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Around SBN: Jerry Sandusky's Wife Tries To Run A Reporter Over

When is enough too much?

I have been commenting and reading here for some time now.  Long story short, this is a Trailblazers Basketball Blog.  Or, at least I used to think it was.  It would seem, of late, that many subjects have become taken over by the opinions and personal agendas of folks with an axe to grind with one political party or another.  Why is this?  We have major elections coming up.  Yeah...AND?  WTH does that have to do with our team?  If I am mistaken in my perception that this is a BLAZERS BLOG, let me know.  If not, take your Personal Agenda somewhere else.  I come here to read BLAZERS.

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+1

Dose anyone remember the song 123 go Rip City?

by 123_G.O._RipCity on Aug 18, 2008 12:25 AM PDT up reply actions  

I don't think this blog is too different from a lot of other blogs

I’d say at least three-quarters of the threads outside the junk drawer revolve around what’s going on w/ the PTB, but like most other blog sites, there is always a bit of OT. I can see how finding new OT threads on a daily basis can be frustrating when coming to read about Blazers’ basketball, but I think it’s worth acknowledging that you don’t have to click on the OT threads and read/engage in the discourse that may involve the personal agendas of others if you don’t want to (thank you, Dave, for making it basically mandatory to label these threads OT) and thus saving yourself from having to read anything that’s non-PTB if that’s what you want. Personally, I kinda find it refreshing to hear the viewpoints and ideas of other ppl (most of whom I doubt I would come into contact w/ elsewhere) regarding real-life topics that are important to most all of us. But I do agree that this is a blog about the PTB, and most of the content here should stay on that subject. I guess I should also apologize to anyone who has ever seen me as someone w/ a personal agenda… although I don’t post here often, I tend to comment on the OT threads more than the PTB-related threads, which is kinda ironic in itself.

by Blindsteepler on Aug 18, 2008 1:53 AM PDT reply actions  

Well...

to expect any given group to only discuss one subject and one subject only seems a bit absurd.

As a demographic of Blazer fans, we probably share more interests than just basketball. I agree that a lot of off topic conversation could be distracting, thus the creation of the junk drawer. However, off topic discussion is a natural part of a healthy and vibrant online community.

Though I don’t comment much (I lean a bit libertarian for this board {but not black helicopters libertarian}. ) I am a law student with a degree in Political Science, so I enjoy some of the political debate and perspectives that are thrown out here. Especially since I am in Texas, recently moved from Tennessee. Oregon is a bluer state and thus there is a different political zeitgeist and I find that fascinating.

Blazer's fan since '84, Currently exiled in Tennessee and North Carolina

↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A

by HurraKane212 on Aug 18, 2008 2:01 AM PDT reply actions  

+1

Well said

Dear God,
It's me, Twiggs.
Please, oh please, let Brandon Roy have a speedy recovery.
Us Blazer fans don't ask for much in this life. All we want is our team to be healthy (and win). You would really be doing a service to us if you had him bounce back in a few weeks (without pushing it). I promise I won't ask for anything ever again (until the regular season anyhow).

Thank you,
Twiggs

by twiggs on Aug 18, 2008 6:30 AM PDT up reply actions  

+2

I never can tell if you’re trying to be funny or serious, but this looks like a good serious post.

by royroty on Aug 18, 2008 7:53 AM PDT up reply actions  

Tom trys to be seriously funny.

And he has a funny sense of seriousness.

"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you." - Your Buddies

by timg56 on Aug 18, 2008 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions  

A consequence of community

As the blog develops a community – people who feel some form of kinship with each other – even though that kinsship was built around a single trait (blazerness) it will lead to people wanting to share their ideas with thier new community.

Keeping the blog in balance takes constant work. And your post and the replies are part of that: trying to identify where the line is.

I think in summer this broader conversation is enlivening.

by holder on Aug 18, 2008 7:44 AM PDT reply actions  

Damit

I clicked on this tread because I thought it would be about the Blazers having too much talent on our team. Please edit your topic with an OT at the beginning so I don’t have to read all this non-Blazer related junk.

by usmcr3049 on Aug 18, 2008 8:53 AM PDT reply actions  

I did the same

and was about to say the same. Maybe you were trying to be ironic??

PTB Liberation Day - 2/10/04

by tssbro on Aug 18, 2008 11:56 PM PDT up reply actions  

I suspect you folks are missing coastrider's point

I think a typical example of what he’s referring to would be the frequent snarky asides about George Bush that pop-up unnecessarily in threads that have nothing to do with politics.

