What is it with message board/web cliques ??

[hippiechick]

I have tried a bunch of times to ‘get involved’ in the conversation on a board for my local semi-pro hockey team. I go to nearly every home game and belong to the Booster Club, too.

There are 600 ‘registered users’ but only about 10 that post regularly, and if they don’t ‘know’ you or you post something critical to the team or any specific player, you either get ignored, attacked for ‘not being a fan’, ‘not knowing hockey’ or ‘being a bunny (groupie)’ …
For the record, I’ve been involved in hockey in some way for almost 30 years and know more about the game than most of the men who post on said board.

You’d think that since the chat board is directly linked to the team’s official site, the Admins would encourage regulars to welcome new fans and try to grow the fan base (we are not in a hockey hotbed) rather than shutting people out by cold-shouldering them or making snotty comments about their motives or things they post ...

And another thing, while I am on my rant … what is the difference between a groupie and a fan ? These people (men AND women) go to team practice, wear team jerseys, wait for the players outside the locker room after the game, go to their public appearances, have road tripped to out-of-state games, talk about the players as if they’re family members, tease each other about their ‘crushes’, and jealously protect them from anyone whose ‘outside the circle’. The only thing they’re NOT doing is boinking the players (or at least, they’re not admitting it). To me, they are groupies as much as the girlies who DO sleep with the dudes, if not moreso because of their blind adoration.

Am I totally off base here ? Are these people truly small minded knuckle-draggers, or have I been spoiled by my time here at DU interacting with gracious, intelligent and thoughtful human beings ?

/end rant



:hippie:

[H2O Man]

1. Then you should become

a boxing fan! Most interesting people in the world. Of course, there are a few bad apples, but over-all the kindest, most thoughtful group of people you could talk to.

[rumguy]

2. What's a good boxing site/message board, etc?

[loafie]

3. attitudes

I've found the same kinds of attitudes on most boards that I read. That's why I like this board so much, you can post about anything you could possibly think of and no one attacks you.

[mmm]

4. bread and milk! Cool

[tjwash]

5. Football boards are the worst.

I used to be a hardcore charger fan, but for hundreds of reasons I will not get into here, am no longer. Pro football board posters are definitely the most vulgar, crude, knuckle dragging bunch you will ever find. I still, a couple of years later get F-U emails from some of these losers.

[mmm]

6. interesting rant

I work with charity organizations.
Some charities foster an openness where
every new contributor is treated like a valued member
whose opinions matter (as it should be).
Others maintain tight cliques
among owners, senior staff, and those members with a profile
similar to theirs - usually similar hobbies.
Typically these cliques are impenetrable.
You are in or you are out.

Over the last five years I have seen most open format
charities expand beyond their wildest dreams while
most clique-based charities have expanded little if at all.

I, of course, am inclined to work much harder for those
charities who listen to my opinion, which, after all, they
are paying for.

This message board you are on sounds like a big waste of your precious
time. You don't want to be part of the 'in' crowd anyway - do you?

[cheezus]

7. fans don't fuck the stars, groupies do

[hippiechick]

8. Yes, but ...

hanging on their every move to the point of obsession is sorta crossing the line from fan to groupie, in my opinion ... whether with your clothes on or off.

:hippie: