A few thoughts on the state of the Board.

[Jim Johnson]

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

-- William Shakespeare

Bulls Fans... and other guests...

As I read over the posts on this board... I have come to realize that we are a vibrant and diverse community.  The fiery discussions, the bland posts, the optimism, the pessimism... It is truly amazing to see so many people actively engaged...

To be sure, the quote above (from Macbeth) has meaning here.  While in part we educate each other and show our support for USF, in the grand scheme of things all our ranting and raving, praising and prose, is "Much Ado About Nothing"...

We fans have no impact on what happens on the field... yet in our hearts we feel the joys and sorrows of the team... some have faith that things will be better, others fear that the end is near.

I must admit with my calling for Hobbie's head, out of sheer frutstration, that I have been part of the "nattering nabobs of negativity"... While I can not promise that I won't continue to believe that the ultimate blame rests with our offensive coordinator, I am going to do my part to return to a positive frame of mind.

My change of heart came as I sat out to find the quotation above to start this thread.  I found many sites dedicated to the Bard, providing quotes on a variety of topics... Reading words written 400 years ago has given me a new inspiration for the year... and a willingness to let the season run its course...

Dale Carnegie taught about the amazing power of positive thinking.  Shakespeare said some good things, too... And perhaps, like clapping for Tinkerbell, if we can tap into the unseen powers - we can send the Bulls off to Kentucky with a hearty farewell, wishing them success.

"Courage and comfort, all shall yet go well"

King John, II-4

"Have patience, and endure"

Much Ado About Nothing , IV-1

"How poor are they that have not patience"

Othello, II-3

So, write on Bulls fans... bring on your optimism and pessimism... we are a vibrant community, we can tolerate people with various opinions, and this is Bulls Country!!

Go Bulls!  Beat Louisville!!

[BULLheaded]

Great post Jim!

Especially this insight:

As I read over the posts on this board... I have come to realize that we are a vibrant and diverse community.  The fiery discussions, the bland posts, the optimism, the pessimism... It is truly amazing to see so many people actively engaged...

While the "other" board chooses to bash us for over reacting or being so negative they just miss the point that it is this very thing that keeps this board so much more alive. IMO if you want to call for Hobbies head...call for it! There will be several others that will come in and defend him (well maybe lol) and through these debates we will get more and more involved. Shoot, if you just post moronic complaining (or praise) you'll get called out and we'll all get a laugh. If you give a thought out opinion you'll start a fantastic debate.

A one sided view will rarely if ever generate much involvement or interest outside of a select few that just like to either pound their chests or complain all the time.

[bulls87]

After spending alot of time on the ESPN board, bouncing from school to school and finally getting fed up with the new format and also realizing that USF'ers don't use the ESPN board I found TheBullsPen.  I have enjoyed my time on here thus far, the topics are more or less the same as the ESPN board but what is really nice is that the topics stay focused on sports and what is even better is that there are not many trolls.  The only thing I would suggest is to allow a person to not display the signatures.

[Omniscientbull]

Bullheaded.....

A one sided view will rarely if ever generate much involvement or interest outside of a select few that just like to either pound their chests or complain all the time.

While I definitely agree with this statement and don't think we should all be here saying things only through rose colored glasses, I have to say this board has become increasingly negative.  The posts got so bad during basketball season I almost quit coming here.  The same thing is happening during football season.  Hell, we even see it for women's basketball and softball as well as baseball.  It gets quite old after a while.

To be clear I do not have a problem with someone voicing their negative opinion or frustration (especially if it is supported and not just a flame) but it gets old reading the same rant over and over and over in numerous different posts.  It seems no matter the post we end up having to see the same crap we saw in 10 other posts.  How many times does someone have to post they want Leavitt fired before we've all read it 50 f-ing times?

Debates can be healthy but they can also be detrimental.  Stating an opinion and providing reason and then discussion that opinion helps bring to light issues and concerns.  Simply bashing post after post does nothing but create anamosity and a hostile environment that will turn off members, fans, potential recruits or anyone else that may stumble across these forums.

[BULLheaded]

Omni,

the reason I disagree that it is that negative is because while the INITIAL posts can be quite negative the replies generally bring in all sides. Most of these posts are from one or two people starting post after post while the majority of the posters are much more realistic in their opinions. Of course this goes the other way as well for posts of nothing but praise. I think many have selective vision on the posts too, yes there are some negative posts but look around there are alot of posts from those trying to boost moral as well. These may be in the minority but you have to keep in mind that as long as a team is playing horribly there is going to be some critisizm. It is just the way it is, like the saying if it aint broke don't fix it...when things are going well we won't hear too much but when things are obviously "broke" people want it fixed and will comment on it until that happens.

[smazza]

keep the dialoque flowing