July 24, 2008
What's So Wrong With a Little Controversy?
Recently I was accused of always causing controversy (among other misdeeds) because of things that I post on a particular driver's (not Michael Waltrip's) fan forum. What it seems to come down to is that some of my opinions, even though they are completely appropriate (within the forum's community standards, no bashing, name-calling, etc...), are so objectionable and intolerable to some that disagree that they can't stand to read them and thus lash out. But I was thinking about the statement that was made about causing controversy and I wondered - just exactly what's wrong with a little controversy? Of course ugly arguments where people throw around personal insults are never productive, but controversies often involve a debate where people have different opinions and disagree with each other and it's hard for me to see what's so horrible about that. I never post with the intention of upsetting people or causing an argument, I simply post what I'm thinking about - problem for me is that's often a lot different than what others are thinking. But just exactly what's wrong with that?
To me differences of opinion are a good thing. I know full well I often see things differently than other people do. I don't think I'm always right so I want to know what other people think and I want to think about things from a different point-of-view than I might have considered previously because I know I might learn something. On this same forum it was once said that I should pick and opinion and stick to it since I sometimes changed my mind or saw both the positive and negative about this driver and other situations. Well, I do change my mind on some things and that's exactly why I think it's important for there to be debate, discussion and differing opinions - by leaning and thinking about things my opinions evolve. Unfortunately though (speaking generally as opposed to this particular situation) some are too set in their own opinions to consider different opinions or even be able to tolerate opinions other than their own, others see opposing opinions as something threatening or bad and still others see differences of opinion as something that needs to be avoided at all costs, for a variety of reasons from thinking that fans should only have certain opinions to thinking that things aren't "right" unless everyone agrees all the time. That's not realistic though - everyone has a different perspective on life, and isn't going to view any situation, including a driver, in the exact same way as someone else.
The English writer William Hazlitt once said, "When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest." There's a lot of truth to that statement. When no one can be bothered to agree or disagree then no one cares. That there continues to be discussion about this particular driver reflects that just how passionately some continue to care about his career and what happens to him. It's that passion of course that drives the "controversy." Fans feel an emotional connection to those that they cheer for that they can't help but care, and care greatly.
There's another quote which is applicable and ironically this particular driver once said it to some fans. It's by Dr. Seuss and it's a long-time favorite of mine. It goes, “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” At the core of who I am is a deep-seeded belief in saying what I think even if it's an unpopular opinion and even if some don't like it. I also believe that as long as it's expressed appropriately others should also state their opinions freely. And I also think that everyone should feel to disagree and debate each other as they wish, yes, even if it's "controversial." I will always speak my mind and I won't allow myself to be bullied into silence. Things that are said online are usually meaningless in the grand scheme of things - what's said about a race car driver is certainly inconsequential, as are the personal insults that have been flung my way. But in the "real" world away from the computer there is great importance to speaking one's mind. Experiences in my past have very much shown me the importance of not staying silent, and especially not because of what someone else might think.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
June 06, 2008
That silverdsl is not this silverdsl
Since I've been getting a lot of continuing traffic from NoMaas let me just say that the silverdsl over there isn't this silverdsl, though someone would like people to think that. Of course that's kind of obvious given the avatar (which I actually find hysterical) and a few other things. It's pretty funny that someone finds me and this blog worthy of so much attention that they copy and paste stuff from here to post there and created a sock puppet to pretend to be me.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2007
The Usual Nonsense
Without much to talk about on a lot of the forums, racing and otherwise, fans are getting restless which are leading to the usual kinds of petty disagreements and childish behavior. Over on the Nascar. com forums there's a big to-do over a moderator taking down (and later re-posting with some modifications) a prayer that a user had posted. Many of the other users felt that it was an attack against those who have Christian beliefs, but those that run Nascar.com have to take into consideration that not all of their users share the same religious beliefs and they need to make sure that everyone (as much as possible) feels welcome on their forums no matter what their beliefs may be. Fact is, despite what many Nascar fans believe there are non-Christian Nascar fans. That doesn't mean that prayers shouldn't be posted but when something comes across as preachy and non-inclusive that's a problem. What a lot of people don't realize is that freedom of speech doesn't apply on the Nascar.com forums (or most other forums) - they can edit, delete or restrict some types of posts as much as they want. While I understand why some are upset, it's unfortunate that some can't take a step back and realize that it's not only their religious (or other) beliefs that matter.
As for some of the other kerfuffles, most of them seem to be about attention-starved drama kings and queens jumping up and down saying "look at me, look at me!" only using different words. I'm sure it's not too much fun for those who are on those particular forums but I have to admit that while I have sympathy for the admins/moderators of those forums as one who has had to clean up plenty of messes as an admin/moderator herself, it's also kind of hilarious. Some people are so self-involved they have no idea how ridiculous they make themselves seem.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2007
It Might be His Right, But is it Right?
Prince is threatening to sue some of his most diehard fans for copyright and trademark infringement due to materials on some fans websites. While I understand that the law is on Prince's side and I'm also sympathetic to Prince's desire to control and protect his image and music, going after fans is almost always a losing proposition. (In the interest of fair disclosure, it should be mentioned that the fan website that my husband and I run, NYYFans.com received a cease and desist order from Major League Baseball similar to the one the Prince fan websites received a number of years ago when the site was known as Bronx-Bombers.com.) What's particularly disturbing about the cease and desist orders that Prince had his representatives send out is how extreme they are. Prince isn't just concerned about bootleg audio and video, or about album cover artwork, but he's also gone so far as to tell these websites that they even have to remove artwork, and fan photos of tattoos and license plates that depict his image or relate to him. That seems excessive.
Odds are the negative publicity and ill-will Prince is going to create with his fans, some of whom have been fans of his for as long as 30 years, will outweigh anything he gains by making these sites remove what he finds objectionable or shutting them down. What's amazing to me is that these are the people that Prince should be reaching out to the most. The three websites involved have active fan forums and are a tremendous source of news and information about Prince. There's likely no other place to get as much information about Prince outside his official site, than on these sites. In addition, without fans like those who run these sites and participate on them, Prince is nothing. There would be no one to listen to his music, no one to buy his albums, no one to attend concerts and no one to support him. Given that Prince's popularity has waned in comparison to years ago, it seems to me he should be happy and thankful that people still care enough to spend time, money and effort on maintaining websites like these to spread the word about him and his music.
Whenever an individual or entity sends out cease and desist orders like this the question comes up about whether it's an effort to quell free speech and shut down websites or forums that might have critical or negative comments. While I think it's likely that the primary purpose is in fact protecting their copyrights and trademarks, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that some use copyright and trademark protections as a way to shut down websites they don't like. In the end that never works out. For one thing, it's impossible to completely control what fans discuss or think. There will always be negativity and criticism - fans aren't going to like everything that their favorites think or do. But nothing makes fans angrier than when they think there's an effort to censor them. Why would any artist do something to make fans angry and drive them away, when their success is dependent on those same fan's support?
So Prince isn't wrong to be trying to protect his image, his trademarks and anything copyrighted to him. However I'm not so sure he's doing the right thing by going after his fans.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:13 PM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2007
"They Think I'm Terrible"
As it turns out I'm not the only one who might be frustrated by some of the comments and attitudes of some Nascar fans. Last night on
Although I always speak my mind whether I'm being positive or negative, I try to keep in mind that the person who I'm talking about or someone who knows them could come across what I've posted about them. We've certainly seen that plenty of times on NYYFans.com. - the time when Curt Schilling de-lurked to put a user in his place comes to mine. I don't shy away from disagreeing with someone or being critical, but I also try to be respectful and I don't bash or resort to insults no matter how much I might dislike a driver (or player). The thing is that for a lot of my fellow fans they either don't care about whether the person they're talking about reads what they post, they might have an agenda to damage the reputation of those they're posting about, or they get off on the idea that the person they're posting about - or their fans - might read and get upset by what they've posted.
For a lot of fans they feel they should be able to post whatever they want on a fan forum, and to an extent I agree. I hope that the drivers respect their fans right to their opinions, positive or negative. The reality is that not everyone is always going to agree with everything that a driver say or does. And that's not always a bad thing. I think the world is a much more interesting place when there's a variety of opinions and viewpoints. However, as anyone who has ever been on one of the forums I moderate knows, I think that there are limits to the way that people should be able to express their opinions, which is why there's community standards in place to prevent bashing, personal insults or other inappropriate posts, whether it's directed towards a driver, player or another user. Unfortunately there's a lot of fan who feel that even the most basic of community standards equals a loss of their freedom of expression, though of course the first amendment doesn't apply on message boards and forums.
Some fans enjoy going from forum to forum bashing and insulting the same drivers and their fans over and over again. Some fans are nothing more than bullies who either try to stifle opinions they don't agree with or get pleasure out of harassing fans of drivers they don't like. Some fans have issues in their own lives that cause them to post in certain ways - I've come to think that's actually pretty common in that some fans react in certain ways because of their own life experiences and their own issues and that it's not always as much about the drivers they're posting about as it seems on the surface.
What's ridiculous is that all many fans have to draw upon to form an opinion about what kind of a person a driver is comes from little more than what they see in the media or in brief appearances at an autograph signing. And there's no way for the majority of fans to know the details of what goes on behind-the-scenes in terms of what gets said at internal team meetings, what's in contracts, the totality of the thinking behind various decisions, etc... But that doesn't stop these fans from posting their opinions about the drivers and what terrible people they think they are as fact, when often they have very little evidence to back up anything that they're claiming is true. Sometimes they even refuse to consider the known facts. Of course to race in one of Nascar's three highest levels, a driver has to be tremendously talented, and particularly if they stick around for any length of time, but some fans are insistent that every driver other than their favorite driver sucks. Some fans think that anyone could be a Cup driver - most of these fans wouldn't last one lap of one race in a Cup car nor could they deal with a lot of the off-the-track pressure from sponsors, fans and the media like the drivers have to.
This season has been difficult enough on Michael, and it would be unfortunate if he's taking negative things that fans say about him on the internet to heart. I'd hope his focus would be on the positive articles that some in the media have written recently or the supportive and positive things that his many fans say on the forum on his site, on other forums, in blogs like this one, in messages to him and in many other places. Sometimes the negative fans are the loudest but in reality often times they make up a small but vocal minority. Michael has a huge fanbase, much larger than some of the bashers think, and the people who will support him through thick and thin, those that have stuck around in spite of the struggles the past two seasons matter far more than those who can't stand Michael, in many cases for completely illogical reasons.
Like I said in my "frustrated" entry, unfortunately it looks like the problem with fans who are nothing but negative all the time and see nothing wrong with bashing the drivers they don't like doesn't seem like it's going to change any time in the near future so if reading these comments bothers Michael, he's going to have to find a way to ignore them... or figure out a way to put the bashers in their place.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)
May 03, 2007
Bad Newz
I couldn't help but think of all us Michael Waltrip fans when I saw this in light of the forums suddenly (temporarily) disappearing off of Michael's site. I hope they return soon! That image comes off of the icanhascheezburger site, which is hysterical! I hope the "hamsters" running Michael's site have good newz for uz Nutz soon.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2007
There is No Such Thing as a "Real" or "True" Fan
Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I figure I'll just post a link to an earlier blog entry I wrote on this topic: There is no such thing as a "Real" or "True" fan. The only "bad" fans are those fans who stalk, harass, invade the space of, insult, torment, or otherwise behave inappropriately towards the object of their obsession. Stating an opinion on a message board doesn't make someone a bad fan, no matter how much some would like to think that way.
Don't let anyone ever convince you that you're a bad fan or scare you away from being a fan of someone just because your opinions or way of viewing the person you're a fan of don't match up to their rigid and intolerant standards.
