Forum Ettiquette

[johnny d]

I don't mind billy mac's posts. I think everybody here takes officiating pretty seriously. Sometimes I think perhaps too seriously. For almost everybody here, officiating basketball is an avocation, not their full time job. I don't see any problem having some levity in the discussions. If I am not in the mood for his goofiness, I just skip his posts and any that are responses to them. It isn't that hard. Additionally, it seems to me that his long post in this thread was sincere and that his participation in this forum goes beyond just thinking about basketball and has helped him get through some difficult times. Billy, my prayers are with you and I hope you continue to do well. For the rest of you, I say lighten up Francis!

[Amesman]

Originally Posted by johnny d

I don't mind billy mac's posts. I think everybody here takes officiating pretty seriously. Sometimes I think perhaps too seriously. For almost everybody here, officiating basketball is an avocation, not their full time job. I don't see any problem having some levity in the discussions. If I am not in the mood for his goofiness, I just skip his posts and any that are responses to them. It isn't that hard. ... I say lighten up Francis!

+1


Good grief, we're supposed to be able to focus and cut through various guff for 48, 40, 32, 28 or however many minutes and yet we can't simply just "change the channel" or hit the "skip" button when needed?

And it's not as if Billy doesn't ever bring worthwhile discussion to the forum. That's painting with far too broad a brush. (And this is posted regardless of the guy's personal circumstances.) Lighten up, indeed.

[BayStateRef]

Billy's posts are always welcome here. I also ignore most of them.

It's no big deal to skip, read over or ignore posts. It's not hard to find the posts that advance knowledge of officiating. There are many posters on this Forum that, in my view, add noting to the discussion...any discussion. So what. They are free to pad their posting count.

If there are "dangers" that this Forum is going down a path of increasing irrelevancy, it has noting to do with Billy. I try to limit my posts to facts, plays, mechanics, etc. I rarely offer opinions. I don't judge others, no matter the level or sex they work. I don't need the "me too" post. But that's me. Others like to be seen, be heard and let it be known they have an opinion. That's part of the Forum too.

This Forum would benefit from more voices, not less. It would benefit from more respect and understanding of each other, not less. It would benefit from an understanding that because "you" do something a certain way in your state, your city, your association, doesn't mean I do or that I can. Billy's not the problem here.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Point taken, but I was talking about the Forum in general, how off topic jokes, tidbits, comments, etc., seemed to be accepted. If the Forum wants to go 100% serious, and the moderators followup on that policy, then I will still post, I can be 100% serious, but life's too short ...

Billy, you know there is a middle ground. I think you just refuse to look for it.

[JeffM]

I find most of BillyMac's posts amusing. He has posted a couple lists which will make me a better official.

I read the forum to become a better official. As long as the majority of the posts are serious, I don't mind a few jokes mixed in.

It is a little disappointing to open a thread with new pages of comments and then to read those comments and not read anything that is serious

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by johnny d

I don't mind billy mac's posts. I think everybody here takes officiating pretty seriously. Sometimes I think perhaps too seriously. For almost everybody here, officiating basketball is an avocation, not their full time job. I don't see any problem having some levity in the discussions. If I am not in the mood for his goofiness, I just skip his posts and any that are responses to them. It isn't that hard. Additionally, it seems to me that his long post in this thread was sincere and that his participation in this forum goes beyond just thinking about basketball and has helped him get through some difficult times. Billy, my prayers are with you and I hope you continue to do well. For the rest of you, I say lighten up Francis!

I'll echo these sentiments. I hope that my opinion here carries some weight as I have been one of the most active posters over the past decade. My post count can substantiate that.
I've had agreements and disagreements with many different posters on this board and learned something from each experience.
If this forum has helped and continues to help Billy Mac in his LIFE, then that is wonderful and far more important than the time it takes me to scan a few of his silly pics or joke posts. While he is known to stray from the topic, he is never mean or rude to others and I will never put him on my ignore list.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

He's been given many hints / chances over the years but still reverts to his previous behavior.

Agree with many chances, many of them by bob jenkins when he was a moderator. Disagree with reverts. Anybody want to compare the number of images, and videos, that I posted a few years ago with those that I post today? Thanks to bob jenkins, and a fair, and reasonable, suspension of Forum privileges, I did make some changes in my posting behavior.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Smitty

I still carry copies of his Myths writeup in my bag to hand out to people on occasion, it is outstanding.

Thank you. I put a lot of hard work, and I continue to put a lot of hard work, into that list. Wait? I'm being told ... What? Who? Hey Smitty. It was me, not BktBallRef.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by tomegun

"In my little corner of..." wasn't funny to me the first time.

