- Jun 5, 2014
- 37,118
- 98,344
Founding Member
I've been pretty upset with some aspects of Gator football the last 5 years, and rightfully so. It's like Tim Tebow absorbed every good Gator vibe in history and used it to make him Superman. Then when he left, he took it with him, leaving us with no more mojo, no luck, no swagger, no positive vibes at all. The football Gods abandoned UF. Practically everything that could possibly go wrong has happened. All the good stuff seemed to transfer over to FSU, which gets every recruit, every break, every ball bouncing their way, etc. To say it's been humbling and tough to swallow is an understatement.
Someone like Jeremy Foley has been a symbol of the whole mess. A lot of the criticism is fair and warranted, some of it probably isn't. But one thing for sure is that he IS a Gator, and we've beat it pretty hard into the ground at this point. With Muschamp finally gone, Foley has become the new Gator punching bag.
Running your own message board presents some challenges. The GCMB runs the way I like it to run, and that is that it's mostly free-speech based among Gator fans. As long as you don't get too deep into personal attacks, you are allowed to be critical of the program. Generally speaking, if you're way off base you'll be shouted down, which is the way message boards should work. Internal discipline, so to speak. However, if you're NOT off base (such as criticism of the performance of the AD), the conversations will take on life, perhaps too much life....and drag on too long.
One point to make is that message boards ALWAYS have negative nellies, no matter how great the team is playing. In 2008 on the GSMB, we had a handful of people that were always dwelling on what was wrong with the team, even in the middle of a record win streak. What happened was that they were laughed at, and made fun of, and were never taken that seriously. And why? Because everyone could see how great the product on the field was. We just kept winning.
The problem is that we're not winning anymore. I think Muschamp was 27-20 in four years, which is incomprehensible. So when that growing group of negative nellies starting harping again, it was more and more difficult to laugh at them or ignore them. Because they weren't really being stupid anymore. They were right....we sucked. Gator football truly sucked, something no one had experienced in over two decades. Hell, something no Gator internet message board had EVER experienced, since they weren't in existence pre-Spurrier. How would we handle it?
Not well.
Other message boards don't allow much negativity and simply started banning people. Sunshine and rainbows and nothing else. I've never cared for that. I see internet forums as sounding boards for fans. Let them get it all out. It's therapy. How many lives have been saved by fan message boards? Without a place to let it out, fans may turn to violence.....shootings, beatings, even suicides. We perform a real service to the community here.
And this is a good place to remind you that I ONLY allow b!tching and moaning from the Gator faithful. If a non-Gator attempts to bash the program in any way, he's a goner. Rival guests on this board are expected to maintain a certain level of respect.
However, we get to the flip side. Negativity can also overtake a message board. It's usually a small but vocal percentage of people that are so angry about the state of the program that they want everyone else to be angry too. Constant thread hijackings, Buzz Killington flyby's, taking a swipe at anyone being positive, etc. I admit that while I've learned to mostly ignore it, it gets old. I understand their anger, I truly do. Being where we were at the top of the mountain, to being where we are now seemingly fighting it out with the bottom of the SEC, is horrible.
So what ends up happening is some really great posters start to post less, or fade away entirely. Some contact me privately and ask me to help clean up the board. However, how can I do that without doing what the other message boards do? Censor people, ban them, etc. One thing I've learned being in management for the past 8 years:
It is impossible to make everyone happy.
The point of this very long diatribe is this: take time to think about what you're posting. Is it really necessary to take a swipe at your fellow Gator? Is ripping into Foley at this point really doing any good? Do you want to be labeled as a constantly angry, negative jerk? I really want people to think before they hit that "Post" button.
As for those who are unhappy with a lot of the negativity right now, one thing to keep in mind is that it's the offseason. Everything is magnified, because everyone is bored and looking for anything to talk about. I welcome "spirited" debates during the offseason, because I'm flattered people want to come around here at all. I don't even mind an insult or two, just don't go overboard with it.
I have just started a new job and am restoring a car with a lot of my off time, so I haven't been around as much. However, you can always send me a PM with any questions or concerns. GatorJ and Nav are also around to help, and they do a great job.