Posted by silverdsl at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2007
The Best Response is No Response
Twice someone has copied and pasted this entry about Steve Park from here to Steve Park Central, likely in an attempt to start some sort of trouble. I could talk about this or that in relation to forums and fans, and maybe I will sometime down the road, but sometimes the best response is no response at all. What's probably most humorous about the whole thing is that this person finds that blog entry objectionable, and probably me too, yet made sure to drive the maximum amount of traffic possible to the entry and my blog itself. Even funnier is that I'm sure this person was hoping to chase me away from SPC, or scare me out of posting my opinions. Fat chance of that happening. When people do things like that it makes me even more motivated to speak my mind, even louder.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:27 AM | Comments (0)
December 30, 2006
John Andretti Doesn't Have an Official Website
In looking for some information for the previous entry about ppc Racing, I discovered that John Andretti doesn't have a website. That's astonishing to me that in a time when the internet is how many people get all their news and information, that Andretti doesn't even have a basic webpage. So there's no way for Andretti to get news and information out to his fans online, which means that a lot of people likely have no idea what he's up to. Sure, ppc Racing has a website, but that would only feature news that relates to what Andretti does for ppc and the #10 team. There might be other news or events that Andretti's involved with that would be ideal to promote on a personal site. Until recently there was a fan website, but that's currently down because the domain expired, but a fan site isn't the same as an official site, no matter how good it might be.
So currently the only way for Andretti's fans to get the latest information about him online in one place is if they have the message board that was associated with the fan site bookmarked. It was said on that board that the reason why Andretti doesn't have a website is because he doesn't have "people" to maintain it for him. I think that's a pretty poor excuse. Steve Park doesn't have too many "people" either, and he manages to have a basic website, though it could use a significant amount of work. But at least Steve has a web presence, as frustrating as it might be at times to see so little be done with it. It does cost money to get someone to professionally develop and maintain a website, but if Andretti feels he can't afford that seems to me that maybe he can enter into an agreement with the person who does the fan page to do johnandretti.com, or there's even the no-frills option, as suggested by someone on the fan board, and go with a myspace - that wouldn't cost any money.
Likely, both drivers don't really understand the importance of having a strong web presence and how much of an asset it can be for them.
Posted by silverdsl at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2006
Truth or Consequences
I'm reading Jurisimprudence, which contains some hysterical "laws" related to fandom in certain corners of the 'net and I came across this gem which cracked me up:
Truth: actual objective fact that exists independent of popular opinion. eg; the sky is blue, dinosaurs are extinct, the internet is full of idiots.Consensus: what most members of a given group seem to agree on. eg; Elijah Wood is gay, carbs are evil, The Princess Diaries II was worth paying ten bucks to see.
Those who confuse the two, or try to argue the former from the latter, will be declared idiots both in truth and by consensus.
Obviously all the "laws" are meant to mock various oft-seen and often amusing/annoying behavior.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)
December 18, 2006
Steve Park Central Down...
Steve Park Central has been down all day today, not just the forum but the entire site, and I've not heard a word about what's going on. It occurs to me if the site was down permanently for whatever reason, Steve would be really, really screwed. Given the failings of his own official site, for as much as there are issues on the forum which lead to more than a few fans being unwilling to participate in the discussions, there is no better source for news, information and talk about Steve. Although they've been making more of an effort the past few months, there's rarely any real news posted on Steve's site, no articles are ever posted there, no race reports or photos from his team when Steve is actually racing, there's no official fan forum, and no way for fans to interact with each other - all of that happens on SPC. What's long been a problem for Steve is that when he's not at the track it seems as if he disappears. The forum at SPC helps keep him visible, even if it's just among his own fans, which in turn help keeps them fans. In addition, practically speaking his merchandise sales would take a hit too because every new piece of merchandise these days is promoted on SPC. Since a lot of fans don't bother with Steve's site very often given the lack of news there, that's probably the first place that many fans see that Steve has some new merchandise available.
Maybe the site will be back up later today, or in a few days, but if it's gone permanently, unless another forum pops up to take it's place, not having any one place that's constantly updated, even if it's only a fan forum, where fans can go for news, information, and photos, wouldn't be very good for Steve.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
August 23, 2006
Funny Stuff
You know what totally cracks me up? When I see someone take a post of mine word-for-word off of one forum and post it as their own on another forum. I just saw that now. I guess I should be flattered or something. I've also seen posts of mine re-posted by others word-for-word, with the person posting it not claiming it as their own, but also not clarifying who said it and where, so it's totally out of context and no one knows if I know what the heck I'm talking about. And as a fan I'm almost always only posting my opinion and speculation, rather than anything I know for sure. No one ever figures that I, or anyone else whose posts they ste... copy-and-paste, will ever see it, but I bounce around to a lot of different places.
Some fans get really angry when posts of theirs are copied and pasted from one forum to another without permission, but it's really something that comes with being on a message board, that there's really no way of preventing. So as noted, I find it more humorous than anything else.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2006
Exclusive Fan Zone on Steve-Park.com
Fans spend a lot of money to support their favorite drivers. They join fan clubs, buy merchandise, go to races which sometimes involves a great expense for travel and tickets, they buy tickets to appearances and events, they support their driver's sponsors, etc... It often adds up to a lot of money. A new trend is for drivers to offer members only sections on their websites with exclusive content that fans pay extra for. Often there's a lot of cool features in the members only sections that aren't available anywhere else. Usually the cost is anywhere from about $25 to $50 and sometimes it also includes a membership in that driver's fan club.
Then there's the new fan zone on Steve Park's official site. It's going to have some great features such as twice monthly chats with Steve, a fan forum and photos that Steve will take himself with his cell phone. But the cost? $9.99 a month for fan club members, $13.99 for non-members. For me that would come out to almost $140 a year with the monthly fee and the fan club renewal. I adore Steve and would love access to those features in that section but I have to think long and hard about whether that is the best use of my money when I have a considerable amount of monthly bills plus other expenses. $10 a month for this and $10 a month for that adds up when I am trying to make my pay check go as far as possible which is hard when one works for a non-profit and has considerable commuting costs to get to their job.
I guess it really seems like a lot of money when I look at what other driver do with members only sections of their sites. Jeff Gordon is a three-time Cup champion and it's only $3.50 a month or $35 a year to join the Jeff Gordon Network where fans recieve the usual benefits of a fan club plus an online magazine, exclusive content such a videos, the opportunity to buy exclusive merchandise, a fan forum and opportunities to go to meet & greet events at races where Gordon will be present. On Michael Waltrip's site it's $25 a year to join which includes membership in the fan club, exclusive content, access to press releases prior to their public release, videos, weekly audio from Michael, a fan forum on which Michael and Buffy occasionally post, chat rooms, and eventually chats with Michael and Buffy. With the Bobby Hamilton fan club there are different membership levels and $150 gets you a lunch with Bobby himself plus 20 laps around a track with a professional driver in a truck and a tour of the Bobby Hamilton Racing Shop. Two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart's Smoke VIP costs $60 which gets you access to exclusive features on his site plus an autographed photo. I suppose on Steve's site there were will much more interaction with Steve if everything goes well but $120 a year still seems like a lot - $50 seems about right.
I assume that if they are going to charge that much per month that they are going to be committed to updating that section of the site a lot more often than the rest of Steve's site has been for the past year or more. Even when Steve was racing every week his site had tumbleweeds blowing through it and a lack of current content. When people are paying that much money for access to that section of the site they are going to expect quite a bit for their money and then some. I also assume that it's a definite that Steve will have a full-time ride soon because as much as I love Steve I don't see how they can justify charging $10 a month if he's not racing full-time - there simply wouldn't be much to talk about or update the section with.
I guess I'll see how things evolve but at the moment it leaves a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth. There's a few other things that I'd like to say on this subject but the odds are that whatever I say will be twisted around and might even be used as evidence that I'm not a "true," "real" or "good" fan. Then again, maybe I'm not a "true" fan or the best SParkie possible if I choose not to pay $120 a year to access the fanzone on Steve's site. And maybe that's okay with me.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2005
Most Outspoken Sparkie
Sparkies are Steve Park fans and over on Steve Park Central a completely unscientific poll for "Sparkie Awards" such as "Most Popular," "Best Photographer," etc... has resulted in me being named "Most Outspoken Sparkie." Anyone who knows me, even casually, whether it's online or offline, probably isn't very suprised by that! The vast majority of the time what's said on a message board is of zero consequence but it's very important to me to speak my mind in every situation that I'm in, even if I'm the only one who thinks as I do. Censoring my opinions out of fear of what someone else might think or for other reasons would mean that I would not be true to myself. Of course often I'm not actually the only person who shares similar opinions to me, but there are times when I'm the only one who is willing to put themselves on the line, at least at first. So if I help encourage someone else to speak up that is a good thing, particularly if it relates to things that happen in real life when what one says and does really matters.
If I'm outspoken my Mother is twice as outspoken and her example is why I don't shy away from saying what I think. In my Mother's case she's been in the position where standing up for what she believes in has had a real effect on people's lives in a positive way. She has also not been afraid to say and do the right thing even when it might not make her popular or goes against the grain of what the majority would do. I've always admired that quality about my Mother so from a very early age I've not been afraid to speak up about what I think about things based on her example.
Which hasn't always won me friends of course because there are some who feel, particularly online in certain fandoms, that there are only certain acceptable ways of thinking or behaving and that doing or saying things differently should be discouraged. But I've got plenty of friends who understand that the world would be a very boring place if we all agreed about everything. It's a fact of life that not everyone is going to like each other either. While I take great pains not to deliberately say anything to offend or hurt someone's feelings it's more important to me to be true to myself than fit myself into a mold that will make me popular. One of my favorite quotes that I've mentioned on this site before is by Dr. Suess and it goes,
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Indeed, those who matter understand and don't mind.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)
October 31, 2005
What Would They Think?
Anyone from NYYFans.com knows that Curt Schilling lurks and occasionally posts at Gehrig38 on our fan forum as well as at Sons of Sam Horn and in a couple of other places. It's been said many times that Steve Park and Brendan Gaughan read Steve Park Central frequently. Michael Waltrip, Kevin Harvick, Brendan Gaughan and other drivers sometimes read and post on the fan forums on their own sites. So the question of what these folks think when they read what fans post on forums on in blogs is frequently an issue, usually in the form of "Gasp! What would driver X think if they read that!?" So I'm wondering really what do they think when they read fan forums? What would they think if they happened to come across my blog?
First of all, I don't think it's too likely that any driver or player spends as much time on fan forums as some fans seem to think that they do, with the possible exception of Curt. A quick read here and there but how much time do drivers and players really have to sit there and read everything that fans say about them? How much do they even care anyway about what fans think? Afterall, our opinions are often formulated on less than complete information about any given situation. That said, I'd like to think that players and drivers understand that we are posting from a fan's point of view and that our opinions are no less valid or worthy just because we've never been behind the wheel of a race car or at-bat against a tough pitcher. My guess is that there are times that they are curious about how they are perceived by the fans. I would hope that the majority of players and drivers respect the right of their fans to express their opinions on a full range of topics both pro and con. I hope that they understand that fans aren't always going to agree with everything that happens. As I'm fond of saying this world would be a very boring place if everyone agreed. I'm quite sure that on any given team and in the garage area not everyone agrees so I don't think the fans have to agree all the time with the team, players and drivers that they are fans of.
So when I post on Michael Waltrip's forum or Steve Park Central the vast majority of time I don't hold back or censor myself out of fear of what Michael, Steve or Brendan might think of what I'm posting. That doesn't mean that I bash or name-call - I'm very against posting in anything but a respectul manner and name-calling really bothers me. But I am outspoken and I'm not always a rah-rah cheerleader about everything that happens. I speak my mind everywhere else, why should I have to change the way I am? That implies that speaking one's mind is so offensive to those people that I shouldn't be doing it. And just exactly what is so offensive about giving honest opinions anyway? I didn't like the way Orleans Racing handled Steve Park's release and I have no problem saying that, even if Brendan might and probably did read it. Fact is to a lot of fans it didn't feel right no matter what all parties have said. I'm quite sure that Brendan has read a lot worse than me wondering what the real story was behind Steve's release when that story seemed to change on a daily basis. I would hope that he has thicker skin than to let one fan's insignificant opinion bother him.
It is possible, though unlikely, that some of these folks could have read this blog since a link to this place is usually in my sig file on the forums that I post in. I say unlikely because I doubt that anyone of significance cares what I think about much of anything. I'm just one voice in a vast sea of fans, many of whom are much more vocal than I am when it comes to their fandom. And let's face it while 99% of the time I'm extremely positive about both Michael and Steve as well as most of the other drivers and players that I like, I'm not the type of fan who usually gushes or only writes about how wonderful everything and everyone is. I'm sure that most of the drivers and players would rather read the more rah-rah comments than someone like me rambling on about what they think. But this blog exists for me to discuss all sorts of topics and if I only restricted myself to talking about how great Steve, Michael, Mike Mussina, Alex Rodriquez and others are then I don't think it would be very interesting for myself or anyone else. But above all this blog isn't written to get anyone's attention. Sometimes I get the feeling that some post on fan forums or create blogs trying to get certain people's attention but I'm writing this blog to satisfy myself, no one else.
