIRC.
You’re correct, Tom… and there was reason for that, which I won’t get into here.
I recall seeing Mods before, but by then I had withdrawn from many parts of the forum. And I can think of many reasons why having Mods could have gone sour as well. I still moderate sites of my own, and have seen both sides of it.
I’ve been part of some testy debates here at times, from politics to football playoffs. Yet even I was wanting to just not get into it, even just avoid posting at all, because the quality to the exchanges had just gone sour. I just don’t see how the site could sustain those topics at all, especially with mods. The Mods would be blasted trying to temper any debate. So clear rules of engagement have to be in-place, or folks who simply don’t care to post have to do it.
I hope the forums come back. For many of us, it’s an invaluable resource, especially for things like organizing tailgates.
Moderation is the solution. Select people for each forum, and if somebody gets out of line, smack them around. The community eventually conforms to what is and isn’t accepted, (ir)regardless of how we all would claim to be non-conformists. Que sera sera, y gracias para todo, Grant.
Fee per post is a dreadful idea IMO. I see why it could be appealing, but think about some of the stupidest but most fun comments we’ve come up with. For example, there was the story a few years ago where an Akron BBall player fled from a police officer, pulled a gun and fired a couple of shots. Not a fun story, but h2o managed to make some fun in the situation. He commented that the officer was in no real danger as the kid had a 30% shooting average. Really funny comment, kick-started a great and memorable thread. Do you think h2o would have actually posted that joke if he got charged even a dime for his comment?
I don’t want to see free for all go. I’m not even sure I want to see the political threads go. What I do want to see go is the annoyance in the free for all threads that’s been so rampant recently. I think we all know what I’m talking about when I say I’m quite tired of post after post after post of a user digging up any dirt he can on the current Republican party or the right in general. It’s not that I’m offended or bothered in any way by the content, but I’m irritated after reading this same crap time and time again. This is a unique community for fans of Bowling Green State University athletics, for proud Bowling Green alums. I frankly don’t see where basically spamming the board with rips on Michael Steele, Fox News et al is unique to or even associated with Bowling Green State University.
And I’m not trying to slam anyone by that comment. We have been really good at policing this forum so far, and based off of the aforementioned poster’s comment above, I feel this situation may be resolved. If so, kudos to you (you know who you are) for admitting a mistake on this page. In the past few years, we’ve dealt with
1: Super annoying guy who praises the mighty Ohio State Buck$ and acts like a little eight year old and turned the Other Schools board into a kids playground, killing thread after thread after thread.
2: Azzhole who hated everything about the BGSU coaching staff and started around four threads after each game bashing our former head coach while also calling out individual members on the board rather classlessly.
3: Kid who repeatedly bitched out fans for not being “real fans” because they don’t stand up, then heads over to UT’s message board and posted misspelled and grammatically incorrect “trash talk”, thus embarrassing our fanbase to no end. After getting banned from UT’s board, this kid then created at least two other logins and continued the same behavior, getting banned both times. Of course, not sure what’s worse, that kid and his behavior or all the rips he got on him here, considering he is just fourteen or so. Not sure if our reaction to such a magnitude to him was called for or not.
We have a history of policing ourselves fine. The current and future issues on this board will surely work their way out.
So I guess what I personally want is for everybody just to take a deep breath and re-evaluate why they value this site. I value this message board for the community I’m part of. I am a very proud alum, and visiting AZZ each day is a way to reconnect to my alma mater and others who hold BGSU dear.
Oh – and it’s football pre-season again! Can’t wait to hear thoughts / observations / predictions for the upcoming season. Go Falcons!
Since I tend to be gone until basketball hot stove league starts up, I’m suprised that AZZ message boards are down. I suggest that long signatures and moderation (both moderator and less BS posting is the key). I have never attacked a poster, player, and usually not a coach, DD excepting.
I can’t play the game, I can’t coach the game, but I can watch it. I am a fan. I have season tickets in AA and I used all but 2 women’s season tickets and this last season, I only went to Toledo for an away game as my work schedule didn’t allow more. As far as men’s games, I didn’t do so well as I gave up the season tix, but was given a set and didn’t use very many of them.
I like AZZ for Falcon news, but I also can go to facebook and twitter. I agree, the noise to signal ratio was getting a bit loud, but AZZ is a valuable resource. An IGNORE button would have been nice, but an iron fisted moderator would be better.
Anyway, I hope the message boards come back, with no more than a 2 line sig, and good moderators in place.
HoopsFan
I have been reading along and now maybe its time to make my comments…….
As far as all the rule posting and pay per post and everything else proposed to control behavior. We are all adults….. or we are supposed to be adults….. and we should not need someone to post a list of rules for proper public conduct. However, posting rules would allow a moderator to “censor” a post or “banish” a member.
