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Post being replied to

This is well thought out and I agree a bit by ravenium

I wasn't the world's most...responsible poster back in the day, so hats off to you for taking a much better path.

The main reason I generally avoid much of the football section is because of what I refer to as "negativity at all costs". I mean, I get it, it's a football board, and people shouldn't be forced into false optimism just because someone wants an artificial balance. But there does seem to be a race to the bottom sometimes to show who can be the most angry and pessimistic.

I think the problem seems to be a sort of a combo of things:

1. A lot of people feel like they personally think the solution to problems are so obvious, why won't we just take these steps, they know because they were there 30 years ago. As someone who got to see that as a small child, but arrived to Bob Davie, I am incredibly jealous. I don't think it means one opinion is more valid than the other. And while we're long on problems, we are short on solutions.

2. Straw men. Somewhat related to #1, I take exception to the idea that just because someone wasn't present during the 77 or 88 seasons, they somehow think it's ok for ND to go 10-2 and get blown out in any major game. I would be quite surprised to find someone who wanted ND to be a regular Wisconsin and have their team's ceiling be a Rose Bowl win (and yes, right now we'd love a NY6 bowl win, but it still shouldn't be our ceiling)

99% of the posts here are that Kelly has hit his ceiling and is a dunce, Jack is a bureaucratic chump who has enough skeletons in his closet to decorate a haunted house. I agree. I'm sure most of the posters on this page agree. Why is it that most posts start as if somehow they are the lone voice in the wilderness railing against oppression of Kelly Lovers, when there don't seem to be any to be found?

A lot of it reminds me of the early 2000s in Boston, where the Red Sox were perennial heart breakers, the off season was arguments over who needed to be fired, etc. Then they won, then the Pats win. But holy hell, you'd think the world was against them. "nobody believes in us!!!" got really grating.

As far as politics, it's an unhealthy obsession that's pervaded society, and it's hard to stop. I haven't seen it hit here, but I confess I haven't been looking.

I used to have to run a large-ish forum for video gaming, so I can greatly empathize with ElK and the others for having to make hard decisions about what to allow, what to boot, etc. The hard part about here is we all are ostensibly ND-affiliated in some way and are Fully Adults - the standard should be higher. We've definitely been getting more than a few "Twitter" style posts as of late, so it may be inevitable. I still appreciate raging against the dying of discourse.

I think you make a great point that can't be stated enough - we should strive for some modicum of respect in our behavior to others. We are young, old, we have a variety of backgrounds and life experiences. That doesn't mean we need to coddle each other, but my rule of "if you wouldn't say it to the person next to you at a tailgater, maybe don't type it" seems to have worked so far.

And finally (and maybe most contrarian to my previous ramblings), Rock's isn't Bean Bag. Expect arguments to get shot apart, dissected, and battled. Come with your homework completed (not specifically you, just in general). We still should strive to not be dickheads to our fellow posters, but be aware of the difference between rudeness and spicy disagreement.