Thread: Do you think TBS.com is deadsville?

<---- Jackson

pigpen, thump, be honest with yourselves. How many unrelated Sabres threads have turned into arguments between you two on whether MacArthur ran Fleury, or if Ruff won't retaliate, or how to objectively handle a wager? If the number is any less than 15, you're fooling yourselves.

I am not a huge fan of constant name changes because it does get confusing if you miss a week. I'd suggest for those that do, put in "formerly known as [enter old screen name]" under your avatar.

Originally Posted by Mr. Derp

I think my above post may have been unnecessarily harsh on Thump in particular. Let me try to explain my thoughts on the Sabres forum with an analogy.

Let's say all of TBS goes out to a bar together. We eat, we drink, we unsuccessfully hit on the wait staff. All is merry, except two of our group have spent the last 2 hours arguing with each other. It's abundantly clear that they care about winning the argument in the eyes of the other members of the group. At first, the group may listen intently and offer their perspective on who is right and who is wrong, but after a certain amount of time, every conversation, no matter how tangential to the argument, turns back to the argument. At some point, we don't care who's right and who's wrong. It's ceased to matter. We just want you to quit arguing so we can get back to the debauchery. This, my friends, is TBS. TBS is like a glorious amoral self-indulgent hangout spot, and we like all members of our group but would really like for a couple of them to give up the argument they've been having for the past forever.

I love the analogy Derp.

The thing I want to point out is that I am the type of person who will just ignore if my friends are getting carried away. Unless of course, I see blood (literally). I am putting away the admin title and putting on my regular poster garb and going on the record that I do not care how heated a discussion gets or if it's the same people that take a thread and swirl it away to infinity - as long as the topic stays on target and isn't derailed. I will carry on in other threads and join in when a point is made that I agree with. I think what is happening is we are starting to blame members for their contribution, based on our opinion - and I don't necessarily agree with that.

It's like ganging up on gerbe75pts!...if you noticed - he hasn't been around and I miss him. Thumper and Pigpen - I don't want to see great discussion curbed because others have the opinion that you guys discuss too much. We all need to join in more - that is where I fail.

sometimes the board is so quiet... I'm not sure if it is more peacful here or at a Panthers' game on a Saturday night. ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz.

I really think the teams and the current time of the year are the problem, and I agree with pigpen that it is definitely not just this site. Hell even WGR cannot use the Sabres or Bills to drive conversation, you would think it is the middle of June and the Sabres have been knocked out of the playoffs already. Not saying that WGR is the pillar of sports talk, but the fact that they have turned up the gimmicks and turned down the straight sports talk should be telling of the current state of Buffalo sports fans. They simply just aren't that interested and it is mostly because of the product, as AF pointed out at the top.

For the amount of video game talk, well deal with it tbh. Talking about the Bills right now is more of a chore than anything else and at times it is the same for the Sabres. People generally talk about things that they enjoy and have in common, which is why the chatbox has turned into video game central. Who wants to discuss the Bills? Is there anything about the Sabres that has not been beaten to death that would be enjoyable? Is the team even enjoyable right now? They win games defensively and the games are generally boring, which is not even just a Sabres problem, more of an NHL problem.

Idle in the shoutbox sucks...and I don't post as much in the Sabre threads, because I don't feel like having a certain player brought up every time I make a point that someone doesn't like...aka 12 page war

Originally Posted by Resident Tough Guy

Idle in the shoutbox sucks...and I don't post as much in the Sabre threads, because I don't feel like having a certain player brought up every time I make a point that someone doesn't like...aka 12 page war

Shut up you peters lover you.

sukie11!!1

Originally Posted by dasaybz

So what can we do to make it better?

Nothing, Everything's fine. I don't get what all the fuss is about.

If pigpen didn't come around, this place would have become almost completely dead months ago. For me personally, a lot of his opinions stir up a lighting rod of discussion from my end. As much as a lot of his views annoy the crap out of me, I usually can't click a thread fast enough when he posts. It's the only action available around here lately. If it annoys some of you, I honestly don't care. If pig and I, Mauvais and LALA, and very few others didn't disagree or get into discussions, I'm curious to know what exactly would go on here? It'd be like a bulletin board of links and smilies. Is that the point of this place? I know it's not. But that's where it's been headed.

We've always been a relatively "small" group of people, since the beginning of TBS. When Carl takes a break, that's one more active contributor that's not around to contribute. Jackson has had real-life get in the way. That's another one down. If RTG posts anything other than a fggt smilie, it's out of the ordinary. He used to actually posts sentences. 244 has slowed down his insightful takes. Patrick has also had real life get in the way. Poke doesn't post anything anymore. Emo (Amba Lamps) rarely posts...At least in the hockey forum. Trey rarely posts. Jay (dasaybz) rarely posts. It's almost everybody. It probably is because of all of the same old, same old that we're experiencing as Buffalo sports fans. It's easy for me to post because I spend a lot of my work day in my office in front of my computer. It's probably more convenient for me to be around than the most of ya's.

I didn't think you were being harsh, Derp. I know you feel that way and I think you articulated it well the first time. But as often as I check the activity of the site, to have pigpen show up and stir the pot is refreshing considering the lack of discussion that happens around here as of late. I mean, it IS a message board. One that's presently available to post messages to one another on a variety of topics.

LALA gets into football hits and Stillers references and Penn State, and none of that interests me. I just don't feel the need to bitch about his typing about it....I scan over it until I get to a part of the topic that might interest me.

So it's especially frustrating for this board to be relatively inactive, then have a discussion between Mauvais, pigpen, myself, and whomever else happen, and have it complained about. That's my side of it.

That right there is a great example of my frustration, constant sticks-up-assdom

?

No, I'm annoyed...like I said.

Originally Posted by Thumper

So it's especially frustrating for this board to be relatively inactive, then have a discussion between Mauvais, pigpen, myself, and whomever else happen, and have it complained about. That's my side of it.

I think that's the problem though. A good conversation is one that can get anyone stimulated. I'm just as guilty of it as the rest of the aformentioned, but often, message board conversations are driven by vendetta's. Sides are taken and "rivalries" are formed. Pigpen really dislikes Lindy Ruff as a Coach. The likes of LALA and to some extent Thumper think he's an excellent coach. Both sides feel very strongly about their opinions. Sometimes it turns ugly. The reality is, however, 98% of the rest of the board is somewhere in the middle. A heated conversation between two extreme polar opposites isn't very attractive to the people in the middle.

Now, I'll address the criticism of myself. I hate groupthink. I've got burned by it more than once throughout my life. Given those past experiences, I tend to thoroughly analyze both sides of an issue, no matter how "obvious" it may seem. I also work in a field where being incredibly skeptical of anything you see or hear is a requirement. Those two probably go hand in hand. The problem with that is not all things are worth scrutinizing so much. Even if it is wrong, so what? It's something I've always struggled with.