Solution to the Forum's problems

[imported_MoonlightGraham]

Simple. Get rid of everything except the Sports forum. Yeah people argue on the sports forum but for the most part people get along fairly well on there.

It used to be the only people the majority didnt get along on here with was "the cabinet nazi", "ThOsE gIrLs WhO tYpEd LiKe ThIs*~*~*~", and "jv superstars who could throw 90, run a 4.4 forty, and squat a clean 600 lbs. who wanted attention."

But now this forum is more polarized then America will ever be. So the only solution is forget about trying to make people politically correct or telling it like it is.

Just talk sports, local, college, pro, backyard whatever. Thats what Jim wanted when he created this thing over a decade ago. He wanted a place where the locals could make friends and enjoy one of the few natural resources this area will never run out of.

When we divided the forums up it just created more and more contraversy. Conservatives are tellin the liberals they were going to hell and the Liberals are calling the conservatives racist sheep. The only thing 95% of us can agree on in the religion forum is Jesus is the only way to Heaven, so lets just leave it at that. Your demoniation is not better then mine and mine isnt better then yours. We are all children of God, so just leave it at that period.
Your not gonna convince anyone they are wrong on here, yet everyday ppl try.

"A kingdom that is divided cannot stand." JC said that, Lincoln also paraphrased this during the civil war era, and it is still true today.

In closing I think a good rule of thumb for EVERYONE is WWRTD? What would retired teacher do. Before you hit submit just think about that for a second. This guy shows more class then everyone else on this forum combined. I guarantee he has spent more time talking to the big guy upstairs then anyone on here, yet he doesnt judge ppl or try to throw his beliefs on fellow forumers. Regardless of what you may have heard it was not Al Gore that invented the internet it was Retired Teach--while most of us was still playing Oregon Trial or Number Munchers. My point is, we need more posters like him. He has never put anyone down on here, never tried to sway someones religious beliefs and to my knowledge stirs clear of the politcal forum all together.

Anyone who remembers this thing a few years ago can tell you it has gone down hill drastically, so why not just bring back the one pure thing that brought everyone to this forum exclusively. Sports.

[starbuck]

most of that is easly solved. I've never asked to be able to post on the political or religious forum and wish it was something that I could just beable not to see. but if you ask not to be able to post on the forum then no problems, you won't be involved in it. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[imported_Counts]

I like segregating out some topics that seem to cause the most problems that being said I think the more you slice up a board like ours you risk losing valuable insite that a board member could give but does not because they have no desire to enter into a section where that topic dominates.

The LPD website and now Message board has lasted much longer than most local message boards do for the most part. There are very few of the "Founding" Members still with us and I have come to accept that the membership on this board will be a moving target (in that MOST members will be involved when they or a family member is actually playing the sport, Others will check it out because of a topic that "everyone is talking about" and give there 2 cents until the topic dies and never visit the board again. then there are the sick few (like me) that are strangely drawn to this board and will probably still read and post as long as there is at least one other poster to interact with.

[R0cketer]

Thought about that actually. Biggest reason it was split, was the sports forum wasn't just for sports anymore. People wanted to discuss everything else, and in the middle of a which running back is best discussion, you would have someone something flippant like Ricky Williams because he's a liberal [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] It would snowball from there.

The non-sports forum SHOULD have covered the ground. Except instead of having nice discussions about movies, music, etc. You had people who took it upon themselves to tell us how good one party was, or how much the other party sucked. Or you had the Tops and Bottoms brigade. Creating those forums was a way to prevent the sports forum, or the non-sports forum from being over ran by zealots. (spelling?) Those forums are invite only, but I think I may change them to not viewable unless a person is in them. Not that it will keep it from being able to be joined, but will/could reduce people having to see it.

I'm willing to nuke them and just let them be in the non-sports forum.

I'd be willing to destroy the rest of the forums, but I do think the non-sports is a good thing.

It's kind of up to the posters.

Agree with you, more or less, about RetiredTeach. He expresses his opinions without downing others. That is something we all should do. Someone may be the biggest blowhard, or the biggest idiot in the world, but there is no need to tell them that. Respect, and respectfully disagreeing with someone, is a lost art.

I will say this. Back 10 years ago, there was about 20-30 people on here. Now there is quite a few more (durn you internet, more users, chat programs, high speed, etc).

What most don't realize is that Jim was Powell Valley, Counts and I was Clintwood, and we, along with nearly everybody on here, could get in some very serious disagreements, arguments even, but everybody (or nearly everybody) was mature enough to realize when a cause was lost, or things were going to far, and could step back. At the end of the day, it was that you might think someone was full of crap but you at least respected their right to be full of crap. Now if someone is wrong or you perceive them as wrong, you have to convert them.

On the religious forum, ut1 and I have been having a go, back and forth. I am disagreeing with his view, he with mine, but I can safely say that I respect and understand his opinions. I hope he does mine as well. I may not agree with him, he with me, but I think both of us have brought some valid points and comments out. Is either of us right or wrong? That depends on what someone elses view is. I haven't resorted to calling him a name (or don't think I have), nor he I (at least not that I remember).

Here, just for fun.

<FORM METHOD=POST ACTION="http://www.hostboard.com/LDPforum/ubbthreads/dopoll.php"><INPUT TYPE=HIDDEN NAME="pollname" VALUE="1173370710R0cketer">


1 forum or multiple?
<input type="radio" name="option" value="1" />1 forum--sports only baby
<input type="radio" name="option" value="2" />2 forums--sports and nonsports
<input type="radio" name="option" value="3" />keep it as it is as far as forums go
<INPUT TYPE=Submit NAME=Submit VALUE="Submit vote" class="buttons"></form>

[plantsman]

Personally, I like it the way it is now. It's nice to have a location to exchange ideas, opinions, etc. I sometimes take advantage of the ignore feature, and frequently make the choice not to respond. I've learned to ignore some people's posts, as I haven't been able to find them post much that I felt was worthwhile, sane, sensible, or in any way contributed to the discussion. I wish there was less name calling, posturing, etc. But overall, I like the forum as is.

I agree with what you stated concerning retiredteach. Good point.

[R0cketer]

I changed the religious and political forums to only members of those groups can see them.

I'm going to try to recreate a forum rules and mention them in there, if people want to join.

[starbuck]

I like that Idea "I changed the religious and political forums to only members of those groups can see them."
because I don't want to see those drawn back into the non-sports forum again.

"

[R0cketer]

Best way to deal with that IMO is if we have someone posting religious or political in the non-sports, PM them, tell them there are forums for that, and to ask me to put them in the groups that can see them.

If someone posts a tread, let us know and we can move the thread to appropriate forums.

[retiredteach]

Thanks for the kind words. I like playing Oregon Trail myself.

[R0cketer]

I'm going to have to find me a copy of that game again [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]