A Note on Clarity/ Board Mentality

[theneumann64]

OK, I'm not sure how this is going to come across, or if it's even necessary, but some stuff has come up recently. Honestly, I think it's mostly due to offseason boredom, but I think it warrants my opinion, if not an official edict.

The problem as I see it is two fold.

1. We had so many Temple trolls, unaccounted trolls, and Explorer Steve aliases around for so long, there is still a culture of ganging up and piling on when someone is "outside the pack." This can be helpful when dealing with legitimate trolls, but when someone is making either a legitimate point that is unpopular, or is just not expressing themselves clearly, the discussion would actually be better by engaging them, rather than ostracizing them. You can still attack someone's point without being personally nasty. On the rare occasion when being nasty is called for, it's generally very obvious, and is clearly a troll not trying to add anything to the discussion. And I usually have them out of here pretty quick. So long story short: take a breath before laying in to someone.

2. That said, some of you (and I will NOT name names, and will delete any post that does on this thread) really need to spend a little more time on your posts. I'm not talking about misspelling "Duquesne" in a game thread, or not conjugating a verb correctly. I end up having to edit half of my posts because of minor spelling and grammatical errors. It's not that big a deal, and this isn't an English class. But there are presently I would say 4-6 regular, contributing posters, who's posts all take 3 or 4 read-throughs to figure out what is meant. There's no punctuation, simple words are abbreviated, it's just a mess. I know a lot of people post from their phones, but this isn't texting, the posts need to be more clear.

A guy I was friends with at school was run off the site about 6 months ago for similar things, and I told him exactly what I'm saying now: people need to be more patient, and not gang up on people, but at the same time, please show respect for the other board members by making posts more clear and concise.

Thoughts?

[ck]

I'd like to see fewer obscenity laced comments and personal attacks. In a different context, and as a Progressive politically, I've seen similar intolerance towards religion in general in occasional comments and diaries on sites like DailyKos, and of course nut cases (albeit a rich nut) like Glen Beck. To coin a phrase:
"One can disagree without being disagreeable".

[luhoopsfan]

Thoughts? I found two grammatical errors in your original post and I think it should be deleted

I see no problem with this suggestion, but I think a lot of the issues lately come from summer boredom as you mention, but I also feel as though we have a significant number of "new" members on the board that may feel a little defensive of their own posts and sometimes aggressive at others simply because of their limited experience with this group. I welcome all fans of La Salle basketball anywhere I go, but I also think there is a little bit of a distinction between guys that lived through the darkest days here and the guys that came on board the last 3 or 4 seasons. I'm not saying there is a problem with any of the newer board members by an means, just that there seems (to me at least) to be a pretty easy distinction.

As for the spelling/grammatical issues, the phone thing absolutely makes it difficult and there are a lot of posters-by-phone (myself included) but that also leads to some more emotional postings because it becomes easier to get caught in the moment of something simply by the convenience of the board being in your pocket.

Bottom line, I think Neumann does a really nice job on here for what is essentially a thankless job. Hopefully we can do our best collectively to respect his concerns.

[lwc4591]

I want to use curse words freely to get out my frustrations so I don't have to beat my wonderful bride.

[SICguy84]

Profanity is only permissible when we are discussing the trials and tribulations of that woesome Jesuit institution along City Line Avenue.

[durenduren]

Jul 10, 2013 8:37:22 GMT -5 luhoopsfan said:

Bottom line, I think Neumann does a really nice job on here for what is essentially a thankless job. Hopefully we can do our best collectively to respect his concerns.

Seconded. Thanks Neumann.

[a10champion15]

Jul 10, 2013 9:55:02 GMT -5 SICguy84 said:

Profanity is only permissible when we are discussing the trials and tribulations of that woesome Jesuit institution along City Line Avenue.

Or that place they call a university down on broad street...

I agree as well, as a relatively weak writer and new member I will work on proofing my posts. My writing is one reason why I was an accounting major. I am guilty of agruing back but I don't like to call people out. We are all human and make mistakes. No reason to attack anyone.