However, if I'm being honest I do have to admit that I've written a few entries that I've later removed from public view down the road. This is particularly true after I started posting on Michael's site, just on the very remote and unlikely chance that he wanders by here. I'd guess that I've never said anything here or elsewhere the slightest bit critical of Michael but there are one or two comments about others that he knows, specifically other drivers that he might be friendly with or folks at DEI, that I did feel uncomfortable with. Most likely it wouldn't even phase him to read what I wrote because as I've said previously I stay away from name-calling and bashing so in comparision to what a lot of other fans say what I wrote was probably extremely mild. Still, I figured with those one or two items it was best to err on the side of caution just in case. I almost never post here with what Michael or anyone else might think if they read it because again, odds are they aren't and this is for me not them, but I'm also sensitive to the fact that you never do fully know who is reading what, when. I guess in some ways that means that I do care to some degree what Michael and those around him think, which isn't necessarily a good thing since Michael is a stranger, but I guess that comes with the territory of being a fan - sometimes you do care what your favorite driver or player might think about some things.
Maybe some of us care more than others. I guess my expectations are that Michael, Steve, A-Rod and all the other players and drivers respect the fans right to express our opinions which may be different than theirs. In fact I think I'd be more than a little disappointed if I found out that some of these folks think that all the fans are no-nothing idiots who should just shut the hell up unless they're talking about how wonderful their favorite drivers or players are. I'm not an expert on anything but I'd like to think that I know a little about a lot of things and I'm not an idiot. So that gives me the confidence to speak my mind because I'm hoping that there is some measure of respect, understanding and acknowledgement that sometimes fans do know what they're talking about and have valid opinions. But sometimes it seems like a lot of fans are so afraid of what driver X or player Y might think that they're afraid to give much stronger of an opinion than "Derek Jeter is awesome!" or "Dale Earnhardt Jr. Rules!"
However, I do think it's also possible for some fans to go too far in the other direction. For example, Michael Waltrip fans hate DEI and have taken to ripping DEI on his site every chance they get. When I say ripping I don't just mean harsh words I mean name-calling and personal insults directed towards Richie Gilmore and outright bashing as if driving for DEI was the worst thing that ever happened to Michael. That makes me uncomfortable given that he might be reading some of what is being posted. While I'm sure Michael has heard and read it all we have no idea who Michael might be friends with at DEI, nor was his entire time at DEI awful in spite of having to deal with some issues. I think there's no problem with fans being critical and having hard words for DEI or anyone else but when it comes to calling someone a name, that seems excessive since again, we really don't know who Michael likes and doesn't like at DEI, nor do we really know how he truly feels about everything that went down at DEI. It hasn't always been easy for him there but he did get those four wins, he did get to work with Tony Eury, Jr. this season which I think he very much enjoyed and there's also the connection to Dale Earnhardt, Sr. So it's at those times such as when someone is ripping his crew chief. to shreds that I do wonder - what the heck is he thinking if he reads this? He, like all the other drivers, probably appreciates the passion of the fans and loves that there are so many fans that will support him so strongly. Likewise, while I was critical of Orleans Racing when Steve was released some of what other said was really over-the-top to me. We are all devoted fans of Steve but he isn't a friend or relative to most of us, just a driver we passionately cheer for. The urge to lash into people that harshly sometimes makes me uncomfortable in some situations.
I guess we'll never really know what these folks think when they read fan's opinions. None of the drivers or players can say openly that they think their fans are morons. Maybe that's what they think of all of us. Or maybe not. I just hope they respect the fan's right to say what we think, just as we respect their right to their own emotions, opinions and beliefs. I would never in a thousand years expect my favorite drivers and players to think or believe exactly the same as I do so I hope that they are also tolerant of the diversity of their fans and their opinions.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)
September 05, 2005
NYYFans.com Mentioned in Today's "Newsday"
He'll Manage, But Will Joe Do It Well?
This is pretty cool - today's column by Ken Davidoff mentions NYYFans.com and a particular thread about Joe Torre and his in-game decision-making, a topic of much debate this season among fans. I've always thought that a lot of members of the media cruise fan forums to gauge the "voice of the fan" but it's not often that we know for sure, other than in the case of Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post who interviewed a few members of the site for his book. But it's awesome that Davidoff mentioned the site and even though it's Labor Day which isn't a big newspaper reading day hopefully it will get a few new users over to the site!
Posted by silverdsl at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2005
Why is Michael Waltrip Wearing Shorts On INC So Offensive to Some?
Just a random thought that occured to me and this is the space for it. Michael Waltrip wore shorts last night on Inside Nextel Cup because he had been at a charity golf outting out of state prior to the show's taping and didn't have time to change into long pants. The last time Michael wore shorts on INC they were ridiculously short and it looked like he was sitting there in his underwear so I can understand why it caused an uproar back then and led the producers to say that the panel always had to wear long pants. But on yesterday's show the length of the shorts was appropriate and given that Michael has nice muscular legs he looked fine. So I don't understand why some are freaking out that he wore shorts again.
If Leeann Tweeden can be on Nascar Nation with her boobs half hanging out and she and the other female host wear clothes that are as tight as possible, what's the problem with Michael showing a little leg? Seriously, both men and women wear shorts all the time in hot weather. There's nothing offensive about a bare male leg. And it's a complete double-standard for Leeann to be able to show, and probably be encouraged to show, as much bare flesh as possible, but it's not okay for Michael. The worst part is that Leeann and her co-host are deliberately being dressed in a way to attract viewers on the basis of the way that they look while Michael is simply showing up to film the show in what he was wearing earlier in the day.
Yes, I get the point that INC is a different kind of show than NN. But INC is still a fairly casual show. Some are saying that Michael is deliberately showing a lack of respect for the show and everyone else on it. Huh? Yeah, maybe at some point he could have grabbed pants to change into. But I'm guessing at 6 a.m. he and whoever went with him wasn't exactly giving too much thought about what he needed to do for INC.
The problem is that there are some people who dislike Michael so strongly that they are going to look for anything they can find to criticize him about. Every driver and player has anti-fans like that. Things that other fans give no thought to become a huge offense to these fans because it somehow "proves" what they percieve to be the worst about the athlete they can't stand. Meanwhile, often what they make into a huge issue is really nothing at all. I suppose that's true to a degree for everyone that some things are pet peeves that irk one person but go unnoticed to the next person. But when it comes to athletes it appears that some things are magnified even more.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2005
There is No Such Thing as a "Real" or a "True" Fan
Before I get into the heart of this entry let me preface it by saying that no one should get their knickers in a knot because I don't have any one person, group of people or incident in mind when I decided to write this entry. Anyone who knows me knows how I feel on this issue and it's a topic that I've touched upon previously in this space. However, over the past few weeks I've seen an increase in the amount of fans who accuse each other of not being "true" fans, fans who tell each other some variation of "If you were a 'real' fan you'd do or think X or Y," or fans who tell each other that they are better than other fans for the things that they do or say. I've got news for all those people - it's all a myth. So put on your big girl panties (Michael Waltrip said that one time on Inside Nextel Cup and I've been dying to use that somewhere ever since) and read on if you so choose.
Why is there no such thing as a real or a true fan? That's because there is no right way or wrong way to be a fan. People are a fans of whoever or whatever they choose in whatever way makes them comfortable. When someone decides to be a fan no one hands out a handbook full of rules that says that everyone must think these certain things or act in this certain way otherwise someone is inadequate as a fan. There is no fan police who penalize those who don't do or say the "right" things. Thinking certain things or doing certain things doesn't make one any "realer" or better of a fan than the next person. Well, maybe in some people's minds it does but in reality the concept of "real" and "fake" fans or "true" fans is as much fantasy as unicorns are.
The beauty of being a fan is that everyone can choose for themselves how they support the person or team that they are a fan of and act accordingly. Some people are relatively low-key about the people and things they are a fan of. Others are more exuberant and vocal about their fandom. Some people are casual fans who support quite a few people they admire. Then there are die-hard fans who are focused on one or two people or things that have all their attention. There are some people who travel great distances to support their favorites as frequently as they can and others who won't go to see their favorites unless it's minutes from their house. All of that is fine - there's nothing wrong with any of these approaches or any of a hundred other approaches. The reasons why people become fans are so complex and are often deeply rooted and sometimes deeply personal. So the way that people express themselves as fans is often deeply personal as well, probably a large reason why things can go bad between fans, even fans who support the same teams, players or drivers.
I'm a fairly low-key fan. I have my drivers and teams that I support but I don't get crazy about it. Maybe that's due to the nature of my personality in general which is also fairly low-key and laid-back. There are certain ways that I express my fandom, but I don't go to a huge amount of races or games, though I try to watch as many as possible on TV. I think some people look down on fans like me because we don't outwardly show our fandom quite as obviously as some other fans, don't attend as many events or spend as much money on merchandise or tickets. But I am every bit as much of a fan of the drivers, players and teams that I support as anyone else. And as it's turned out my way of being a fan has worked out really well for me. Incredibly well in fact. I gain a lot of enjoyment, satisfaction and happiness from a lot of things in life and one of those things happens to be from being a fan of the people and team that I support.
There is also room for all sorts of opinions within a fandom. As I've said before, the world would be a very boring place if everyone had the same opinion. I am constantly amazed by how many fans seem to think there is no room for a diversity of opinions. That there are "right" opinions and "wrong" opinions and if you say the "wrong" thing driver/player/actor/etc... X will somehow think less of you or that your right to call yourself a fan should be revoked. I've got news for anyone who thinks that way - the drivers/players/actors/etc... who get it, and the majority of them do, understand that their fans have the right to have any opinion they want even if it's one they personally disagree with. Some of those drivers/players/actors, etc... understand that because they have their own strongly held opinions or causes they believe in that other people disagree with them on. So they wouldn't want anyone telling them how to think so why would they want some of their fans telling other of their fans what to think or how to act? And if it should happen that there is a player or driver who thinks that all their fans should support them blindly no matter what or never have an independent opinion, then that's someone who I don't think I want to be a fan of.
In addition, there is nothing that makes any one fan better than another. There is no scorecard upon which fans rack up points that put them ahead of other fans. Or a hierarchy in which some fans are placed higher than others. Particularly since there is nothing that any fan can do that hasn't been done by another fan before them or won't be done by another fan in the future. The vast majority of drivers/players/teams/celebrities value each and every fan that they have because they understand that their careers might be radically different without the support of their fans. All of their fans. There have been times when someone has subtly or obviously pulled out the "I'm better than you because..." card and tried to rub it in someone's face. I've seen that so many times in so many places. After I'm done being annoyed it really makes me laugh, the thing is that I, and everyone else who knows that being a fan isn't a competition, don't think that we're better than anyone else is. I'm just a small cog in the big engine that fandom is. I'm simply me - a fan of Michael Waltrip, Steve Park, Kevin Harvick, Ken Schrader, Kyle Petty, Jeff Gordon, Tino Martinez, David Cone, Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, The Yankees and so many others just like thousands of other people just like me.
I've met and talked to quite a few famous people in a wide variety of fields. Some of them whose names would be reconizable on not just a national level, but internationally as well. And in all the times that I've been around someone who is a celebrity of some sort not one of them has ever tested my fandom. There's never been a test of whether I'm a "real" fan or a "true" fan. No one has every questioned my right to buy tickets. Or if I have the right opinions or go to enough games or races. Whether I'm a big enough fan to be in their presence, get their autograph, or talk to them. Perhaps I've been lucky but I've never met anyone who hasn't been appreciative of my support or treated me just as well as any other fan. And just like if someone doesn't respect my right to have my own opinions I won't feel inclined to continue to be a fan of theirs, if someone doesn't seem particularly appreciative of all their fans, that's someone who loses some respect in my eyes too. While no one who I've ever met has treated me any less than wonderfully I have read some stories that make me shake my head. I have all the understanding in the world for players or drivers having bad days and the craziness of their schedules so I don't expect them to be able to accomidate everyone or be perfectly happy all the time but I have heard a few things that have made me view a couple of players and drivers a little differently and not in a good way.