I’ve commented about this before. There are folks on both sides of the political aisle, but those on one side seem particularly eager to take every opportunity to rub their crap in the faces of those on the other side. I think it’s rude and inconsiderate.

If you want to start an OT thread to present your opinions, fine, do so, but in other threads, please remember that your right to hock your political loogies ends where my face begins.

Asked his specialty in the kitchen, Oden paused and said, "Hamburger Helper and tuna fish."

by MiledAnimal on Aug 18, 2008 10:18 AM PDT reply actions  

I agree - to that end there should be an OT next to this one.

Funny, you said basically the same thing as coastrider, just with a different tone. It makes all the difference.

by begottenson on Aug 18, 2008 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions  

Really?

“There are folks on both sides of the political aisle, but those on one side seem particularly eager to take every opportunity to rub their crap in the faces of those on the other side.”

If you’re going to bitch about political bias on a Blazers site, then perhaps you should refrain from these kinds of posts.

Blazer Fan

by leeroyjenkins on Aug 18, 2008 2:16 PM PDT up reply actions  

I've responded to a few snarky remarkies

but I’ve never been the first one in a thread to make any such comment myself. If you don’t believe me, check my comment history.

And I wasn’t bitching about anyone’s political bias — believe what you want, who cares — just the way some folks like to keep throwing it out there when we’re talking about something unrelated, as if they’re trying to pick a fight:

     “Wow, Roy was really on his game last night!”

     “He sure was — unlike the current occupant of the White House.”

Clunk. I’d like to think that Blazers Edge is a place where people with all kinds of differences can unite behind something we all love. Why keep bringing up those differences?

Asked his specialty in the kitchen, Oden paused and said, "Hamburger Helper and tuna fish."

by MiledAnimal on Aug 18, 2008 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions  

But when are snarky george bush asides

not a pleasant welcome.. take a joke..

its the freaking OFFSEASON!

"Why would we lie to ourselves dude?"
"Be excellent to each other."
"All we are is dust in the wind, dude."
"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."

The Wisdom of Bill S Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan

by GreatOden'sRaven on Aug 18, 2008 2:39 PM PDT up reply actions  

This kind of stuff goes on year round, Raven

Asked his specialty in the kitchen, Oden paused and said, "Hamburger Helper and tuna fish."

by MiledAnimal on Aug 18, 2008 2:55 PM PDT up reply actions  

Actually...

… the secret to shooting loogies is much the same as throwing a punch.

You want to aim through the target. But you are right – a well tossed loogie should end up right at the beginning of your face.

OT – I don’t believe in tossing loogies. If a person rises to the level you feel like spitting, you might as well just hit them. A lot more satisfying and usually more effective.

"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you." - Your Buddies

by timg56 on Aug 18, 2008 3:13 PM PDT up reply actions   1 recs

You're still missing the point

A perfect example is here in parkinglotj’s fanpost about which Blazer rookies might make the rookie game during All-Star weekend. Scroll down to Love’s comment about Bush stealing the 2004 election. Why write something like that in that conversation? The only way to avoid such remarks is not to read anyone’s comments in any thread.

Asked his specialty in the kitchen, Oden paused and said, "Hamburger Helper and tuna fish."

by MiledAnimal on Aug 18, 2008 10:44 AM PDT up reply actions  

I get it, I just don't care that much.

If this was coming from somebody that didn’t make his own comments and fuel the fire, I’d have some sympathy (although I’d still think the best way to deal with it is to, well, deal). But given that they tossed in comments of their own—and then wrote a whole meta post, clueless of the irony—well…

/shrugthesequel

As far as comments like the one you linked to, we’re all (pretty much although maybe only arguably) grownups here. I’m confident in everyone’s ability to just skim past comments they don’t like.

by grimc on Aug 18, 2008 11:17 AM PDT up reply actions  

I'm confident in everyone's ability too

Skimming is pretty easy. If you notice that a particular thread has political statements in it, then just skip the whole thread. If you notice that one or two comments are inappropriately political, then skip those and just read the ones that are strictly sports-related.

Personally, I enjoy the diversity of subjects and the diversity of opinions on this site. I would never ask that certain types of comments be banned. I like America and I like our freedoms.

Nature bats last.

by fisheyes on Aug 18, 2008 7:02 PM PDT up reply actions  

It's not quite so easy though

This is one of the features of online conversation. You don’t know what you’re reading until you’ve read it. In person or even over the phone or radio you have visual or audio cues that warn you that you may want to stop listening or divert the conversation. Here there are no warning cues and no real way to stop until you’ve understood that what you’re reading is offensive or stressful.

This is why we need to be somewhat careful about what we say and how we say it in this kind of discussion situation. This is also why accurate titles on comments and fanposts can be important tools.