I'm asking EVERYONE to think about what I just wrote. Don't act like you didn't read every word - I know you did.
Let's continue to make Gatorchatter the most passionate message board on the entire internet. We are going to have a lot of fun when the season starts.
Someone like Jeremy Foley has been a symbol of the whole mess. A lot of the criticism is fair and warranted, some of it probably isn't. But one thing for sure is that he IS a Gator, and we've beat it pretty hard into the ground at this point. With Muschamp finally gone, Foley has become the new Gator punching bag.
Running your own message board presents some challenges. The GCMB runs the way I like it to run, and that is that it's mostly free-speech based among Gator fans. As long as you don't get too deep into personal attacks, you are allowed to be critical of the program. Generally speaking, if you're way off base you'll be shouted down, which is the way message boards should work. Internal discipline, so to speak. However, if you're NOT off base (such as criticism of the performance of the AD), the conversations will take on life, perhaps too much life....and drag on too long.
One point to make is that message boards ALWAYS have negative nellies, no matter how great the team is playing. In 2008 on the GSMB, we had a handful of people that were always dwelling on what was wrong with the team, even in the middle of a record win streak. What happened was that they were laughed at, and made fun of, and were never taken that seriously. And why? Because everyone could see how great the product on the field was. We just kept winning.
The problem is that we're not winning anymore. I think Muschamp was 27-20 in four years, which is incomprehensible. So when that growing group of negative nellies starting harping again, it was more and more difficult to laugh at them or ignore them. Because they weren't really being stupid anymore. They were right....we sucked. Gator football truly sucked, something no one had experienced in over two decades. Hell, something no Gator internet message board had EVER experienced, since they weren't in existence pre-Spurrier. How would we handle it?
Not well.
Other message boards don't allow much negativity and simply started banning people. Sunshine and rainbows and nothing else. I've never cared for that. I see internet forums as sounding boards for fans. Let them get it all out. It's therapy. How many lives have been saved by fan message boards? Without a place to let it out, fans may turn to violence.....shootings, beatings, even suicides. We perform a real service to the community here.
And this is a good place to remind you that I ONLY allow b!tching and moaning from the Gator faithful. If a non-Gator attempts to bash the program in any way, he's a goner. Rival guests on this board are expected to maintain a certain level of respect.
However, we get to the flip side. Negativity can also overtake a message board. It's usually a small but vocal percentage of people that are so angry about the state of the program that they want everyone else to be angry too. Constant thread hijackings, Buzz Killington flyby's, taking a swipe at anyone being positive, etc. I admit that while I've learned to mostly ignore it, it gets old. I understand their anger, I truly do. Being where we were at the top of the mountain, to being where we are now seemingly fighting it out with the bottom of the SEC, is horrible.
So what ends up happening is some really great posters start to post less, or fade away entirely. Some contact me privately and ask me to help clean up the board. However, how can I do that without doing what the other message boards do? Censor people, ban them, etc. One thing I've learned being in management for the past 8 years:
It is impossible to make everyone happy.
The point of this very long diatribe is this: take time to think about what you're posting. Is it really necessary to take a swipe at your fellow Gator? Is ripping into Foley at this point really doing any good? Do you want to be labeled as a constantly angry, negative jerk? I really want people to think before they hit that "Post" button.
As for those who are unhappy with a lot of the negativity right now, one thing to keep in mind is that it's the offseason. Everything is magnified, because everyone is bored and looking for anything to talk about. I welcome "spirited" debates during the offseason, because I'm flattered people want to come around here at all. I don't even mind an insult or two, just don't go overboard with it.
I have just started a new job and am restoring a car with a lot of my off time, so I haven't been around as much. However, you can always send me a PM with any questions or concerns. GatorJ and Nav are also around to help, and they do a great job.
I'm asking EVERYONE to think about what I just wrote. Don't act like you didn't read every word - I know you did.
Let's continue to make Gatorchatter the most passionate message board on the entire internet. We are going to have a lot of fun when the season starts.
We've fallen on hard times as a program, but we aren't fair weather fans like most programs have. We will be back on top one day, almost everyone will be happy and we'll look back on the beginning of this board and laugh about those early threads..