Of course there are some times that I get down on my fellow fans for reasons other than when they question each other's fandom. That's when a fan behaves in a way that is grossly inappropriate doing things such as stalking, invading someone's personal space when it's not wanted, treating the celebrity like they are a possession not a person or otherwise behaving in ways that can create a scene or get someone in trouble. I think the vast majority of fans know how to behave appropriately but the small minority who don't give all fans a bad name since those things are definitely noticed and often responded to in a way that ruins things for the fans who are well-behaved.
But why do some fans tell other fans that they aren't good enough fans? Perhaps they think that they're protecting the person or team that they're such a big fan of. Perhaps it's because they're insecure in their own fandom and deep inside they feel that they don't measure up either. Perhaps it's a way of drawing attention to themselves. Perhaps they think that the person or team they are a fan of will eventually see or hear and recognize them for it. But regardless of the reasons I wish it wouldn't happen. In any fandom, ever. Disagree with someone - great! Have a discussion about differing viewpoints - always fun to debate various things. But to tell someone that they are inferior or question their fandom if they don't say or do certain things that is something I can't stand.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2005
The Rumors Game in Nascar
Rumors Make the Sport Go 'Round
The Williams Company is a North Carolina based public relations company that specializes in the motorsports industry. In the past couple of weeks they've had to spend time quelling erroneous rumors that were widely circulated about two of their clients. The first rumor indicated that Ken Schrader, driver of the #49 for BAM Racing was going to retire and would be out of the car at the end of this season. That wasn't true. Then there was a rumor that DCT Motorsports who fields a car for Stanton Barrett was being sold. That wasn't true either. At the time some folks from The Williams Company bemoaned how easily rumors spread in Nascar, particularly in the digital age when rumors are repeated over and over again on the internet. So this week they put together a release on the subject of rumors in racing, particularly in Nascar and the effects, both pro and con. Some of their clients had some very interesting comments about rumors, particularly Kyle Petty.
I think a lot of people don't see what the big deal is about rumors and gossip. But in reality rumors, particularly unfounded rumors can have considerable effects on race teams. Ricky Pearson, a crew chief at DCT said, "It can affect what your team is doing if you listen to them. ‘Momentum’ is just an attitude. Whether you have momentum or not, it’s still basically an attitude. And rumors affect that attitude, so they can affect your momentum. That’s one of the reasons I try to address rumors as soon as I possibly can if they have something to do with my race team. You have to stop it right away." First of all, I think that's an very important observation about momentum - that it is often something mental. So a rumor can bring momentum to a screeching halt if a team wrongly thinks that a driver change is on the horizon or other major changes are in the works. Considering all that's rumored about the #11 team and Jason Leffler I suspect this team has a hard time staying positive, feeling confident and building momentum because every week there's a new rumor about Leffler being replaced. As Pearson noted, it's important to address rumors up-front so that team members don't wonder where they or others stand. However, I don't think that all teams operate in this way. Or if they do address rumors I'm not sure they are always completely truthful. So that probably makes it hard for some drivers when they don't fully know where they stand like Casey Mears, another driver who has been in the rumor mill who seems to be getting conflicting information from Ganassi as to whether he will be with them next season or not.
I have a lot of respect for Kyle Petty for a number of reasons but one of those is that he speaks his mind, though it often goes unnoticed, and his comments on rumors are no less candid than he usually is. He said, "A lot of times NASCAR will float something. They will then read the newspapers, hear what the opinion is on it, and either go forward with it or pull away from it. It’s their way of kind of throwing something out there and seeing what the public thinks. They can also get a feel of what the drivers or teams think without having to go to them. It’s a game. Rumors are almost a little bit of a game sometimes. If you want something changed, or something done, make a comment and see if the press runs with it. If they do, see what the fans say about it. The fans always have something to say about things. If it’s positive then run with it, but if it’s not, then back off from it."
I don't think it's just Nascar that plays that kind of game either. I think the teams, drivers, and other entities in Nascar will also float various rumors to gauge the reaction of those in the garage area and the fans. I suspect that Speed-TV pulled some of that in relation to the changes that have been proposed to some of their programs such as "Nascar Nation" and "Inside Nextel Cup." More than likely they will go ahead and make the changes they want anyway but some of the way rumors and information, both correct and incorrect has surfaced over the past few months makes me think that they are trying to see how much fans will tolerate in terms of changes and to ease the blow when certain changes are made down the road. I also think that representatives from various organizations, will go to message boards to try and float certain pieces of information or opinions about their clients to try to sway the way the fans think about certain individuals or situations.
A lot of people think message boards are useless cesspools full of people spouting off about nonsense. Some can be like that. But some forums can also be used as tools and I think that they often are. I've seen be a complete disaster at times. When fans find out that they're being manipulated or someone has an ulterior motive for spreading information or rumors it often doesn't go over very well. However, I've also seen situations when someone floats information incognito quite successfully. (No, I'm not going to share how I became aware of who these people are at times without others knowing.) The problem is with being dependent on message boards for gauging fan reaction to certain things is that I don't think that online fans are always completely reflective of all fans. With some drivers I've seen a huge difference in what their fans on and off line believe. And then you have drivers like Michael Waltrip who have a huge amount of fans but those people aren't as strong of a presence online as they are off. So that can skew things as well. So sometimes it concerns me that some entities seem dependent on using online fans to get a sense of what all fans are thinking.
Petty also went on to discuss the pros and cons of rumors. He says (in part), "The worst thing that can ever happen from a rumor is a driver getting fired. That’s the worst thing... The next thing you know, the sponsor is saying, ‘Everyone believes there is a problem with our driver, we need to change drivers.’ That’s the worst thing that can happen." That's pretty interesting that an unfounded rumor can actually cause a sponsor to get nervous and ask for a change to be made. I guess in that case perception becomes reality. The fans hear the rumors and discuss it thinking that a change is both needed and imminent. Then the sponsor sees everyone talking and the percieved problem, which may not actually even exist, grows legs.
I think Steve Park got bit by this after his accident in 2001. There were quite a few rumors about his worthiness as a driver but also seemingly every week that he was going to lose his ride both when he was in the #1 and the #30. Which added up to a lot of negative discussion in relation to Steve and both of those teams which surely made Pennzoil and AOL unhappy. In reality the problems were with the lack of competitiveness of the cars that Steve was given to race with after he recovered from his injuries but a lot of people believed the rumors that were spread about him. So when he didn't do well their negative perceptions of his worthiness as a driver were reenforced. Not just among fans either - many in the garage area thought he was damaged goods but luckily Orleans Racing realized how wrong all those rumors were and hired him for the #62. Unfortunately in spite of the win at Fontana and no matter what Steve does in the future I have no doubt that there are many who will still believe all those ugly rumors that circulated about Steve in 2002 and 2003.
But Petty doesn't think that rumors and talk is all bad. He said, "The best thing that can happen is when teams, NASCAR, or anybody complains about something from a safety standpoint. They will say that something isn’t the safest, or wonder why this track didn’t put in barriers, or this and that. Someone picks it up and runs with it. All of the sudden, the next time you go the place the track has SAFER Barriers or has changed things. I think the pluses happen when someone runs with something that improves the sport." I can't help but think of Michael Waltrip and Jeff Burton. Michael will talk about SAFER Barriers and other safety issues from time to time on "Inside Nextel Cup" and Burton has also championed various safety issues. I think when Michael does it on INC it can particularly have an effect because Nascar and others know that show has a large audience. I have to agree with Petty that sometimes there is some good that can come out of rumors. Sometimes information needs to be floated to illicit certain reactions. Or because saying some things publically is the only way to make sure that some action is taken or that certain things get attention.
Ken Schrader addressed one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to rumors and the online media - not fact-checking or taking rumors as fact without attempting to follow up with all the involved parties. He says, "But, now with the Internet… rumors take on a life of their own. If you get a couple people writing about it, folks start taking it as fact… and they haven’t even addressed the source to begin with. Sometimes they run wild with that stuff." I can't say how many times rumors are stated as fact by the online media without even the simpliest research to find out of there's any truth to it or not. Boston Dirt Dogs has definitely Is guilty of this in the past in a very big way and that just scratches the surface of those who will formulate opinions or report rumors as fact without doing any kind of fact-checking. Yes, sometimes it's impossible to fact-check rumors. But at least some meager attempt to discover whether the rumor is true or not should be made whether it's by sending an email or making a phone call. Even a "no comment" is better than nothing.
Obviously the internet has changed the way the media operates and also the way that rumors are spread. Marty Gaunt, General Manager of Red Horse Racing says, "The sport has always had rumors but the Internet has just magnified them. More people see the rumors so they spread faster and wider. In the ‘old days,’ one guy would tell one guy something and 15 people would hear it. Now it’s maybe 15,000 people by the end of the day." Which is one of the biggest problems about Jayski's. On one hand it's a great resource for news and information but on the other when he reports a rumor that turns out to be false it might be seen by thousands of people who will believe that it's true. Jayski does a good job of trying to clarify and correct rumors once he finds out additional information about their truth. But there's no guarentee that the people who see the rumor in the first place will return to see the correction. I've seen that a lot and not just with Jayski's where people will believe everything they hear and not seek any clarification or pay much attention to follow-up stories. So they end up holding some very inaccurate beliefs.
Steve Park's former crew chief with the #1, Paul Andrews speaks to the detrimental effects that rumors can have on a team. "When it’s rumored that a driver is going to leave the team at the end of the season, and it’s halfway through the season, you can almost count on it not being a great part of the season. It doesn’t matter if it’s rumor or fact. Once it becomes fact, most of the time, it’s not during a good season for the driver or team. Sometimes rumors get running so wild that you have to address them. Owners or drivers, sometimes, will have to lie because they can’t say they are going to leave or want to leave because other things aren’t done yet. It definitely affects the teams for sure." Of course I can't help but wonder if he has Steve in mind with any of those comments in that at various times there were rumors about Steve's future in the #1 and at DEI thanks to some issues with contract negotiations, even prior to the accident. I think that this happened with Michael Waltrip last season as well since there started to be talk about what his future at DEI might be towards the end of the season. I think that makes it very hard for a team and driver when there are rumors in the air about their future. And as Andrews notes, even when there's truth to what's being said, it can make things difficult. The #15 team knew that there was a lot of uncertainty hanging over their heads at the end of 2005, a lot of which continues into 2006, and I think that can be very discouraging and can make it difficult to give 100% if it seems as if the results won't matter because a driver change might happen anyway. I'm really glad that Michael has gotten so many great finishes this season because I think that has gone a long way towards easing some of the tension that might exist in terms of concern about who the driver of the #15 might be in 2006.
Jeff Green, the subject of a few rumors himself over the years says, "You can believe about two percent of the rumors. It’s one of the things that make our sport go around. We probably have more rumors than real factual stories most of time." The thing is that I've found that while there are some outlandish rumors that have zero truth to them, often rumors have some grain of truth to them. In that a rumor is started on the basis of something that is factual and someone elaborates on it and runs with it. Like the game of telephone in that what you end up with doesn't bare any resemblance to what you started out with. It's a matter of figuring out where the truth lies. I'm often skeptical of what teams, drivers and others in the sport say because often folks will spin a situation for their own benefit. Unfortunately sometimes people will even outright lie. I think sometimes fans turn a blind eye to the blatant untruths that are sometimes told. More often than not, I'd like to think that everyone is up front about what they are saying but I've seen some situations where one thing is said and then something completely different is said down the road. Both things can't possibly be true which means that someone, somewhere is lying. Of course it's not just Nascar where this happens either.
I think rumors in Nascar and rumor sites like Jayski's have their place. If not for some of those sites and rumors being spread I think Nascar, teams, drivers and others would be able to keep a lot of situations hidden from the fans a lot easier and that's not a good thing. Sites like Jayski's make it hard for everyone in Nascar to cover things up because odds are that someone will hear about it and it will get reported somewhere. As Kyle Petty and other said, rumors can cause reactions and that can be a good thing. However, rumors can also be very damaging. Care needs to be taken to phrase rumors in the proper way, particularly in the media, so that it's clear that what is being presented isn't confirmed as fact. Fans also need to be cautious about the things that they read, not take everything as fact and ask questions. And the PR companies, teams, drivers and everyone else involved can help by addressing rumors directly and honestly, as much as their might be a temptation just to ignore what's being said or in some cases to spin and lie their way out of situations.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2005
Not Every Musician Gets it When it Comes to the Fans
Fans Pay - Again - For Rock Star's Arrogance
This is a really interesting column, at least to me since I'm always interested in anything that relates to fans and how they interact with their idols. Mark Brown from the Rocky Mountain News wrote a column about fans being abused by their favorite musicians. Brown goes so far as to call some recent behavior by some musicians appalling and I have to agree particularly as it relates to the Rolling Stones and the Counting Crows.