—Dave

by Dave on Aug 19, 2008 1:34 AM PDT up reply actions  

If you don't like it...

then don’t read it.

It’s that simple.

If you stick with that easy guideline, you won’t find yourself peeved.

You might miss out, buy you might not as well.

Blazers Edge... the blog that works.

by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Aug 18, 2008 11:14 AM PDT reply actions  

I'm a political junkie. I can go lots of places to get my politics fix.

Sure, I can skip the stuff I don’t like, but it also doesn’t bother me to just check my politics at the door. Time and place for everything and all that.

And frankly some of the just plain wrong political opinions I see posted make me sad for my fellow Blazer fans who hold them. There are somethings I just don’t need to know about you.

by raoulduke on Aug 18, 2008 11:53 AM PDT reply actions  

I agree with 'dat

I’d just rather not know as well, but I can’t get too angry/annoyed if it comes up naturally from the conversation.

There is plenty of grey area, but it’s lame to bring up political/religion/whatever-hot-button-issue-ya-want out of the blue for a cheap joke or to needle someone.

Unless the subject is abortion, which is currently hilarious.

If ya think Saddam planned 9/11 or that Bush did, I’d just rather not know.

Again, if stuff comes up naturally, I can’t complain. I also wouldn’t tell anyone not to say something just because I don’t care about it. I just think it doesn’t always come across well, and it brings up a whole host of other issues that derail us pretty quickly. You are not going to change someone’s mind on religion or politics on a sports blog, most likely.

HOWEVER, I do not think this has been a real problem. I am not a religious man and the religious talk never bugged me, nor will it bug me. Political talk gets to me when it is misinformed/reactionary, but what can ya do. Again, I do not think either are super-common here or worth getting upset about. Everyone does a really good job respecting other’s opinions and talking about things we all wanna talk about.

It’s not that I don’t think hot-button issues are worth talking about (far from it), but this isn’t always the best context to do it as intelligently and thoughtfully as those topics deserve.

ANOTHER HOWEVER, one of my favorite things about Blazers Edge is how the conversation veers off in a million different directions. I would never, ever, want to limit it. So this is a “problem” that is both rare AND has to be approached case by case.

Everyone just be cool.

Mortimer

by Mortimer on Aug 18, 2008 12:05 PM PDT up reply actions   2 recs

I think...

that we at BEdge do a great job of compartmentalizing our discussions. Go to Sean Meagher’s blog at oregonlive and check the sidebar…you will see bout 10 different blazer related blogs. We are not an official site in that we have no official connection to the team, but with that said, I think the discussion topics though up by various posters are very stimulating, which is really all that you can ask for in a blog. This is a very controlled blog; how many times have you seen random people come in here and start trolling and dropping expletives all over the place? I haven’t, and I think that is attributable to the maturity of BEdge posters, and also to the efficient enforcement of BEdge rules by Dave and Ben. I think your expectations are too high for what we can and cannot post on this site.

Andy Roddick has the most wimbledon titles in the world. He just hides them in Federer's trophy case

by premthegrem on Aug 18, 2008 1:40 PM PDT reply actions   1 recs

agreed

and lol at Andy Roddick…

I’m not very good with people. Even when I was little, my imaginary friend would play with the kid across the street. And I’d be like, "I guess we’ll meet up later." And he’d be like, "Whatever, queer." - Daniel Tosh

by McLovinVs.TheDude on Aug 18, 2008 1:50 PM PDT up reply actions  

Internetz = srs bizness

If I had a dollar for every message forum post I didn’t like…

Blazer Fan

by leeroyjenkins on Aug 18, 2008 2:14 PM PDT reply actions  

If I may combine two thoughts...

I totally agree with holder’s comment from above. Some OT is a function of community. The Bedge is a sort of community, therefore OT discussions and comments WILL be generated (whether that’s the olympics, politics, or who you’d like to take on the skin boat…)
But this is where the second thought comes in. Dave has (as part of the site posting rules) said that being “that guy” who won’t let something go and has to keep harping on it won’t be tolerated.
So, a bit of OT is fine as long as no one’s being “that guy”

by Montavilla Steve on Aug 18, 2008 3:15 PM PDT reply actions  

I dont mind

The OT stuff in general and some of it bust a gut funny but nobody wants to read the pippen aint easy in your face nonsense and most of todays junk drawer was about TV shows,I dont watch TV,and other things I couldnt care less about but I just blow it off and look for another thread where somebody is talking about BB

by southern oregon on Aug 18, 2008 9:04 PM PDT reply actions  

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