The Bo Pelini Arguments

knapplc

knapplc

Active member
We've been flooded lately with Bo Pelini arguments, and it's starting to spill over into warnings and suspensions. I've just suspended saunders45 for a personal attack, and earlier this month BrayWyatt/finlay22 would have been suspended had the suspension module been available.

I sent NUpolo8 and BrayWyatt this PM in response to their reports on saunders45. They were justified in reporting him, but both could have been suspended for their parts in these conversations over the past month or three.

I have received your reports on saunders' personal attack in the forums and I have taken the appropriate action.

Note, however, that BrayWyatt's last warning would have led to a suspension had the board not been undergoing an overhaul when it was given, and that module hadn't been installed yet. Also, I have enough reports on NUpolo8 to paper the walls of my office.

The takeaway from that is that you guys, among about a dozen others, need to calm down. This constant back-and-forth about Pelini is pointless and needs to stop. Change the subject. Pelini is the coach for 2014 whether anyone likes it or not. Rehashing the same tired points we've been making about him for the past three-ish years doesn't add anything to this board.

You don't need to stop talking about Pelini, and you don't need to start pumping sunshine. But you can walk away from those conversations and you can choose to talk about something else. Do us all a favor and change the topic in the forums. If someone posts something positive about Bo Pelini, you don't have to run to the thread pointing out his numerous faults. It's been done.

Do us all a favor and move on.
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I'm thinking a general announcement might not be a bad idea, asking that people voluntarily refrain from rehashing the same tired topics over and over. Does anyone else think this would be a good idea, would it stifle too much conversation, or would it piss off too many people? I'm worried about the people who've already said they're posting less because of these same tired arguments, but if we try to ramp those arguments down, do we run the risk of alienating guys like saunders, True2trA, NUpolo8, etc?

 
Good work on that. I don't know what the answer is but I know I've not been paying as much attention to the Football forum because it makes my head hurt. There were a full two new pages (at least) in the one topic yesterday. And, as you said, it's just the same stuff over and over. Arguing semantics for the most part.

 
True has already been complaining about the board being a sun shine pumpers paradise.

I don't see it but maybe my extra large red solo cup of cherry KOOLAID blocks all that stuff.
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As long as we treat everyone the same as far as what is acceptable ????

I think there are always going to be lightning rod topics in any forum.

 
I almost NEVER post in the football forum anymore and it's because it's the same topics over and over again especially in the off-season. The problem is we don't have much to talk about in the off-season from football.

 
BIGREDIOWAN said:
I almost NEVER post in the football forum anymore and it's because it's the same topics over and over again especially in the off-season. The problem is we don't have much to talk about in the off-season from football.
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That's the problem I see as well - there isn't a lot to talk about, at leas until fall camp starts. Don't know what to think.

 
.... although I might add that it at least SEEMED slightly better while polo was on vacation. Not suggesting anything, just making observations.

 
Polo was never on vacation, near as I can tell. I think he took offense to the closing of the worst of the bitching threads and left for a bit. I don't think he has a warning, does he?

If we didn't have this constant b!^@h-fest about Pelini, we could talk about:

  • The rebuilding of the Pipeline, and how close we are to seeing a resurgence of great lines.
  • Randy Gregory's prospects, not only in the draft next year but in breaking any Husker records, wreaking havoc against various opponents, etc. He could have a monster year.
  • Same goes for Ameer Abdullah. He ran for 1,600 yards last year with a busted-up O Line and the 95th-ranked Passing Offense in support. If either are better, does Ameer break 2,000 yards? For all the glory the Hail Mary throw gets for winning that Northwestern game, we're talking about five losses right now if Ameer doesn't make that ridiculous fourth-down catch-and-run on 4th & 15 at our own 24 yard line.
  • We could talk about which QB best suits the offensive weapons we have. Armstrong is probably the better runner, but Stanton & Fyfe may be better passers. We have a great WR corps coming back. Can Armstrong utilize them properly?
  • We could talk about breakout stars in 2014, guys like Vincent Valentine and Cethan Carter.

There are tons of things we could talk about. We're just being bombarded with Boleaver/Boliever talk.

I've stopped posting in the Husker Football forum because of that crap. How many of us is that so far, three? Four? How many members are sick of it and stopped coming by? Where's Moiraine been? I could list half a dozen other people I've barely seen around here since the bowl game.