The Rolling Stones are charging ridiculous prices for some tickets for their upcoming tour. Yes, they are one of the best rock bands ever but $625 for the best seats prices out quite a few of their most die-hard fans from those seats. Of course there are seats available for as little as $60, with other seats going for $99, $150 and $450 at least for the show at Giants stadium, but it just seems like charging more than $200 for even the best of seats to a concert is outrageous. And I probably wouldn't spend that for the majority of concerts, even for my favorite bands. But the worst thing, as Brown points out, about the $625 tickets is that on top of ticketmaster fees, the fans have to pay a $100 fan club fee for the opportunity to get those tickets. So a $625 ticket is really a $725 ticket. Ridiculous. And fans have no choice but to pay up if they want the best seats to see their favorite bands.
I'm in total shock over what the Counting Crows' Adam Duritz did. Apparently the Crows have a solid message board on their official site filled with die-hard and devoted fans. But just because fans are die-hards doesn't mean that they are always going to be happy with everything that their favorites do. So the fans weren't happy with the band's concert promotion deal with The Gap. Well, instead of recognizing their fans right to express their opinions as they see them, Duritz ripped those fans in a curse-ridden post on the message board. Here's an excerpt: "Don't you ever get tired of listening to yourselves? I know I do. And you wonder why I choose not to communicate with you lately. I wonder why anyone would." Well, I don't know why anyone would want to listen to Duritz after that!
Yeah, it proably gets frustrating to read criticism all the time. And there are some stuff that probably gets posted which is laughable. But come on. Cursing out your fans isn't smart. Regardless of what you might think of them these are the people who buy your music. And in case Duritz hasn't noticed recently they aren't exactly topping the Billboard charts these days. Duritz has every right to be angry about what he read on the board and respond to it. But there's an appropriate way to do it without attacking the people that you are dependant on for your success.
A fan's opinion can be every bit as valid as anyone else's. In fact sometimes fans have great ideas or can offer valuable input. After all, they are the people spending the money on your product. But fans can only form their opinions on the basis of the information they are given which can be incomplete at times. So if Duritz wants his fans to look more favorably on the band's deal with the Gap all he has to do is present the reasons why the band did the deal and how it benefits everyone. He is entitled to believe that his fans are idiots but expressing it, particular while cussing them out, just isn't smart.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2005
This has just been bugging me. There's a driver who has a fan message board on their official site which is pretty active, particularly since from time-to-time the driver and his wife will drop in with a message here or there. For the most part the board and the site itself are very well run. The board is a fun place and a good source of information. The webmaster is a presence and will step in if need be to handle problems. However, there is one long-running problem there that has gone unaddressed which discourages me from participating there even though this driver is one of my favorites and I know it chases others away as well. That is that there is some bullying that goes on where some users try to tell other users what they should be posting about or how to be a fan.
Since I don't participate in the board myself I usually just read this stuff and shake my head but this most recent incident really irked me on behalf of the person who found themselves a target. Someone posted an article about this driver's father and some of the racing-related things he's involved with. No big deal right? After all, articles like this are posted all the time on racing boards. But for some reason someone felt it was inappropriate and told the user who posted it how wrong they were to have posted something like that. But they didn't just express their opinion and move on they did it in a way that I think came across as very harsh and intimidating even if that's not the way they intended it.
Apparently this person felt that anything that had to do with this driver's family should be off-limits as a topic of conversation unless initiated by the driver himself. Never mind that I've never seen any rule about that. Or that the driver's wife is constantly mentioned and discussed. Or that there was absolutely nothing offensive in the article what-so-ever, this person just figured other people would be interested in it. We have a rule at NYYFans that we don't allow discussion of the player's personal lives unless it's newsworthy but if someone posted an article about Derek Jeter's father, particularly if it was baseball related we'd let people discuss it. I just don't understand why posting such an innocent article set this person off so badly. You don't want people to be discussing the intimate details of the driver's relationships but at the same time fans are going to be interested in what's happening in their lives and that includes reading about their families if an article gets written about them. Maybe there's something I missed in which there was some big controversy a long time ago about a similar article but if there was no one has mentioned it.
It just seems like something the webmaster should be stepping in on and that hasn't happened. It's possible because there's a friendship there but ignoring that type of thing won't make it go away. I think it makes for a very uncomfortable board because users never know if even the most innocent post is going to get attacked. What's most unfortunate is that since this board is part of a driver's offical site it is a reflection of him in some ways. So it just boggles my mind that fans bullying each other is allowed to continue there.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2005
Web Polls and Fanbase Rivalries
Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch (I've been looking for an excuse to use that phrase!) the following entry isn't directed at any specific person, group or poll, given that something similar has been playing out in several different online polls. Kinda sad that I even have to say that, no? At any rate, when it comes to Nascar polls that relate to a particular driver winning the point is to get that driver as many votes as possible within the rules so that the driver will win either the entire poll or that segment of the competition. And there are many ways to try and get votes in ongoing polls from posting links on various websites, to asking for help on different driver's message boards, to sending emails to friends and families, to forming alliances. I've seen alliances done in two different ways. In one poll drivers from different fanbases get together to try and vote off particular drivers they view as a threat to their own driver. Or fanbases do a vote exchange of a sort in which they make an arrangement with another fanbase to vote for each other's drivers in different polls.
I see nothing wrong with any of this and it amazes me how much hand-wringing there is and how many people feel that these tactics are "wrong." As if only "real" fans who are true-believers should be voting for a particular drivers. As if it taints the process if there are others who might like another driver more vote for a different driver. Or that it reflects badly on particular fanbases when they do certain things. Or that developing these alliances are somehow unfair. But really what's so wrong with anything that's happening? All that's going on is various fan bases trying to make it possible for their driver to win within the rules, exactly the point of the poll.
When other driver's fans are recruited to vote for another driver it is no different from sending out an email to get friends and family to vote. In both cases people are doing the person who asks a favor and voting for a driver that might not be their favorite or in some cases they might not know anything about. So why is it perceived to somehow be different? No one gives a test of true fandom before someone casts a vote, no one asks whether a fan truly likes that driver or whether they actually think he's the hottest driver in all of Nascar. I'm betting that there are plenty of casual fans who vote in these polls too - should that be disallowed because they aren't die-hard fans? The results aren't any more or less valid based on who specifically votes, just that enough people voted to get that driver the win.
And there certainly isn't anything unfair about developing alliances. Hasn't anyone watched "Survivor?" Although I think that figuring out alliances is perhaps giving the polls a level of importance that they don't deserve (as I write my third entry related to online polls but at least I have an excuse given my ongoing interest in fandom and related issues), it's actually being smart. Look at these polls as a game and strategy is a part of being a good game player. Perhaps part of the problem is that some wish that they had thought of that kind of tactic first.
Maybe some people get very wrapped up in how the various fan bases vote but I think for the majority of people all they care about or remember in the end unless there's a major incident is who won. Months after Junior wins the sexiest driver award no one is going to remember that some fans on the pit board worked up some sort of alliance with another driver's fans to vote off one of the K/Caseys. When Steve Park or Johnny Benson wins the truckseries.com Most Popular Driver Award no one is going to remember that the Craven fans had an alliance with the Blaney fans or that someone on the Johnny Benson board asked fans on a Jimmie Johnson board if they would vote for Benson. None of this reflects badly on any of those fans either. It's not desperate to try and get your guy as many votes as possible or figure out a way to get them a win - that's the way the game works.
After a while what happens is that the various polls don't see like much fun anymore. That was said today by more than one person and I would have to agree. It ends up seeming like a lot of work and appears to be somewhat stressful for some folks. My wish is that everyone just goes about their business voting for who they want, trying to get as many votes as they can and not give too much thought to what other fan bases are or aren't doing.
On a somewhat related topic (I don't feel like starting a new entry for this), someone on the Johnny Benson board brought up a great point about the ts.com MPD poll. That site accepts advertising so a very big reason for this poll is probably to drive traffic to their site and increase the amount of hits they would otherwise get. Then they can show potential and current advertisers how many hits the site gets and charge them accordingly. Which partially explains why they are unresponsive to some people who complain about glitches or other things related to the poll - they may not care that much about the poll itself as long as there's no cheating and the hits are there and keep on coming.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2005
$3,329.38 Raised to Fight ALS Via Fundraiser on NYYFans.com!
This is just awesome! Our users at NYYFans.com really stepped up and by the end of the fundraiser on Wednesday we had raised $$3,329.38 to fight ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease via donations to Curt Schilling's charity, "Curt's Pitch." I mentioned how this all came about a few weeks ago so anyone who paid attention to that entry knows that Schilling also made a matching donation out of his own pocket back to "Curt's Pitch" and will also donate a matching amount to NYYFans.com. From the money that we receive from Schilling we will be making another large donation to at least one other charity, possibly more to be determined shortly. What really helped us raise so much money was probably that Schilling agreed to make a matching donation to the site but also because one of our users has a memorablia store and he donated an autographed Derek Jeter ball which we will give away in a drawing which was open to anyone who donated at least $25.
I really felt good helping to raise this money to fight ALS. I'd love to work on some more fundraisers of this nature. If we do another one through the site it would be great to work with one of the players on the Yankees since afterall we are a Yankees fan site. Many of the players have foundations but not too many of them are quite as active as Schilling is. Otherwise, if Michael Waltrip does another Operation Marathon type project to benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp it would be cool to somehow raise some money for that.
But everyone who donated to help us raise the money for ALS or otherwise supports charities should be very proud of themselves!
Posted by silverdsl at 08:07 PM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2005
Cheating and the Truck Series Most Popular Driver Poll
So the assumption is that the Johnny Benson fans are cheating to have such a big lead in the TruckSeries.com Most Popular Driver Award poll. Last season Steve Park won this award by almost the same amount that Johnny is ahead by now. Was Steve's win only because his fans cheated? If the answer is no then it's possible that Johnny's fans aren't cheating. If the answer is yes then I guess more than likely Johnny's fans are cheating. I only know what I did last year and that was to vote for Steve fairly but there was at least one incident involving cheating (and I assume that more than a few driver's fans probably figured out the same cheat) which led to the poll having to be restarted. My assumption was that after the poll was restarted there was no cheating and all the drivers got votes fair and square within the rules. I sure hope that I was correct in thinking that because I would hate it for Steve's sake if even after the poll was restarted there was some funny business with the voting.
For the sake of fairness it should be mentioned that there is a direct link to the poll on Benson's fan club site, he has a very dedicated and organized fan club and Benson enjoys a lot of visiblity due to his appearances on Inside Nextel Cup so it is entirely possible that there are just a lot of people voting for him. Particularly when you think that if you have just 50 people voting twice a day (once at home and at work) his numbers can go up by as much as 100 votes a day. I don't think that's out of the realm of possibility considering that much of the fan voting is being organized through his fan club which surely has more than 50 people. It's quite possible that they have done email reminders or included a reminder to vote in a newsletter if they send one. If I recall correctly that is something that is included in emails I've seen from Michael Waltrip's fan club and that kind of prodding is probably one reason why he is always so high in the Cup series Most Popular Driver poll.
There most certainly is a cheat, because Jim told me how that would be possible. I didn't ask him for details on how to actually do it, I would never do and I would never share with anyone else how to cheat the system. But it is certainly possible that someone else with a background in computers like Jim figured out the cheat. I really hope that's not what's happening because as I discussed here because this is a way for fans to show their support of their driver. And as I mentioned previously internet polls aren't taken seriously by many people so the more cheating that goes on in these polls, the less people are willing to pay attention to the results.
