[TRef21]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

Tommy,

I really hesitate to jump in here because I don't want to openly disagree with you twice in one night. I've got no beef with you and I'm really not trying to get in your face. In fact I used to feel exactly the same way you do. I bristled at the way such people were treated here by people I otherwise respected. I was astonished and embarassed at their behavior. It seemed unfair, unfriendly, and unprovoked.

Then I lived through a few years of the annual parade of trolls during the playoffs and March Madness. In the next month they will come out of the woodwork and infest our board. They don't want rational explanations. They are in no mind to be fair, even-handed, or to learn. They are here only to gripe about how, in their completely biased opinion, their team was unfairly treated. Disagreeing with them, no matter how well-intentioned or -deserved, only invites their vitriol and venom.

I have finally come to agree with others that the best policy is to get rid of them as quickly as possible. There are thousands of places such trolls can go to whine. This is one of the only places we can come to talk officiating and I've become very protective of it. Letting them hang around is like allowing the losing team's fans into your post-game conference.

Just my opinion.

Well stated. Thank pulling this U2 out of the fire Crew Chief!