Moderators are fine….. they work well…. but for good reasons (any reason Grant has is good because it is his sandbox) Grant has determined that’s not the best for him. And really – who wants to come home everyday to an email box full of “Moderate this post”. (Right now Flipper is coming up with a great joke for that line)
The question I pose….. are message board going by the wayside. I know I don’t post as frequently as I use to. But then I have been a bit preoccupied over the past year. But I have noticed several message boards I typically read are getting quieter and quieter.
There are options…..
1) Good bye AZZ.com. Grant created a wonderful place to play, times changed, he moves to something more interesting.
2) Grant sells the website to someone else here….. they take over the sandbox and all the brats who want to wee-wee in it. Grant enjoys hanging out with the two fabulous women in his life.
and of course,
3) AZZ comes back in a modified form to resolve the current issues.
At this point my recommendation to Grant has been to sell the website and enjoy life away from all of us pinheads.
I agree changes need to be made. I rarely visit the board anymore because of the reasons stated above. It use to be fun to come here but it just takes a few people to ruin it for hundreds unfortunately. It is ultra rare when I find a topic I even want to open anymore over the past couple years. Even rarer when I actually respond to one. I think this needs to be a sports/BG message board only. Leave the politics for other places. Wish I could give a better solution or help!.
I’ve been reading the site almost daily since what 2002 or 2003? I find that on this site, like most other forum sites, that there is a lot of stuff I choose to skip/ignore. I’m able to censor content myself. That is kind of the beauty of giving a thread a topic. I generally know right away whether I give a ___.
I think the only thing that should be moderated is off topic posting within a thread, and the thread creator should have that prerogative. I think this would be sort of a new concept for web forums, but one that is less demanding on the site admin.
I definitely appreciate having a place to go for good conversation about my beloved BGSU. Reading what some people who are a little closer to campus, or who have more inside info have to say is enjoyable to me. Thanks Grant, for the opportunity to take part in the BG web-community these past several years.
Honestly, and maybe this is because I don’t read every single thread, I did not think it was getting so bad around here. I tend to avoid too much of the political stuff on here, and would say that some people are way too serious about their politics to be posting about them on this type of forum.
Otherwise, I keep up on the Football and Basketball news, and to a lesser extent the Hockey news. I didn’t think that people’s opinions in those forums were too out of line.
Each time there’s been a coaching change it’s natural for some people to be attached to the outgoing person, and others who are happy for the change. Harping on the change one way or another does get a little old after awhile, but I just stop reading threads about it when I’ve had enough.
Sorry to drone on, but I do hope to see a return of the forums. The key to making the trolls go away is ignoring them in the first place (Don’t feed the trolls). That is everyone’s responsibility.
Uh … I think I’m starting to suffer from AZZ withdraw. Whatever is decided for changes on the board, the sooner its back up and running the better. And Grant – if you need any quick donations to keep this thing running, let us know. I’d be glad to chip a bit in to help.
Here, I thought I was the only one. I’ve been checking 2 or 3 times a day, just hoping that the message boards were back up. I’m anxious to read up on any further updates of the football team and our former Falcons.
I also check the site 2-3 times a day, hoping the message boards will be back up. Due to my work schedule and personal schedule (coaching my son), I only get up to BG 2 or 3 times a year. Visiting the message board is my little “escape” during my daily routine. I very rarely post to the message boards, but I like to see what’s going on in the Falcon community. If people can’t control their tempers and ego’s on the board, deal with the few, not the whole. I personally don’t get offended by others reactions and statements on the boards. I do feel that politics need to be banned from the message board, but that’s about it. Other than that, I’m ready for the mesage boards to return. Let’s support everything BG, and Roll Along.
There’s a couple of things that are bothering me as I read everyone’s input. More than one person has said that we seem cliquish (BTW…it’s pronounced “Cleek”, not “Click”…you don’t shop for “Antick’s” with your wife/girlfriend do you?) and not open to newer people.
That sucks…I know it wasn’t like that before because we had a number of people come on board afer that inital rush in 2001/2002 when Grant started this here board and we quit sucking so badly at football. Back then we had a definite “more the merrier” vibe….did we lose that?
I have a tendency to be a little acerbic at times…so, if there’s anyone who feels that they weren’t made to feel welcome here by anything I might have said… Please accept my apology.
The other thing that btohers me is the general assumption that we need remedial measures to sanction people with. Like…we can’t just say “don’t be a dick”? I know I could have saved a ton of times arguing with people I will never convince on a range of topics had I just kept that simple sentence in mind.
“Don’t be a dick”
This has been my biggest concern ever since the GolferTK incident… as a site, we are very “possessive” and very closed.
I think part of the reason it seems we are so closed is because it seems that we don’t have a new member base, and I think that’s partly based on publicity. I only found out about this board from a friend (Chase). Other than him (and Metzger, too, I guess) I wouldn’t have found out about it.
