The Start of a Season, Why Are You Here?

[BobDylan]

BINGO! That in a nutshell has been a number of conversations we've had as mods and admins and wondering what, or even if, we should do something about it.

 

Years ago, I wondered why a Sox forum would ban specific topics, like attendance or Mariotti. While attendance has not been a cantankerous issue here, there are many times I wish we would ban Crede/Fields threads and Mariotti myself. We have some people who come here to complain and some who come here to feel better about being a Sox fan. perhaps those two are at odds to each other and each need separate space.

 

I think having the catch-all positive/negatives thread was a good start. I've spent more time in the off-topic boards the past year and a half because the glass is always half empty here.

 

I think that too many negative posts are dedicated to certain players, or management decisions, etc. I'm not calling for this to stop, but it is part of the reason I spend more time on the off-topic portions of the board. After games, I see a lot of new threads that are generally the same. I think the mods/admins should clean this up and combine them. And then retitle the post topic to know what's being discussed inside and also make it the "Official" thread of said discussion. If anyone makes a new topic that belongs inside that post, just put it in there.

 

Maybe to guide some of this energy toward certain players, just set up a sub forum. Each Sox player gets their own thread. Whatever needs to be said or argued about the player... put it in that players thread. I like this idea because I personally don't like to see five Juan Uribe threads and twelve Joe Crede threads -- usually with the same argument over and over again.

 

To bring some togetherness back, I'd like to propose an idea. Make debate teams. Make a sign up thread. Make teams from that. Have a new Sox topic to debate each week and allow teams one opening statement, two rebuttles, a closing statement and then open it up to the field.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

I'm just here for the babes...

[DBAHO]

This place sucks when the Sox are losing, but goes crazy when they do well. Case in point, Rally Crede. One of the most retarded things - ever - and it will forever go down in ST lore.

 

Needless to say, we've got about as emotional control around here as an 8th grade girl who's unsure about her relationship.

Yeah I think you've hit the nail on the head there.

 

And it even showed after our 1st 2 losses, compared to our last 3 wins, this place is a lot better when the team is winning, and hopefully they can do that this season.

 

But we'll try and increase the quality discussions we have here, I think we've dropped off from that over the past season or 2, and unfortunately this place hasn't been the better for it. Because there are a LOT of intelligent Sox fans here, and that's why we're here, to talk baseball (and other stuff of course).

[witesoxfan]

This place sucks when the Sox are losing, but goes crazy when they do well. Case in point, Rally Crede. One of the most retarded things - ever - and it will forever go down in ST lore.

 

Needless to say, we've got about as emotional control around here as an 8th grade girl who's unsure about her relationship.

 

My dislike for Crede currently has no boundaries but he was definitely the man at that time. What a ridiculous game.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

I started coming here as a guest way back when because SoxTalk has by far the best MiLB and prospect/draft discussions of all Sox forums I've been to.

 

But now a complaint!!! Why take down the Trade Winds forum? The only time of the year trades cannot happen is between Sept 1 and the end of the WS, a span of like 2 months? Keep it year round!!! Aside from actual trade rumors there is always good discussion about topics like how much Kyle Lohse sucks or why someone would or would not make a completely ridiculous hypothetical trade.

 

Okay, and now more praise. I like how the forum is allowed to go a bit further than some others in terms of discussion. I feel like I could say some pretty nasty things here if I wanted to in general, but I won't. It's just nice to know that if I really wanted to I could write an entire page about Guiness farts or something like that. So, good job.

 

As far as the irritability thing, I think Juan Uribe has more to do with that than anything else. Take him off the team and sure, another mediocre to s***ty ballplayer will become the new main target, but I think overall the mood would lighten considerably. I know I saw a lot more optimism after the Sox dumped the likes of Pods, Erstad, Gonzalez, and Suckvich.

[Texsox]

I understand things change when the team is doing well versus doing poorly, but look at the board over the off season, ZERO games played, and people were still negative.

 

And keeping topics in proper threads is something that needs to be done. But I swear you could start a thread about the corn fields of Dekalb and three posts later there would be a Crede / Fields debate going.

[AddisonStSox]

...so am I the only one that throughly enjoys the irritability of the board at large? Hell, that's why I read.