Which is a real shame in the case of the TruckSeries.com Most Popular Driver poll given that Steve won it last season and Travis Kvapil won it two years previously. So the more that people float the idea that the driver who is ahead is only there because their fans are cheating, the more it takes away from the value of this award. Because already there are a significant amount of people who don't think much of this award considering the past problems with it and futher accusations of cheating only reaffirms in those people's minds that this award is simply a measure of who can cheat best rather than it is a real honor.
So what is the solution particularly if there is in fact some cheating going on? There isn't a great one really. TruckSeries.com has tried to come up with the most secure way possible to run this poll to prevent a lot of cheating, by tracking votes by IP and only allowing one vote per unique IP in a 24 hour period. If the Benson fans or anyone else are in fact cheating and that is discovered by TruckSeries.com I wonder if they will even bother with this award in the future? Surely they've got to be monitoring what's going on given the past problems and if there is cheating it will most likely be discoverd. And it's got to be discouraging to put all this effort into trying to keep things as clean as possible and find out that people are still looking for a way around the rules.
In the case of Steve Park what would really help is if there were a banner on his own website and the Orleans Racing site to encourage people to vote. Because right now if fans don't visit Steve Park Central or TruckSeries.com they wouldn't see any reminders to vote, if they even know voting is open in the first place. Beyond that voting as often as possible within the rules and encouraging others to do the same is the only other thing to do. In the end fans really only have control over their own actions.
Posted by silverdsl at 06:34 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2005
Steve Park Isn't Curt Schilling
Now isn't that a strange comparision - Steve Park to Curt Schilling? After all Steve is a racer in the Nascar truck series and Schilling is a major league baseball player. Perhaps not so strange when one considers that based on several references over the past few days, it's possible that Steve lurks over at SPC, a fan forum. Anyone from NYYFans knows that Schilling lurks with us all the time and on occassion has posted, which has led to a whole host of issues. And suddenly I can see why some things are the way they are if it's true that Steve does in fact lurk on a regular or semi-regular basis over on SPC.
Schilling has a very thick skin and there isn't much that fazes him when it comes to what fans say about him. In fact I think he feeds off of it, not just the positive remarks but the negative comments as well. On the other hand there's Steve who seems to be very eager to please everyone and doesn't like disappointing or upsetting anyone, particularly his fans. For someone like that, I would think that reading a fan forum might not be such a great idea. On one hand it probably feels great to read all the positive and wonderful things that fans say about him and it's certainly very cool for the fans to feel like their favorite driver cares enough to check out what they have to say. But there is always going to be some people who are critical or unhappy with certain things and if someone is the least bit sensitive, some of those comments might be given more weight than they should.
I always call things like I see them. I also very much see all the drivers and players that I like as human beings who will make mistakes and do things that I don't agree with from time to time. And I see nothing wrong with expressing that in a respectful way. I don't think any less of Steve or am any less of a fan of his because I don't like the way the Operation Marathon Getaway was handled or because I think there are times he's let his emotions get the best of him at times in races and that has hurt him. Those are just things that I might take issue with or think could be handled differently.
But do I really want Steve reading something that I say that might be interpreted as critical? Probably not. Granted, it's not my problem how a 37 or 38 year old adult who is a complete stranger to me takes what fans say about him. But on the other hand if I know that he may pay attention to this stuff, I don't really want to add any fuel to the fire either. Having suspected this might be the case for a while I've already been careful about what I say and how I say certain things - this was true even in relation to the whole Operation Marathon mess, though I know some would probably not believe that.
Which leaves me enjoying talking about Steve on that forum not quite as much as I used to. Our big issue on NYYFans is how the discussions are effected by Shilling's presence - they are and often not in a good way as users craft their posts as messages to him or try to bait him into getting into it with them. And as much as our users would love it if there were Yankee players on the site, we don't really want to see that happen because suddenly no one wants to express their opinions freely or say anything the slightest bit critical out of fear of what that player thinks. And in spite of the fact that I have no idea how true it is that Steve or others affilated with him might read that board or even how often that happens, I find myself not wanting to state my opinions as openly as I once did. I'm just going to have to get over it because not only don't I know how true it is, I just can't be worried about what someone else might think about what I have to say, especially since I know I'm not really saying anything wrong.
I just hope if he does go to that board that he's not big on clicking on random links because otherwise he or someone else affiliated with him might have made their way over to this blog. Given that one particular comment I guess that wouldn't surprise me but even if I continue to be careful over on the board, I have no intention of censoring myself here. The only things I keep to myself are those things that I wouldn't say to someone's face; that I would be afraid of offending or insulting someone about - not that I'm the type of person to be insulting or hurtful anyway. But commentary on Nascar, Steve Park or any of the other things I talk about here shouldn't be offensive to anyone anyway as they are only opinions which may or may not be correct.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2005
Matt McLaughlin Revisited
So the furor over Matt McLaughlin's firing from Racingone continues with more accusations of a Nascar conspiracy with R-1 furiously denying all of this. What is bothering me about all of this is that this incident is being used as a basis for various internet journalists, as well as countless fans to make a case for how Nascar is trying to silence all their critics. Yet there has been no definitive proof what-so-ever presented anywhere to my knowledge that states for sure a)who bought R-1 b) that whoever did buy the site was a Nascar/ISC/France family entity c) and that their sole purpose for buying the site was to fire Matt, thus eliminating one of their critics.
Patty Kay wrote an article in which she referenced that R-1 was bought by ABC Promotions, a ISC entity. I assumed that she checked this information with her sources, as most journalists do. However, when I contacted her out of curiosity, she indicated that she was relying on an item on Jayski's. She suggested that I contact Jay from Jayski's and when I did he indicated he had put the item up based on what Matt told him and it was to save both of them from having to answer countless emails. Since Jay also said that whatever happened with R-1 and Matt was between them, the implication was that he never checked with his sources about what the story was either. So that means that all of this is on the basis of what one person is saying, someone who clearly has some major issues with the company that fired him. Matt may very well be telling the complete and total truth, as what he is saying isn't out of the realm of possibility, yet when it comes to making accusations about a conspiracy it would seem that some of the folks writing stories about this issue should be doing some fact-checking and research beyond what one person is saying.
That's especially true since SEC filings show no ISC entity called ABC Promotions. There is an ASC Promotions, the showcar division of Americrown, ISC's food and hospitality services division which services all the tracks, but thus far no one has clarified exactly who bought R-1. So there is no telling if someone is confused or mistyped or there is actually no ISC connection to who bought R-1. In addition, R-1 is sending out emails which state that ABC Promotions does not own the site and that the France family/Nascar/ISC has nothing to do with Matt getting fired. Of course that still leaves open the question of who bought the site as another ISC/Nascar entity not called ABC Promotions could have bought them but right now it's a case of he-said/he-said and there seems to be no way of really knowing what the story actually is, particularly since no one has to my knowledge actually looked into any of this before writing some very scathing articles about this.
Some are offering as proof of the new owners intent things that have gone on at the R-1 message board. They say that the most negative critics of Nascar get banned. Well, considering some of the remarks users on that board made were outright insulting of both Nascar and the drivers it's no surprise that some of them might have been banned. That board is barely moderated, has been a mess for a long time and the users who are complaining have no idea how much leniency they've had over there. What goes on there would not be tolerated in a lot of other places. Besides that, R-1, as owners of the board can do whatever they want with it and censor their users as much as they want. You hate to see that happen but they are perfectly within their rights to do so.
Part of the problem with all of this is that if Nascar's sole reason for buying R-1 was to silence Matt McLaughlin they didn't do a very good job. Matt will be in demand to write for any number of sites, he can start his own site or he can look for a job in the mainstream media, given that he is a good writer. Any number of those things could potentially garner him even more of an audience than the one he enjoyed at R-1. Not only that but there are countless others who write critically of Nascar all the time. One only needs to look through the links to articles Jayski posts to see that. Not to mention all the heat that Nascar takes on countless fan forums. So it would seem that they have a lot of work to do if they want to silence all their online critics, inluding this author who has never been shy about taking shots at the sanctioning body or the drivers if need be.
Undoubtably, Nascar does look to control the media and what they report on as much as possible, making sure that they are portrayed in the best light possible - every organization and individual does this. As one who worked in public relations, I know this extremely well. The larger the organization the more resources they have too. But the idea that they purchased R-1 for the sole reason of quieting one of their critics, well, I'm a little skeptical about that, especially in light of the fact that thus far no one is willing to step forward to clarify who actually bought the site. I can't help but return to my original feeling that regardless of who owned R-1, the style of Matt's writing had gotten too caustic and occassionally insulting, for R-1 to be able to tolerate any longer.
Oh, and for anyone who plans on sending me hate e-mails filled with nastyiness over this issue because I'm not automatically buying into the conspiracy theory, like has been done to others, save your bandwidth. I've heard it all before from those who feel that the appropriate response to disagreeing with someone's opinion is responding with insults. When someone has to respond to something they don't like with insults that's a reflection of the person making the insults, not the person with the unpopular opinion.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2005
Never Satisfied
So I'm randomly reading a fan forum for a driver, one who is generally known as a guy who is pretty fan-friendly and does plenty of appearances. And a fan from California was complaining that this particular driver never seems to do any appearances on the West Coast, in conjunction with races or otherwise and seems to run away from the fans when they try to approach for an autograph. In their next post they admit that they got to see this driver and three others up-close and personal at a fan Q&A as part of testing out in California last week. But that still didn't satisfy them because driver X didn't sign autographs and pose for pictures after the event for fans.
I don't think this person has any clue how lucky they are to even be able to see their driver at a fan event, where they do a Q&A and answer fan questions. Personally, I think that's a lot more exciting than getting an autograph. Yes, getting an autograph or a photo is more one-on-one but the reality is that it's normally less than a 30 second interaction with the driver or athlete who isn't likely to remember it a few weeks later. As much as I enjoy meeting these guys I think it's a lot more interesting to hear what they have to say. I live no where near a track and driver appearances up this way are few and far between so I'd love to have the opportunity to go to a fan Q&A and I would have no problem if the drivers all rushed out when it was over. After all, more than likely with how busy the drivers are they had other places to be immediately following.
Sometimes it amazes me how much fans expect. Appearances at the track aren't enough. A fan Q&A isn't enough. An autograph isn't enough. A photo isn't enough. They want hugs and long conversations and mega one-on-one time when it just isn't possible. There are plenty of drivers who will go out of their way to talk to their fans whenever possible but it's just not feasible all the time. Aside from how jam-packed these guys schedules are with stuff, they are also entitled to some time to themselves. But it seems that some fans feel like these drivers belong to them or something. That as soon as they're out in public they should do whatever the fan wants. And the more some of these drivers and athletes give, the more the fans want.
I guess it's different for me because autographs don't interest me too much. To other people it's all about getting an autograph from their favorite driver and that can become all-consuming. I like photos much better. It's always fun to have a photo with the driver or athlete but even more than that I enjoy taking photos of them at the appearance, or even better in action at the track or during a game. I'd love to be able to talk to these guys, have extended conversations with them and get to know them a little. However, I understand that's not going to happen. Even five seconds to just wave and take a quick photos with a lot of my favorite drivers and players will never happen. But unfortunately many fans seem to think differently that not only do they think it's a right to get an autograph and anything else they want from their favorite drivers or players, but it's a huge injustice and a reflection on that driver or player as a person if they don't.
If only some of these fans knew how draining it is on some drivers and players to do appearances and interact with hundreds of fans at a time and how some of them really don't enjoy it as much as it seems like they do. If they are insulted when a driver can't do as much for them as they would like I can only imagine the outrage if they found out that fan interaction is sometimes a chore to these folks, not something they look forward to. Which really is no surprise since these guys are human beings, not robots.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:49 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2005
Steve Park and the Un-Updated Website
So this (in part - I took out some info. about where to email for fan club applications) was what was on the message log on Steve Park's official site from Steve Park Motorsports: "As you all may have noticed steve-park.com has not been updated since December. We are in the process of designing and implementing a new website that we hope to have up and running by summer. We appreciate your patience while we make these changes. Once the new site is completed or even sooner, steve-park.com will be shut down, you will be redirected to the new site when it is up and running, so please check back and feel free to keep posting messages while the board is up."