Good thing, because it was never, ever, meant to be funny, just another way of saying, "When in Rome ...", combined with some very strong encouragement from my interpreter, and board secretary, to all of our local members, that we not divulge our real identity, and, especially our local board affiliation, on any form of social media. I'm IAABO, from Connecticut, and my day job is as an environmental chemical analyst. That's all I can give you, and maybe that's too much. I have divulged a lot more information about myself (real name, local board, email, phone number, home town, etc.) to those who have contacted me by private message, and hope that those members keep my identify a secret.

Note: I have a tremendous amount of respect for those Forum members who use their real names. Unfortunately, I usually do what I'm told to do by my local board and can't post under my real name. I'm not hiding behind my pseudonym, but it does seem somewhat cowardly. You may not believe me, but I would post the same thing if I were posting under my real name.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Billy, you know there is a middle ground. I think you just refuse to look for it.

I don't refuse, I just have problems finding a balance. Gray areas are gray for a reason (Sorry about the mixed metaphor) otherwise they would be black, or white.

Note: My spell check always changes BadNewsRef into Badnesses, so if I ever quote you as Badnesses, I'm not trying to be funny.

[rockyroad]

Anyone else remember the squirrel image that would pop up every now and then??? Ahhhhh, those were the days.

Needs to be some room for fun and games on here, without going to far into ridiculousness.

Seems to me that the moderators are doing a fairly good job of, well, moderating things around here. If something is annoying to you and the mods don't jump on it? Don't read it.

And as someone else posted...there are a lot more annoying things to me than the jokes and pics one person posts. There are several regulars on here who 1) flat out lie about other posters, or 2) take their points into the realm of assininity by refusing to back down from their stand even when it is refuted by rule, case, interp, etc...and instead going to the weary "in my area" argument.

C'est la vie.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

Anyone else remember the squirrel image that would pop up every now and then??? Ahhhhh, those were the days. C'est la vie.

Speaking of which, whatever happened to the annual off topic baseball thread. My Red Sox are having a great year and I need a place to brag about them.

[HawkeyeCubP]

Not that I have a vote, per se, but I'm completely fine with the way things are currently running.

And I think imposing a limit on how many times one could post on a thread in an hour would be detrimental, and probably more annoying than having to wait 30 seconds between searches. When there's a good discussion, and I have input/insight/opinions/perspective I'd like to share, I want to be able to do so immediately if I so choose after seeing the reply email pop up in my inbox.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

Ahhhhh, those were the days.

Those were also the days when some Forum members would bully others, and name calling was a common thing. I actually just "observed" this Forum for several months, before I decided to join, and post, because I was actually afraid that some would try to bully me if my opinion didn't quite agree with their opinion. I am not a type of person that likes to get involved with a lot of name calling. Since then the moderators have done a great job of cleaning up that negative aspect of the Forum. Last week JRutledge, and I, had a heated debate and not once did either JRutledge, or myself, resort to name calling. Keep up the good work moderators (except Mark T. DeNucci, Sr., who spends most of his time on the water polo forum).

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

If the Forum wants to go 100% serious, and the moderators followup on that policy, then I will still post, I can be 100% serious, but life's too short ...

Nowhere in this thread and nowhere in the "Moderators" thread from September 25, 2008 did I ever say I think the forum should be 100% serious.

What I've said is:

I object to off topic posts, lame jokes, pics, etc. that DERAIL a good discussion. I object when a newbie asked a question but gets such posts instead. I object to such posts hijacking threads. I object to such posts resulting in a second conversation within a thread.

This same basic discussion occurred in the 2008 thread. It would seem we have the same issues now as then. Promises made but with time, people revert to who they are. For example BillyMac, you posted:

"In my case, I determined that my actions were unwelcome, and that I was not a good citizen of the community, with some input from several Forum members, including some moderators. Over the past several weeks, the posts criticizing my image posting seemed to get more serious, and less good natured. I decided that I did not want to be viewed as an obnoxious Forum member, so I made my own decision to only post infrequent, on topic images. I thank those that advised me to tone it down."

I wonder how long that lasted? Shrug. I don't know, but I do know I have no desire for you to leave or to be 100% serious. But I don't think asking for 90% serious is too much.

Here's a link to that thread for anyone who would like to read it. Meanwhile, I've said my piece. Gotta prepare for a Sunday football clinic. Thanks to Smitty, Bob and Camron for the supportive comments. Later!

Moderators