[Deleted]

I used to rail so hard against the likes of GipperGrove and company back when they wanted G fired. Now that the critics are the program's biggest fans again it has been so much easier to get along. Even the guy that would hurl 3 insults at me in one post has been very pleasant for nearly 2 years now. He buried the hatchet and no longer calls for Bro Mike to leave on a daily basis now that it is apparent he (a) wasn't the problem and (b) is leaving in '14 anyway.and (c) should be missed when he is gone

[MisterD]

I'm with Hykos. 2nd best part of all this success is not getting into constant "oh my god will you calm the F down with these ridiculous comments" fights with people. Winning is cool.

[MisterD]

And also with LUHoops et all in thanks for the board and moderator work. Much better place here.

[Shout out to my Cousin Bern]

Can we force people to choose an avatar? Really troubles me when I see that alien head.

[calidelphia]

As you can see, I am a newer member here. I never really liked to get involved with La salle boards in the past. I couldn't mesh with the constant blaming of officials, erratic behavior and out of place political anger. the other site, scout forum, espn game threads and to a lesser extent the A10 basketballforum damaged my faith in humanity.

As an 02' alum I experienced some tough times including 0 years above .500. Much external berating and internal self loathing followed from 02'-10' while I followed from a distance. The recent revival got everyone fired up and I was impressed by the dedication of members here to "keep it clean" and not get arrogant like some other fan bases do when winning. For the most part everyone has been tolerant. Because of that difference, I decided to stop lurking and contribute for once.

As a newer poster here, thanks to neumann for establishing a solid community and holding it to a high standard. thanks to all the long time members for awesome insight and entertaining banter (and for welcoming new members). IMHO a continued effort towards grammar and respect are fair requests.

[theneumann64]

Great perspective calidelphia. Good to have newer posters on board.

And just to clarify, I don't care about "grammar" at all. Just that posts are clear on what they are trying to say. I'm not after anyone for using a semicolon instead of a comma.

[thehawkisdead]

Jul 9, 2013 21:59:29 GMT -5 theneumann64 said:

1. We had so many Temple trolls

You forgot to finish this sentence: "...who have since committed suicide."

[big5vet]

Jul 10, 2013 14:29:10 GMT -5 Shout out to my Cousin Bern said:

Can we force people to choose an avatar? Really troubles me when I see that alien head.

I have no idea how to replace the blank head avatar. If anyone would be willing to help by sending me a PM with
instructions, I'd be grateful.

[Deleted]

Jul 10, 2013 16:11:50 GMT -5 big5vet said:

I have no idea how to replace the blank head avatar. If anyone would be willing to help by sending me a PM with
instructions, I'd be grateful.

1. go to wikipedia or google image search and find the photo you want (must not be more than 1 megabyte) and save it to your documents folder

2. under the L in explorer, click "profile"

3. click "edit profile"

4. upload an avatar is the second option. you can also use the proboards to create an avatar, in case you did not find an image of a type of person, place, or product you liked to represent you.

It is kind of an unwritten rule that no one uses a picture of themselves on a message board, however.

[calidelphia]

Nice Hykos,

Addendum to 1. use some photoshop skills and get creative like MisterD then save that in your documents folder. Gif formats are accepted as well.

[ck]

Where is the "L" in "Explorer"? The only thing I see is "Explorertown", but
you can't click on that.

[big5vet]

Jul 12, 2013 12:20:27 GMT -5 hykos1045 said:

Jul 10, 2013 16:11:50 GMT -5 big5vet said:

I have no idea how to replace the blank head avatar. If anyone would be willing to help by sending me a PM with
instructions, I'd be grateful.

1. go to wikipedia or google image search and find the photo you want (must not be more than 1 megabyte) and save it to your documents folder

2. under the L in explorer, click "profile"

3. click "edit profile"

4. upload an avatar is the second option. you can also use the proboards to create an avatar, in case you did not find an image of a type of person, place, or product you liked to represent you.

It is kind of an unwritten rule that no one uses a picture of themselves on a message board, however.

Hykos,

Thanks so much for the help. Graphics give me trouble but your directions were great. I'm still looking to find something the correct size. I'll keep at it.

[calidelphia]

Jul 12, 2013 13:27:36 GMT -5 ck said:

Where is the "L" in "Explorer"? The only thing I see is "Explorertown", but
you can't click on that.

Under The "L" under Explorertown. aka in the navigation.