They had to sue for the rights to stevepark.com since it was held by a cybersquatter and now that they won and got it I would assume this is all connected to that. However, what puzzles me is why steve-park.com is going to go updated until they unveil the new site which may not be until the summer. That's pretty unusual for an official site, particularly one that is used to disseminate information about races, appearances and fan club applications. No need to really update in the off-season but while races are going on that seems odd. I can only assume that there are legal issues or their deal with whoever it was who maintained the site expired. Still, as one who works on websites, including one for work, I know how important it is to use a website as a tool to disseminate information. Even when we don't update things right away at NYYFans, a fan site, we get heat for it.
Someone on SPC was pretty upset about that because she felt that it was a sign that Steve doesn't care about his fans because he didn't care about fans getting information about what he's up to. Of course the opposite is true - Steve cares very deeply about his fans and what they think. Which almost makes it even stranger that the site will go un-updated because her attitude is probably not unique and thus they will get some flack about it. Which will not be a good thing because the last thing Steve needs is another thing to feel like he's let people down about and then feel bad about.
That person on SPC, who does have a tendency to be very negative, was told that they can just get information from SPC, given that the Orleans Racing site isn't exactly a font of information a lot of times. The only problem with that is that SPC represents only a small segement of Steve Park fans. At times I think a lot of people feel that the only (good) Steve Park fans are those on that site but that is far from the case. Steve has way more than the 266 fans registered on the message board at SPC, many of whom have probably never heard of SPC and did depend on his official site for news and information.Particularly those folks who aren't that internet savvy and might not seek out sites beyond the official site. So I can understand why those folks might be a bit upset, particuarly those folks like the person complaining on SPC, who can't go to races, therefore can't go to appearances that Steve does, talk to him or cheer him on in person.
There are a large group of people on SPC who see Steve all the time at races, talk to him in-depth frequently and that allows them to really know what's going on all the time, which is very awesome and fun for them. But perhaps they take that for granted sometimes and don't realize that the majority of people aren't able to interact with Steve like that. The official site gives people who can't get to races and infrequently see Steve at appearances a way to know what's going on with Steve, as well as see photos and read race recaps. I can't go to races either and I often feel disconnected from what's going on but luckily I have other sources of information besides Steve's official site. Hopefully for the sake of those who depend on the official site for information the new site will get done sooner rather than later.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2005
10,000 Users at NYYFans.com!
Today we hit the 10,000th mark for registered users at the forum at NYYFans.com! It's hard to believe that in 2000 Jim started the site and forum as an alternative to the offical forum at Yankees.com just thinking that some of his friends might stop by to chat about the team they all love so much. Well, five years later the site has grown tremendously to the point where it is the largest independent Yankees fan site/forum and probably one of the biggest fan forums for any of the teams. Not only do we have great discussions about the Yankees and baseball in general but we have an annual forum party at Yankee Stadium every summer where members of the forum come from all over the country. It really is incredible what Jim has done with the site!
Posted by silverdsl at 01:13 PM | Comments (0)
January 08, 2005
What's So Offensive About a Different Opinion?
Not for the first time I encountered a situation where some folks were bothered on a forum (not NYYFans) because mine and a few other people's opinions weren't quite as positive as some folks would like. On most of the baseball forums that I visit, for the most part other than the really extreme, all kinds of opinions on issues, both pro and con, are accepted and encouraged. But often on racing forums, particularly the driver specific ones it seems that opinions that aren't happy-happy, are in the slightest bit critical or aren't what the majority believes are discouraged. There is nothing wrong with analyzing and discussing a situation, yet often I'm told that speculating is wrong or that I shouldn't be talking about concerns I might have. (In this case for the upcoming season because there's no point to talking about it before the season starts.) And of course there's those folks who think that anything that is the slightest bit negative is being a "bad" fan. All I know is that to me it's a lot more interesting to read a variety of opinions on a topic, whether I agree with everything that's said or not, rather than a discussion in which everyone agrees or even worse, no discussion at all because it's considered inappropriate.
Not talking about concerns about what might happen in 2005 with a driver is like if we didn't allow discussion on NYYFans of the Randy Johnson trade and it's impact on the Yankees now and in the future beyond "It's great!" That's almost laughable considering we had 80 page threads on that particular issue filled with all sorts of opinions. Some people love the trade, some hate it, some don't like the direction the Yankees are going in, others think the Yankees are making great decisions. But one thing is for sure, even if folks don't agree with each other, and there is no doubt that there are some strong disagreements, no one would dream of saying that we should wait until the season starts and the games are being played before talking about something or formulating an opinion. The forum would be dead if everyone agreed on everything all the time and only talked about how wonderful everything is.
I just don't understand why some folks seem to have such a problem with people who don't agree with them or aren't as positive about something as they might be. It's nothing personal. And just because I might have something less than laudatory to say about a particular driver or organization doesn't mean that I hate that person or that I think the whole organization sucks. It means that I have concerns about some things that are happening or that I don't care for something that person has done. I don't think that any of these people are perfect just because I am a fan of theirs. I don't agree that I should always only speak of them in positive terms - these are human beings who are going to do all sorts of things both good and bad. In addition, racing is a business and as much as we'd like everything to always work out for our favorite drivers sometimes an organization might make decisions in their own best interest and not the driver's. That I have concerns about that or that I don't agree with something that someone does doesn't make me a "bad" fan.
That "bad" fan tag, often related to the "true" fan tag is something that really irks me. There's frequently an unspoken attitude that "real" or "good" fans are supossed to say and do certain things. That somehow if they are always positive, say the "right" things (none of which will likely ever be read by the driver, team or organization), and do the "right" things that they are higher on the fan food chain and in the eyes of the driver/team/organization than other fans. There is no handbook of how to be a fan. People choose to be fans in all sorts of different ways and there is no right or wrong way. In addition, there isn't a test that someone takes and if they fail they aren't allowed to be a fan anymore. Every single player or driver that I've ever met has been perfectly happy to meet and talk to me and while for the most part I'm extremely supportive, I've been critical of every single one of them at one time or another. No one's going to ban me from Yankee Stadium because I'm not 100% thrilled with the Randy Johnson trade and Steve Park is still going to sign an autograph for me at an appearance in spite of the fact that I said on a message board that I'm concerned about some things that might happen with Orleans Racing in 2005.
Open discussion of issues is essential to message boards and forums. Communities can be sustained to a degree on the basis of friendships but it's hard for a community to grow if back-and-forth discussions are discouraged. Because people become uncomfortable and afraid to express their opinions if anything the slightest bit controversial is met with rolling eyes and other hints, subtle and otherwise, that their opinions should be kept to themselves. And that leads to people either leaving or not joining in the first place.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2004
Dale Earnhardt Junior's Personal Webpage
Down below I mentioned that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has his own webpage. It's mostly SIM racing stuff but if there are any Nascar fans who haven't visited it's worth a look for the personal photos that he has on the page. Some are recent shots of his friends, as well as some of his "toys," but the most interesting are the old family photos which include plenty of his father.
There's also a message board there. Now it's only restricted to SIM racing-related discussions but at one time there were general racing and non-racing forums there. Those had to be shut due to a number of problems, some of which were due to who was attracted to the board knowing that Junior himself reads and posts there.
From what I could tell Junior sure wasn't like Gehrig38 (Curt Schilling) on his forum in that he mostly talked about non-racing or SIM racing related stuff which was a shame because it would have been interesting to get his insight on some things in a more casual setting than what the mainstream media provides. But for those folks who are reading from NYYfans or another baseball board, take the problems that are caused by G38's presence on message boards and multiply that by 100 and that is the situation that Junior would be faced with and he's not anywhere near as outspoken as G38.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2004
"Call of the Green Monster"
Jim came across this blog yesterday and it's absolutely hysterical! It's all sorts of parodies about the Red Sox and a few about the Yankees as well. From what I can tell the author is probably a Red Sox fan because nothing is anti-Red Sox, just poking fun at some of the players and the organization in a good-hearted way, not a mean way. Just really, really funny stuff by someone with a good sense of humor who is obviously creative. Well worth checking out for not only Red Sox fans who want to laugh about their own team but Yankee fans as well.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:47 AM | Comments (2)
December 05, 2004
Not Going to Apologize for That
I'm not going to detail exactly the circumstances where this occured but I ran into a situation on a non-baseball forum in which I got called a dumbass and a bitch because I dared to suggest that there was a problem with the way someone had written something that related to a real person and pedophilia. Well, I'm not going to apologize for speaking out. Pedophilia is always wrong, wrong, wrong and it's an incredibly sensitive topic that needs to be handled with care. There is no way in which writing seriously about a real person as a pedophile is okay when it's almost certain that this is not the way they are in real life. None. That some folks don't understand why this is a problem is pretty scary.
What's equally as scary is that so many people are so resistant to reading opinions that are different from their own. I'm not offended when someone disagrees with me, in fact I expect that over the course of a discussion. I knew that some people would feel differently about the subject than me and that's okay. But some folks seem to think that automatically any opinion that they don't agree with shouldn't be expressed and that it's a bad thing if everyone doesn't agree. That really makes it hard to have any kind of meaningful discussion about anything.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)
November 30, 2004
Just Because You Can Do Something...
Often online people behave in ways that they wouldn't in real life. After all we are all relatively anonymous, sitting behind our keyboards and don't have to answer to anyone in person. So people have a lot more freedom to do and say things that they couldn't get away with offline. But just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should do it. I'm constantly astonished by how little some people seem to think about the effects their words or actions might have. As if what they do doesn't really matter because they did it online. Well, just because it occurs online doesn't mean that you don't have to act in a responsible manner, that everything is acceptable or that there won't be any consequences.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)
November 24, 2004
Curt Schilling and That Which Must Not be Discussed
Curt Schilling, Ace Pitcher of the Boston Red Sox and lover of internet message boards, made some very interesting comments on one such forum last week (not SoSH or NYYFans) in response to some heat he was taking there. One item in particular, Gehrig 38, as he's known on the boards, mentioned would especially be of interest to Yankee fans but G38 specifically mentioned not once but twice that what he was posting was to stay on that particular forum and was only to be discussed there.
Schilling will say what he wants, when he wants, but he does seem to care about whether people have the correct impression of him, particularly as it relates to how often he turns up in the media as well as whether his comments are interpreted correctly. But while I think he could do himself some good by repeating one particular comment from his post publically or at least on NYYfans.com where he was ripped to shreds over that particular issue he discusses, out of respect to him I can't post or repeat what he said on NYYfans myself. Or even here for that matter.
I've always wondered how Schilling can read some of the nonsense that's posted about him on the forums and not respond in kind. Well, on this forum he apparently reached his breaking point because he really got into it with one or two people there (and come to think of it he did lash out at someone on NYYfans once too). I guess because I like Schilling I happen to agree with everything he said, which again unfortunately I can't discuss here. Which is a shame because he touched upon a topic I happen to feel strongly about.
But I am reminded of some of what I said in this entry about Schilling and Michael Waltrip about how one reason I like G38 is for how willing he is to share his opinions honestly even if his opinions might not be popular ones. To often people are hesitant to say what they really think because they are afraid of what others will think of them. While it's always good to consider the impact one's words will have I also think it's important for people be true to themselves and express their opinions openly even if they don't agree with what the majority thinks.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2004
Why I Defend Michael Waltrip and Curt Schilling
It just occured to me today as I finished up defending Curt Schilling on NYYFans and then followed that up with a defense of Michael Waltrip elsewhere that there are some parallels between these two despite them being involved in completely different sports. I think those similarities might be why I stick up for them so often.
Though both Michael and Curt have a lot of fans sometimes it seems like there are far more people who can't stand them. And often it seems like the reasons don't make that much sense to me. The very things that others can't stand about these two are some of the things that I like the most about them.
Both Michael and Curt talk. A lot. To any one who will listen and they are often found in front of a TV camera giving an opinion on one thing or another. This has come to annoy baseball fans in the case of Curt and Nascar fans in the case of Michael, most of whom think that they should both shut the hell up. Well, personally I love the fact that these two are so willing to talk to the media and particularly in the case of Curt, give some really honest opinions. Often fans bemoan the fact that their favorite atheletes are cardboard and emotionless but when you get guys who are out there in front of the camera showing some personality and saying what's on their mind fans don't seem to like that either. Part of what Michael does goes along with the job as he has to get his sponsors as much airtime as possible and he is outstanding at it. I am always impressed by how Michael both entertains during his interviews as he is often very funny but also finds ways to works his sponsors in as well. But it amazes me how often both him being funny and doing what he's supposed to do in terms of being a spokesman for his sponsors annoys people. It's also unfortunate how often some seem to mistake Michael's goofiness at times, Curt's antics and both of their tendency to speak at length for a lack of intelligence, which is very far from reality in both cases.
