The similarity in the response to Polo's banishment and EZ-E's banishment are astounding. And yet, there was no bigger critic of EZ-E than Polo.It's a strange world.
I had ups and downs with both of them. Agreements and arguments with each. I have met EZ in person and he's a damn nice dude. I like him and hes easy to talk to. I've grown to like Polo more over time and even though I disagreed with his constant negativity on the Pelini situation I understood it. Pelini was a douchebag. It's unfortunate that now that Pelini is gone and Polo's ultimate dream came true, Polo finds himself off the board.
Look, there's worse things in life than being booted from Huskerboard. I'm sure those guys will be okay. So will the rest of us......(tears) boo hoo. But that leads me to my other point.
I think sometimes we all take this place far too seriously. I also think we could all learn how to handle disagreements a bit better. (myself clearly included).
I'm not sure what rules were broken, but those guys' opinions should be as valuable as anyone else's. This board has had a way in the past of censoring and filtering out diversity. Diversity of opinions should be valued. If we could all learn to handle it a bit better, it could make for some interesting conversations.
It's just a thought. Like knapp said, there's been warnings given, I'm sure. I've gotten plenty myself. Emotions are sometimes hard to keep control of. Especially on the Internet where intent, intonation, and context can be tough to grasp. You just don't know how to read some people. I hope maybe these guys get a shot to redeem themselves.
I +1'd this, but I'll disagree with you on this board valuing diversity. We do. We don't all agree on everything, and everyone that disagrees with "the majority" or "the board" (whatever each of those means) isn't banished.
There are a LOT of guys here who disagree. I disagree with skersfan on a lot of things, and he's a wildly popular guy. I'm a wildly popular guy, if rep points mean anything. But neither of us are banished, and each guy's opinion is valued.
Hedley is another example. He was best known for being the antithesis of what HuskerBoard stood for. He weathered the storm, he's still here, most every one of his posts are +1'd now. He's bona fide, even if his opinions run counter to the norm.
Hunter94 is another example. kchusker_chris is another. Heck, True, you're an example. There are lots of people here whose opinions don't conform to some norm. Who a lot of people (me a lot of times) disagree with. But none of you are banned, none of you are being forced to change your opinions, none of you are persecuted for not following some "norm."
Heck, I have a better opinion of Callahan than 90% of this board, and I'm not changing minds, and I'm not being booed off stage.
It isn't about norms or groupthink or hive minds. It's about presenting your opinion - whatever opinion that is - in a proper manner.
Look at whose most up in arms about Polo leaving.
Aside from me, the person who's probably most pissed about it, you've got sd'sker, StPaulHusker, Dr. Mantis Toboggan, Rollin'Rock, and a few others railing against The Man for Polo's banishment. If we're so against diversity, why aren't these guys being silenced? Why are we (me) engaging them in conversation about the situation?
A board hell-bent on one hive-mind thought would be banishing these guys, shutting down dissent, deleting their posts or putting them on suspension. We don't, because we value their opinions, we value their input, and we want every one of these guys to stick around and offer their views - whether we agree with them or not.
I promise you there is not one person on this board more upset about Polo leaving than me. But that doesn't mean I disagree with the decision. It was the right call. Sometimes the right call sucks.