[palehose23]

The reason that I have been on Soxtalk and have never strayed away for other so-called White Sox forums, is because i can say what i want and know that somebody is going to give me feedback. I might be wrong about something but I can always depend on Soxtalk members to correct me or agree with me in a cordial fashion.

 

Sometime I just come to soxtalk to get a different perspective than what I get at my job- most people here at my job have to be neutral or negative on the Sox make a good show. I just like to browse the different Sox topics and see what my fellow fan thinks about our favorite team.

 

The admins of this website are geniuses and on top of their [stuff]. Anytime I see a post that is in the wrong category or some profane language gets on the site, they are right on it.

 

Keep up the good work- because believe me the radio stations, tv stations, newspapers, and especially the Sox are reading (even though they say they don't)

Edited April 6, 2008 by palehose23

[lostfan]

I understand things change when the team is doing well versus doing poorly, but look at the board over the off season, ZERO games played, and people were still negative.

 

And keeping topics in proper threads is something that needs to be done. But I swear you could start a thread about the corn fields of Dekalb and three posts later there would be a Crede / Fields debate going.

That almost made me spit my cereal out onto my keyboard laughing, ain't that the truth. If it isn't that, there is another polarizing argument for Chicago fans (Brian Anderson, Rex Grossman, et. al.). And they all seem to infect every thread somehow.

 

I got myself to stop hating on Uribe for a while by watching the bottom of the 9th of Game 4 again a couple days ago. "Over the head of Jenks... Uribe, charges, throws... OUT! And the White Sox have won the World Series!" That makes me feel so much better about him.

[elrockinMT]

I leave the moderating to the moderators. The only thing I have to say is I don't like personal atacks because people disagree with a post or whatever the case/issue might be. I hope I have never done that to someone. If I did I apologize. I enjoy this site tremendously and don't have problems with anyone. If I can help the mods in anyway I am willing to step up. Thanks to you guys that run this place.

Edited April 6, 2008 by elrockinMT

[Jack Parkman]

I post here because I don't like the fact that when I post anything negative about the Sox at WSI I get told to go to Addison and Clark. I what I don't like is people's personal vendettas against certain young players, and if a certain person has said vendetta, that person will say that said player still sucks even though he's doing well. Don't people understand that it is good for the Sox to have young players develop? You have to give young players time to develop, but still write them off after a certain amount of time that says they can't cut it. I just wish people will be a bit more patient with young players and not say a young hitter is doomed if he doesn't put up a .275/.350/.425 line during his first callup, and a young pitcher is doomed if he doesn't have an ERA under 4.00 and a WHIP under 1.20 during his first callup. That's just unrealistic to ask out of a rookie. I just wish people would keep an open mind about young players and wouldn't make irrational judgements on them after their first game.

[lostfan]

I post here because I don't like the fact that when I post anything negative about the Sox at WSI I get told to go to Addison and Clark.

that and some of them are such draconian Goderators, I couldn't stand it anymore. This site is sooo much better and I'm actually allowed to have the occasional disagreement/mild argument with another poster without getting banned. I've been kind of resisting the urge to say that on here for a while.

[Kyyle23]

that and some of them are such draconian Goderators, I couldn't stand it anymore. This site is sooo much better and I'm actually allowed to have the occasional disagreement/mild argument with another poster without getting banned. I've been kind of resisting the urge to say that on here for a while.

 

its a very common complaint about WSI. They obviously dont really care though, because things havent changed, the complaint remains the same

[SoxAce]

I come because this site needs Ace waaaaaaay too much.

 

 

I've put this in my profile ever since I've been here when it asked me "What I like about soxtalk." Easily the team, the prospects, and the sox fans here. Been around since 03' as a lurker and finally went on after new years. There are oustanding/personal favorite posters that I love to see their imput on certian topics and of course I love studying/learning mostly on our prospects which basically brought me here with the other sports, avs/sigs, drunk comrads, music etc... comming in later. Love this place, have met two of the ugliest bastards I've ever seen (luuuuuuuv uuuuuuu), got wasted and posted here many, many times, and I get to still learn alot about the politics side which I'll probably give more imput on when I'm comfortable doing so (and when I do so, the older posters would stop picking on me ) Some of the craziest/idiotic/etc... questions/answers/threads/polls will be asked here... but that's what ya gotta love. You get news whitesox related, sport wise, and around the world wise here? C'mon.