I also think that both of them have every right to express their opinions as they see fit. I will defend anyone's right to say what they think and it's really a shame that some people find it annoying that these two put themselves out there. I guess it might be due to how much I like discussing things and my tendency to state my opinions as I see them, regardless of whether or not everyone else agrees with me, is why I so strongly feel that there's nothing wrong with what Michael and Curt do.
I think often it's an issue because fans don't agree a lot of times with what either one has to say. Schilling plays for the Red Sox so many non-Red Sox fans therefore think his opinions have no merit. Michael often agrees with what Nascar does and many fans think that a driver's opinion isn't worth bothering with unless they go against Nascar because so many fans hate what Nascar is doing these days. Sorry, but just because a fan thinks something doesn't mean it's right - not only are these guys actually on the inside and privy to things that the fans aren't but they are under no obligation to only share opinions that fans agree with. Not to mention people have a habit of focusing on the the things that Michael says that they feel are kissing Nascar's ass and they often miss the times when he has opinions on the way that Nascar can do things differently. In a similar vein some fans ignore the valid points that Curt makes because they are so focused on disliking him.
Lately both Michael and Curt are also getting critized for their charitable efforts which I think is ridiculous. Some seem to feel that in Curt's case he uses his and his wife's foundations as a way to get more attention for himself. Curt put K-ALS on his shoe during the post-season which refers to his ALS Foundation, which seeks to raise money for the treatment and prevention of Lou Gehrig's Disease. Some feel this was highly inappropriate but I don't see how this is any different from any of the countless other things that players have written on their shoes, gloves or hats though the years. In Michael's case many feel that his Operation Marathon drive, which benefits the Victory Junction Gang Camp for terminally ill children, is a distraction from racing and that he shouldn't be devoting so much time to it. Well, I'm in favor of anything and everything these guys do to support their charities. I also don't think that in either case their efforts are motivated by trying to make themselves look good. In both cases these are causes that are extremely important to them and that's why they spend so much time doing everything they can to draw attention to the charities they each support. I think they should be commended for all that they both do, not condemned for it.
The big difference between Curt and Michael, other than that they are involved with two very different sports is that while Curt has enjoyed a great deal of success throughout his career, to the point where he's widely considered one of the best pitchers in baseball, Michael's success has only come recently and many people try to belittle it because of how much he struggled before he came to DEI. There aren't that many people, if they are looking at things logically, who don't recognize what Schilling does on the mound. But Michael's four wins in Cup are thought to be meaningless by way too many people who think that Nascar shouldn't count plate wins as real wins. Those people generally would like to dismiss his good finishes elsewhere too such as a 2nd place finish at Charlotte and a 4th place finish at the road course at Infineron this season as being because of the good equipment he's gotten from DEI rather than because of his own talent. That's the good thing about baseball - in Schilling's case no one can take away from him the many things he's accomplished because he's out there on the mound for all to see, rather than partially dependant on the equipment his team gives him.
Of course the other difference between Michael and Curt is that Curt goes to internet message boards to set the record straight and share his opinions. Eventually I'm going to post all about "The Schilling Effect" as I refer to the way his presence on fan forums effects the discussions, but Curt's habit of spending time both lurking and posting on fan forums has garnered him an extra amount of scrutiny, that Michael doesn't get. Though I have sometimes wondered if Michael does check out what is said about him on fan forums - in some ways given how he makes himself so visible it is a little surprising that Michael doesn't interact with fans more on the internet. Of course it would have to be done very carefully as that habit of Curt's has had a very definite effect on the way he is viewed both pro and con and in my opinion sometimes in very unfortunate ways. But personally while Curt's presence on NYYFans is a problem for us sometimes, I think it's pretty cool that he enjoys chatting with fans.
Really, I'm not sure why I even bother to defend these two. I will never change anyone's mind about either Curt or Michael. So it sometimes seems pretty pointless. But I still seem to find myself defending them anyway.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:07 PM | Comments (1)
November 14, 2004
Kevin Harvick is Hated in the Garage Area?
Someone on the Harvick board claims that not only do most of Kevin's fellow drivers hate him but his crew does too. There's no doubt that Kevin has gotten into trouble with some guys on the track and that has probably made him some enemies. But it's always seemed to me that Kevin has friends among his peers. I guess it could all be for show but it has always seemed like there are guys that he laughs and jokes around with.
As for his crew that would be a pretty big problem if that was really the case. Because I think that his crew has to be able to work well as a team with him to be able to execute everything they need to do. While his entire team hating him would be something that wouldn't be public knowledge I would think that there would be some hint of it somewhere besides what someone who claims to have inside knowledge says.
I just can't believe that this person is posting this and some of the other stuff that they've said about Kevin recently on the forum on his official site. They've always been a big cheerleader for Kevin but I guess this person wants him to read this stuff and is posting it as a message to him like people post certain things as messages to Schilling on our site or SoSH knowing he will read it. But it seems disrespectful and inappropriate to be spreading rumors about Kevin as a person without anything concrete to back it up.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2004
Released Outright
On NYYFans.com being released outright means that someone has been banned from the site for violating our community standards or other rules on the site. Our community standards are meant to make everyone's posting experience on the forum a good one. We prohibit player bashing and name-calling (Jeter sucks! Torre is an asshole! as opposed to legitimate criticism which we allow like "Torre made a bad decision to bring Heredia into the game."), users insulting each other, racist, sexist and homophobic comments, spamming, trolling and the rest of the usual misbehavior that can get someone kicked off a forum or site.
What's amazing is in spite of the fact that every single user agrees to follow the rules and community standards when they register for the site, when we warn, suspend or ban them it's incredible how many times they scream about how unfair we're being, curse us out and tell us how much our site sucks anyway. We've had to ban some users who make good contributions to the discussions and it's also also amazing how some very intelligent users feel that good posts on baseball mean that they can be as insulting or as inappropriate as they want to their fellow users.
Usually there's a whole bunch of excuses too. It's our fault for doing such a horrible job of running the site and moderating. We have terrible community standards. They were provoked by another user. Everyone on the site is a bunch of idiots and they had to prove how dumb we all are. The list goes on and on. Well, I've got news for all our banned users - the only person who is responsible for the termination of your account is you. No one holds you hostage to the site and forces you to post. The words you post are yours and yours alone. If you can't follow the community standards and respect your fellow users, that isn't our problem - that's yours.
It's amazing how much those banned users try to belittle the site and everyone on it after they're gone. We're all stupid, have the wrong opinions and the site itself sucks. Well, if the site sucks so much why did you come there in the first place? Other than the trolls who are simply out to cause chaos, there was something that made a user sign up. Some claim that they are only there to laugh at what Yankee fans have to say. Well, if it's just about mocking Yankee fans they could go to Yankees.com or other forums. And it's amazing how many banned users try to re-register. If the site is so bad why do they keep trying to come back?
The argument which is most hysterical is when a banned user says that we banned them because we didn't agree with their opinions or that we don't want differing opinions on the site. Hello! If that were the case we would have a closed community like Sons of Sam Horn. If those folks had any idea about Jim or I or about the history of the site for that matter they would know how ridiculous that belief is. Both Jim and I have never been shy about expressing unpopular or minority-held opinions, myself especially. We have also both strongly supported the right of non-Yankee fans to post on the site, even though it bothers some of our users. In fact we like that non-Yankee fans post on the site because we like having the different perspectives that they bring to the discussions. We will never ban someone because we disagree with something they said about the Yankees or because of their political viewpoints. If we did that we would have banned quite a few more people! In fact, we have plenty of non-Yankee fans who post daily and all sorts of users with very diverse backgrounds and opinions.
I guess it makes the banned users feel better when they complain about us on other forums or when they send us email to tell us to @#&#^&@%#^@ off. The funny thing is that the more people complain about us in the worst terms the more they justify why we banned them in the first place. And while these folks usually find others who agree with them about what horrible meanies we are, usually others who have also violated our community standards and gotten banned, I think that often they make it obvious to everyone else around them why they got banned, without us ever having to defend ourselves. Actually, they do us a favor because when they post a link to our site on another forum they drive up the traffic and visitors to the site and it's not unusual for some of the people who come over to register and stick around.
Online forums can bring out the best and the worst in people. Unfortunately often people don't behave the same way online as they would in real life in that they don't really see a problem with saying or doing anything they want on a message board or forum. Personally, while I don't hesitate from posting my opinions, I do keep in mind where I'm posting as every forum has a different feel, what effect what I'm saying will have on the other users, and the community standards and other rules of that particular forum. Most of all I try to keep in mind that just because I can say something doesn't mean that I should say it. Actions have consequences in real life and the same is true online. Too bad there's a segment of people who don't seem to realize that.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2004
LiveJournal User Recieves Secret Service Visit Over Journal Posting
A Livejournal user posted in their journal some inflammatory remarks about President George Bush which someone else on LiveJournal reported them to the Secret Service for. The Secret Service paid this person a visit and found that they were no threat but for the rest of their life this person could have an FBI file and there's the possibility that they will be placed on the Federal no-fly list, in spite of the fact that the Secret Service cleared them completely of any wrong-doing.
On the surface this incident appears chilling. Say the wrong thing, even clearly meaning no-harm, in a personal journal and the Secret Service shows up. And what of this person's First Amendment rights to free speech? Well, the First Amendment doesn't protect speech of a threatening nature. Just like you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater to cause a panic, you also can't threaten injury or death on someone and especially not someone in government.
In addition, the Secret Service is obligated to investigate every report they receive about someone who appears to be threatening the President even if it appears that it's not serious. As unfortunate as it is that this person will have a FBI file, what if the Secret Service did nothing and it turned out that the person did have something truly malicious in mind? They have no idea what someone's true intent is based on what they "seem" like online. So they have to interview them in person to find out what that person's mindset really is.
A number of years ago I was involved with a few events that the Secret Service had to be involved with since one featured the appearance of a former President and former Vice-President and the other featured a high-ranking member of the Irish Goverment. They take what they do very seriously and investigate every angle to make sure that the people they are entrusted to protect are safe. So it doesn't suprise me to hear that they take an online journal posting seriously. I think it would bother me more if I found out that they didn't investigate everything throughly. Especially after 9/11.
This incident is also a good lesson about taking care about what gets posted online. What you say can be read by anyone at anytime and linger for months or years, even if it's deleted thanks to archives. Posting to private forums and in the case of LiveJournal and other similar services making what is posted "Friends Only" helps but I've seen examples of how even stuff posted in those kinds of places can come back to bite someone. Even Curt Schilling found that out the hard way on Sons of Sam Horn when comments he posted in a private forum were used by the media and caused problems for him.
I'm all for people speaking freely and giving their opinions openly, even on very controversial topics but you never know who might be reading and what kind of an agenda they might have. Unfortunately, in the case cited above it seems as if the person who reported her had a personal problem with her and used that post against her. Which is really sad that someone would try to get a revenge for whatever issues they have with the other person by trying to get them in such huge trouble.
When I decided to do this journal I knew that there were certain topics that I would stay away from. Politics and religion being chief among them. Those topics are just so sensitive and people feel so passionately about those topics that while I will probably comment on certain issues, particularly social issues, I don't want to set myself up for something ugly if someone decides that my beliefs are so offensive to them that they want to cause trouble for me. I will save those discussions for my friends off-line.
In addition, while I might reference some things from work, for the most part I won't be talking about too much and I certainly won't be complaining about anything publically. Too many people have lost their jobs for what they've ranted about online thinking that no one would ever see it. And lastly, I won't be talking about anything too personal or sensitive very often about myself or other people. Not only do I think most people who come across this journal wouldn't be too interested in that type of thing, again it's a matter of me not knowing who might be reading. Especially since my journal is linked to in my sig file on NYYFans, which had a pretty big audience, and elsewhere.
Not that I will be shying away from stating my opinions honestly and as I see them - it's definitely not my style to sanitize what I say too much for the sake of other people, unless I'm wary of hurting someone's feelings. I'm quite sure there are people who won't like some of the things I have to say or will think my opinions are wrong. But I do want to be careful to save myself some grief.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)