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Dahoss · #1 03-19-2013, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danzig

agree with everything you said. the paddock has had some real doozies. anytime someone came on there to talk about a good day or a good hit, they got everyone on them for redboarding. cause, you know, that's a grievous sin. instead of discourse, you've got people telling other people they're morons because of their view of a race.
i know i'm unable to follow racing as much as i used to, which is a shame. i wish i had more time for it, but i don't.

Yeah because people telling others they are morons for the way they view the world is so much better.

Seems pretty hypocritical to judge one, yet beg for the other back.

Danzig · #2 03-19-2013, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dahoss

Yeah because people telling others they are morons for the way they view the world is so much better.

Seems pretty hypocritical to judge one, yet beg for the other back.

My point was that the one room was no more ugly than the other. One remains, the other is gone.
I think this is probably the busiest thread on the site right now, which tells a tale. And i agree with bob, i thought his post spoke for many here.

GenuineRisk · #3 03-19-2013, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dahoss

Yeah because people telling others they are morons for the way they view the world is so much better.

Seems pretty hypocritical to judge one, yet beg for the other back.

What I was saying was that I didn't understand why one room was banned for behavior that was tacitly accepted and even encouraged in the other room. That seems like a double standard. Especially when things had been better in the Politics Room recently anyway.

You're right that people will spend a lot of time at a site for awhile and then move on, or not post as much; I see it at the political blogs I like to visit.

Politics as a subject gets people riled up because everyone thinks they are an expert in it and, for whatever reason, people take having their opinion challenged personally. But because people feels secure that they KNOW what is right, they feel confident posting their opinion. In horse racing, you're pretty clearly and quickly proved right or wrong. The horse you like wins or doesn't. So there's not as much room to argue your position from an emotional standpoint. I love the way Jay Cronley defines value, for instance: "A horse that loses at a nice price." Heh.

And it's not even that being wrong about a pick is bad; it's how people would express it. People would pose an opinion and get shot down, without any attempt to explain why their thoughts on a horse might be faulty. Well, thanks, I'm sure it makes FillintheBlank poster feel better about himself to tell me I'm a dumb c*nt because I like Lawyer Ron (RIP), but it doesn't help me become a better handicapper if said poster doesn't explain why he disagrees. And I'm not interested in FillintheBlank's self-confidence issues; I'm interested in becoming a better handicapper. Whether or not a horse is good has nothing to do with how I view the world; it's based entirely in what he's done. That's something that can be discussed intelligently without calling me or anyone else a dumb c*nt.

And don't get me started on the cryptic "I'm going to tell you you are totally wrong about such-and-such, because I know someone who knows someone who told me what's really going on, but I'm not going to tell you the truth because it's all very secret. But it's very important I still point out you're wrong and that I know something you don't know because I have all the emotional maturity and social acumen of a teenage girl." Yeesh. That, at least, was something you never saw in the Politics Room!

Dahoss · #4 03-19-2013, 11:22 AM

Was it common practice that people were called c*nts in the paddock? I don't recall seeing that word used much in the last 4-5 years but everytime I did it was in the political room.

I have no idea why the political room was closed, but if I had to bet, it was probably for the reason 3Kings mentioned. Which seems like a good enough reason to me.

GenuineRisk · #5 03-19-2013, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dahoss

Was it common practice that people were called c*nts in the paddock? I don't recall seeing that word used much in the last 4-5 years but everytime I did it was in the political room.

I have no idea why the political room was closed, but if I had to bet, it was probably for the reason 3Kings mentioned. Which seems like a good enough reason to me.

And in all fairness, it was really just the one poster in the Politics room whose default description of any poster with a Double X chromosome was c*nt. Most of the others preferred b*tch. But let's face it, that poster was very obsessed with ladyparts.

I exaggerated for effect (and sadly, the last time I felt confident arguing in the paddock room was in 2006, which is pretty pathetic. Or maybe I just haven't loved a horse since then the way I did Lawyer Ron. Until Pletcher got him, but that's a whole different set o' issues for me).

I totally agree; the blog's rules get set by the moderators, but blogs are only as popular as the number of hits they get, and I think this thread started because it's been noticed that the number of hits on it seem to be dropping. Which may not be true; the amount of activity may be higher, for all any of us know and people just aren't posting. But it's getting into the best time of the year for racing and the Paddock is quiet, which is too bad. And people are speculating why there's been such a rapid drop off of activity on it. Could be the blog has peaked (which all things do eventually; even Law & Order eventually ended) and is just in a natural decline; could be that taking away the Politics room made the blog less appealing to some of the regulars. I'm not saying it did; I am a big believer that correlation is not causation until it's proved to be. But for whatever reason, it's been quiet in the main room and people are bummed.

And yeah, moderators get to decide to allow what they want, but the blog users can also choose to complain about it if they want. And there are a fair number of users who really miss the room.

bigrun · #6 03-19-2013, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

What I was saying was that I didn't understand why one room was banned for behavior that was tacitly accepted and even encouraged in the other room. That seems like a double standard. Especially when things had been better in the Politics Room recently anyway.

You're right that people will spend a lot of time at a site for awhile and then move on, or not post as much; I see it at the political blogs I like to visit.

Politics as a subject gets people riled up because everyone thinks they are an expert in it and, for whatever reason, people take having their opinion challenged personally. But because people feels secure that they KNOW what is right, they feel confident posting their opinion. In horse racing, you're pretty clearly and quickly proved right or wrong. The horse you like wins or doesn't. So there's not as much room to argue your position from an emotional standpoint. I love the way Jay Cronley defines value, for instance: "A horse that loses at a nice price." Heh.

And it's not even that being wrong about a pick is bad; it's how people would express it. People would pose an opinion and get shot down, without any attempt to explain why their thoughts on a horse might be faulty. Well, thanks, I'm sure it makes FillintheBlank poster feel better about himself to tell me I'm a dumb c*nt because I like Lawyer Ron (RIP), but it doesn't help me become a better handicapper if said poster doesn't explain why he disagrees. And I'm not interested in FillintheBlank's self-confidence issues; I'm interested in becoming a better handicapper. Whether or not a horse is good has nothing to do with how I view the world; it's based entirely in what he's done. That's something that can be discussed intelligently without calling me or anyone else a dumb c*nt.

And don't get me started on the cryptic "I'm going to tell you you are totally wrong about such-and-such, because I know someone who knows someone who told me what's really going on, but I'm not going to tell you the truth because it's all very secret. But it's very important I still point out you're wrong and that I know something you don't know because I have all the emotional maturity and social acumen of a teenage girl." Yeesh. That, at least, was something you never saw in the Politics Room!

Good post GR..only one poster i remember that used the c word liberally, the much loved coachdrawers...

Pulled this from your earlier post, also excellent..your analysis of riot spot on.

Quote:

I also think Riot did a lot for keeping traffic moving in both rooms. She was extremely prolific, extremely opinionated and extremely polarizing and you could almost always count on a thread she posted in making for some very entertaining reading. Because people who didn't like her just couldn't stop themselves from replying to her posts. And hilarity would ensue.