 
Knapp,

I think all those bullet points you've brought up are outstanding topics. Just post those and see what transpires.

I think the coach topic is the most popular in the off season while the QB/ backup is the periseasonal
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topic that is repeated.

 
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Maybe he wasn't suspended but I don't think he posted for several days so perhaps you're right about that. But he wasn't around for several days and it wasn't as bad.

 
I know that Eric has said to let some stuff slide in the off-season so we keep traffic up on the board, but this seems to be having the opposite effect. Am I crazy in thinking that or is everyone else seeing that? I'm not willing to have 50 members leave for a few knuckleheads that are driving the discussions into the ground. Those knuckleheads can go bye-bye or figure it out! It's one thing to have an educated opinion and not agree with things, it's quite another to take all discussions and drive them into the basement with your negative one-sided point-of-view.

 
Case in Point: BrayWyatt's current status update. Nothing wrong with the status update but it instantly turns into mocking Bo's supporters.

 
It is very much having the opposite effect. We've had members announce that they are posting less precisely because the Bo bitching has taken over the forum.

BIGREDIOWAN said:
It's one thing to have an educated opinion and not agree with things, it's quite another to take all discussions and drive them into the basement with your negative one-sided point-of-view.
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This is precisely the problem. This message board will die if it's not fun for people to post here. There are a few people who really enjoy this bickering about Bo and they're drowning out any other voices.

Here are the latest hot-topic threads, and the majority posters in them:

Who posted in: Eichorst statement on Bo
Member name Posts
saunders45 46
NUpolo8 44
Count 'Bility 34
kchusker_chris 34
Landlord of Memorial Stadium 32
sd'sker 30
True2tRA 26

Who posted in: Bo Pelini Negative Achievements
Member name Posts
NUpolo8 28
saunders45 22
sd'sker 14

Who posted in: Bill Callahan positive achievements
Member name Posts
saunders45 12
NUpolo8 11
Saint Boseph 7
kchusker_chris 5
Count 'Bility 5

Who posted in: I suppose this was Bo's fault too...
Member name Posts
NUpolo8 7
The Dude 5
saunders45 5
Count 'Bility 4

Who posted in: Bo's Blowouts - analyzing the worst of the losses
Member name Posts
saunders45 20
True2tRA 18
Hooked on Huskers 17
1995 Redux 16
NUpolo8 15
zoogies 15
Bye Bye Big XII 11
TheSker 11
Landlord of Memorial Stadium 11
knapplc 10
skersfan 10

Who posted in: Wistrom says selfishness of players "makes me sick"
Member name Posts
NUpolo8 22
True2tRA 14
Count 'Bility 9
Bye Bye Big XII 9
The Dude 6

Who posted in: Ralph Brown says Pelini needs to build a better bridge with ex-players
Member name Posts
NUpolo8 41
Count 'Bility 34
Landlord of Memorial Stadium 23
sd'sker 20

It's pretty much the same cast in each of these threads. If there's something negative to talk about, these guys are right there in the thick of it.

 
This is pretty reminiscent of the Callahan era. Actually, I'd say the Callahan era was worse. Not only was their a real chasm that split the fan base from the beginning, we had a few members, such as formerfan, that would turn ANYTHING into a Callahan rant. We tried to steer the board away from the constant negativity - tried working with the outspoken members, posting some general announcements about giving equal voice to both views, etc. Nothing worked. At best, it would go a few days where folks tried, but inevitably it settled back to the same old routine. We ended up banning a fair number of members from both sides over it.

Ultimately, we just had to suffer through it. In the case of the Callahan era, it blew over when virtually the entire fan base started calling for a change - and even that led to some bans for folks who wanted to simply get on the board and engage in "I told you so" posts and threads. The only thing we could find to work was a pretty strict enforcement of the thread derailing offense. Folks would post something completely unrelated to Callahan, and when a poster derailed the thread by turning it into a Callahan bash, we would go through the 3-strike process. Tedious and a pain, but it worked.

Of course, part of the problem is that we're now into the "silly season". It always seems to get worse when at this time of year.

What I'd recommend is try starting some threads like Lance offered up. If someone comes in an derails it, warn, suspend, ban. We'll lose some folks that we don't want lost, but it will settle things until the season.

Unfortunately, until we get a few seasons of sustained success (more than 9 wins, no "bad" loses, a championship or three) or a coaching change, what we're seeing is going to be the norm.

 
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