Edited April 6, 2008 by SoxAce

[witesoxfan]

...so am I the only one that throughly enjoys the irritability of the board at large? Hell, that's why I read.

 

Enjoy is kind of a darker term to use there, but I'd say that I always find the irritability entertaining. At any given moment, you could have any given thread blow up and there's a full on battle royale going on. It's one of the reasons I come back...it's kinda like a soap opera.

 

(see, I don't enjoy soap operas, but they're entertaining, so there, I win)

[EvilMonkey]

My only complaint is that I am too slow to post. When I see a topic in the Pale Hose forum I want to comment on, there is already 5 or 6 pages of comments, and I am often too lazy to read thru them all. And when I do read them all, I find that many on here have already said the very thing or things I was going to say, and my simply adding it again wouldn't add much. I love this place, even most those I tend to argue with in the Filibuster. I may hate your political positions, but at least you smart enough to love the southside team. The extreme negativity on Sox-related things lately suprises me a bit, but hopefully a 10 game winning streak will put a small halt to some of that.

[Wedge]

I come here because the discussion of the White Sox is as intelligent as you will find. I think the moderators generally do an excellent job of keeping the posters in line. The posters are all pretty good at self-policing.

[thedoctor]

i enjoy the site. good variety across a broad-range of topics and some great white sox discussions. i read sox threads more than i post in them, but i really feel like i've learned a lot about the team from the varying opinions. i think i've definitely gained a more informed appreciation of the more sabermetric view of the game. although i don't think any set of metrics can ever totally define baseball, it does have some value. other than that, i live out of state so it's just great to hear some white sox talk.

 

in terms of what makes me leave, i probably don't have any one thing. i post on a few boards and you just have to understand that there's jagbags on every board. no need hand-wringing over it. if you don't want to read someone, don't read them. if you don't like a thread, don't click on it. it's not that hard.

[fathom]

As someone mentioned earlier, and I definitely agree with it: we all need to think about what we post, and before we hit submit, make sure it's actually something with substance that will contribute to the subject.

[greg775]

Positive or negative comments don't bother me.

I like them all.

I just didn't like those who called Garland "Judy" despite him being an above

average major league pitcher.

Other than that, I love all posts.

[bmags]

I love the site.

 

As for the tone shift, I don't know if it's just a negative shift as much as an 'incredulous' tone, if you will, by some of the posters. This "HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE HOW RIGHT I AM" kind of posting is getting silly. Or back to the fields/crede debate, people acting completely shocked that anyone could like Joe Crede anymore, or people being completely shocked that anyone would want to get rid of Joe Crede anymore. I think since the games have been played it's gotten better, because I think some realized, 'oh, yeah, there's a reason I watch the games instead of simming the whole thing just to see the total runs scored over runs allowed'

[claydude14]

I come here because first of all I love the White Sox and I find this site to be the catch-all first place to go for any and all Sox news. Second of all I come here for all the great opinions- positive and negative both- as I love to read everyone's take on the team. Things may have gotten pessimistic after last season, but I'm not worried about that this year. Finally, I come here because this is the center of my White Sox universe. I watch the games online, so I always have the browser open in the next window to get game time impressions from more veteran fans.

Edited April 7, 2008 by ROC Sox Fan

[Heads22]

So, I'd say this place has been a pretty cool place to be the last couple of days. If only we'd have more winning streaks.

[Wedge]

I'll add a point to my original post.

 

I think the FutureSox section is excellent. I don't know anywhere else I can get reliable information on Sox farm hands and there are a number of posters that really have their pulse on the minor league system. They do great work in general.

[Texsox]

To summarize to this point, and someone jump in if I'm off base.

 

Some negativity is fine, even welcome, but when it gets run into the ground and spills over into other threads, it's too much.

Disagree with the statements, not the poster

Be personable without taking anything personal, or making it personal

Think before submitting, add something. (I believe the "I Agree" is a welcome post and does add validation)

The emoticons and women are great