Fans should be positive… right?

[Iluvsuebird]

There is way too much negativity on these forums. I myself am guilty. I’m so invested emotionally in how the team does that when things don’t go well, my first reaction, is let’s go post a rant on the Boneyard that expresses my pain. But fans are supposed to cheer for and uplift the team, not tear apart a 18, 19 year old kid when they don’t play well. It is one thing to criticize the coaches decisions, or debate strategy. It is another thing to pile on negativity towards a player that is trying hard and in a shooting slump

There is way too much negativity on these forums. I myself am guilty. I’m so invested emotionally in how the team does that when things don’t go well, my first reaction, is let’s go post a rant on the Boneyard that expresses my pain. But fans are supposed to cheer for and uplift the team, not tear apart a 18, 19 year old kid when they don’t play well. It is one thing to criticize the coaches decisions, or debate strategy. It is another thing to pile on negativity towards a player that is trying hard and in a shooting slump.

This year has been different. The highs and lows this year has brought have been pretty remarkable. And while you can say of any team, on any given year, it is not too often when you have a team play so clearly like the #1 team in the country, only to play so terribly for such a long stretch. That does not happen that often. For myself, while I care about winning, I cannot stand when inferior teams out-hussle us. That drives me nuts. That should never happen. And that has happened several times this year, even in games that we won. I dont think that pointing that out is tantamount to being negative. And while I love DH, I equate that to coaching. There is always room to improve in every facet of life, even people we root for.

 

[August_West]

That’s the reality. But it doesn’t address our behavior. If anything you are deflecting away from a flaw that universally exists among fans.

My personal grievance with some threads or posts is that we don’t hold ourselves to the same standards we insist from our coaches and players. Critical thinking that points out strengths and weaknesses in performance of a player and/or team is one thing.

However in a team sport with so many moving parts we continuously see threads created that predominantly blame an individual followed by a desire to exact punishment on that individual. And for what? A failure to be satisfied from a venue of entertainment?

I don’t believe in censorship. My hope is that people can look in the mirror and realize that the type of venting we present in this forum is similar if not exactly like the behavior of Hurley or Andre that resulted in technicals. It’s out of control emotional reaction.

I applaud @Scottobot for recognizing this in himself, for publicly stating it and for attempting to change. Bravo!!!

There is a fine line between trashing a college kid and talking about bad play. It's a difficult tightrope to walk. the former should always be off limits, the latter should be on the table with an eye toward not heading toward the former. I fall off that rope sometimes myself.

And there are other distinctions too. I'll use Fishys point guard thread as an example. Some people think he is trashing Newton. I see that thread as way more of an indictment on Hurley. Coaches should be able to take a lot more heat. He is in charge of team makeup and he has not recruited a PG in his time here.

We are all UConn fans. We all see games differently and what they mean towards the whole boards SHARED goal. (seeing us succeed)

 

[bluestreak]

Whelp, this thread is gonna go well...

I got a hearty laugh from your quick reaction. Ready to make some popcorn. But this is going pretty well methinks.
No one has told the OP to switch to the WBB forum, no throat punches landed. So far.

 

[mauconnfan]

I wish there was a separate board for the haters too

And a completely separate board for those who actually believe there are "haters"! What a joke.

 

[AntG168]

In short: I don’t think there is a right way to fan. The boneyard in all of its toxicity, makes the season a lot more fun. It’s like a family cookout. We all hate that we’re related, but in the end we’re family. We all would get along a lot better in person than we do over text. And tomorrow in Gampel we’ll all link arms and yell obscenities at PC fans and BE refs. Go Huskies!!!

 

[mauconnfan]

In short: I don’t think there is a right way to fan. The boneyard in all of its toxicity, makes the season a lot more fun. It’s like a family cookout. We all hate that we’re related, but in the end we’re family. We all would get along a lot better in person than we do over text. And tomorrow in Gampel we’ll all link arms and yell obscenities at PC fans and BE refs. Go Huskies!!!

Well said, so true!!

 

[temery]

It wasn’t you who locked this thread after you made your 4:14 AM post? Because the evidence appears fishy that someone else would have locked it.

Hopefully you didn’t but if you did then I don’t buy this explanation.

I locked it while was clean up the trash. No I'm locking it because it's stupid.

First rule of the boneyard is to not complain about the boneyard.