Once inside, the group is pretty inviting, but then again, I’m not afraid to get into the middle of a conversation.
I think a good publicity drive to start off the next athletics season will do wonders for the site.
There had not been much of an influx of new members in years.
Yet in online communities that can also be a problem. Put some money into promotion, and the next thing you know, we have fighting between the “establishment” who like the tone of the site being what it was, and those who resent being told how to act.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
I had E-ticket’s hockey email list rolling for several years. Folks were civil, posts were objective and insightful. Then a clique arrived, and though no harm was intended, the instant clash in tone from old to knew killed the list.
Publicity for this site would be easy. And it would be an easy sell to those who visit. But folks have to know what is coming.
I was thinking about that pronunciation thing while pouring flour into a cannister last night. Obviously two words that are spelled nearly alike must have the same pronunciation.
Grant,
Just wanted to chime in. I fully support your desire to make the site fun and exciting. It should be what you want it to be. There are a lot of good suggestions above from eliminating political commentary, to a fee to support the site etc.
Now with that being said, if I beg really hard can we get the forums back….I need my BGSU fix!
–MH
Welcome to message board forum!
Chat Rooms are open!
So seeing as this is the weekend where we all are waiting to hear Freddie’s name called, any chance the forums could be back up and running soon?
Folks, I’m not going to bring the forums back up for a while. Take some time and step away for a little while.
This seems so odd to me. I had no idea what was going on until I came in and started reading these. I just figured we had a virus or something.
I do understand that its Grants website and he has full control of shutting it down. In fact the creation of it creates time and responsibility that I am glad he has been willing to undertake for years and I have taken for granted (ha). I have absolutely no clue what caused the stoppage but I really hope it ends soon or the community can find a new home.
I think that something that some of you may not realize is that for many of us AZZ is our ONLY connection to BG sports. Only. I live in Columbus, I have no friends who went to BG or care anything about there football or basketball teams. I do care a great deal but what has allowed that care not to dissipate in a sea of carmen and gray is having this connection to turn to for recruiting etc. I am guessing that was the goal of the website.
As far as the offending posts, I am very curious as to what happened. There are some veiled remarks about it but I guess I dont really understand. The political board for me was an interesting place to hear different opinions and have some discussion. I do that no where else but here basically because I respected peoples opinions and expected great diversity opinions that would widen my breathe and depth of knowledge. It clearly says what each post is about before you click on it so why click on it if you don’t want to talk politics?
This is an attempt to fill the void, when this site is back up,
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=115914975105241
this site will go away. go post and talk Falcon sports in the Discussion section.
I was thinking AZZ should have a Facebook presence – whether the boards come back up or not ….. but to be clear – I don’t think politics were always the issue.
What is interesting about Facebook is you can’t hide behind a moniker. I noticed recently the Dayton Daily News moved their comments section from their website to Facebook. An interesting move as now people have to expose themselves when they want to make vicious comments related to an article.
Did the group already disappear? I joined it, and now it’s gone already.
By the way, has anybody heard anything about basketball recruiting? I haven’t heard word one.
I hope Calhoun can play for us next year! It will be fun watching the new talent develop.
Cameron Black looks like he can step in and….uh….. DOH! Sorry, I forgot. The basketball forum is down!
Saw Coach Orr buying cold medicine at Walgreens yesterday, so he’s not currently out on the recruiting circuit.
Unless he’s recruiting a kid who’s addicted to cold medicine….
I think the biggest loser in all of this is the Non-Sequitur thread. As it reaches the two-year mark, it’s really a shame that we can’t lengthen the amount of non-sense that has been posted in that thread. I miss the Non-Sequitur thread.
I have a pony…… his name is Gary.
You guys really aren’t getting the whole “Step away” concept… are you?
I get it- I don’t even check this thing to see who’s posted anymore and I’m sure not going to contribute any of my own replies here. Its pointless and I just won’t do it. I do miss RUIT’s avatar though- If I WERE visiting here it would be to see if the boards were back up so I could chuckle about that little monkey (the avatar, not RUIT). But I won’t stop by and i won’t reply to anything posted here. I totally get it.
Grant,
The message boards became an addiction for me. I checked them 3-4 times a day. Now I find myself clicking the link in my favorites menu simply out of habit. That, and I am checking back to see if anybody posted any additional information on the facebook group that was started, that I joined, and then was ended. If necessary, I will start one just so we can have a discussion thread area again.
I urge you to join me and move to the new home for talk about Falcon sports at http://ncaabbs.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=477
Just sports, no politics! Although you will likely find an occasional “Off-Topic” post, but they are rare.
I don’t much care for the NCAAbbs board. It’s ok but I far prefer AZZ. As soon as this message board is back up, I hope we again abandon NCAAbbs in favor of this site.