DP5555
Well-Known Member
The majority of people in society work hard, spend time with their families, have multiple hobbies/interests and live busy lives. They enjoy sports & supporting their favorite teams in their free time. They have values, respect sportsmanship and can appreciate the efforts of players - win or lose. Winning is a bonus that instills pride and good feelings. These people represent 98% of the fan base. They are the ones who fill the stadiums/arenas, make TV ratings soar and donate their time or money. They talk sports among their familys/friends/coworkers etc. People who are content or mostly content don't feel compelled to speak out nor do they care to spend time expressing themselves to strangers.
The root problem with social media/message boards etc. is it provides a platform for the negative/extremist point of view. The gamblers who lost their bet, the folks with drinking/drug problems, the sky is falling negative folks, societies deviants who enjoy disruption, the outcasts who noone will listen to, etc. They all get to spew to an audience that never used to be available to them. They can spread rumors, lies, stories and pretend their opinions are mainstream, simply because 98% of the world isn't here to shut them down. Most of the live chat rooms on the internet were forced to shut down. All forums have to be moderated. It's the nature of the beast I guess, but sad that the few can always ruin things for the majority.
What amazes me is that McCabe/White/Jok/Woodbury etc. are responding in any way to the half a dozen idiots out there and calling them fans. What's gotten into these players heads? The entire state of Iowa was thrilled by their performance this year. Why are they trolling the internet looking for a pat on the back/headlines. My kids were taught in grade school and are still taught every year how to safely & intelligiently use social media. There will always be people who are able to find fault with & criticize anything. An intelligient person learns from criticism, uses it as motivation or ignores it when it's irrational. I think the Iowa players need a class in something and I'd agree Fran should ban all social media at least until the players display more maturity.
Excellent post BOP. You should post more often! I could not agree more with everything that you said.
It isn't just Iowa that has those 2%'s in the fan base who feel they have the right to send players raunchy messages. I would be willing to bet every single major university in the country has idiots like that. Why the Iowa players seem to let those 2%'s comments get to them is beyond me. They have got to have a filter. Many, many, more people in this world have to deal with worse things than random hate mail. You're living a sweet life as a D1 college athlete. Deal with it and move on.