Freedom of speech

Submitted by BIGBLUEWORLD on

Brian

I posted two diaries "Reason for so many injuries", "Improving athletic performance", which were well received and generated a great amount of informed opinion from comments which people made. I emphasized the importance of having a cordial conversation even when we disagree.

My reason for taking the time to do this is because, as a professional, I know there are better ways to prevent injuries and increase athletic performance than what is being done in our current S&C program. Then I posted a third diary "Why our Strength and Conditioning program is failing" and I immediately received inaccurate negative comments from BiSB and his clones. I responded with patient, thoughtful, courteous replies.

Then BiSB made a comment about "Concern trolls gonna' troll", and the diary was removed. It can be viewed on Google as an "unpublished post". I polished and reposted the diary, and it was removed again. Why?

I've followed MGoBlog regularly. I'm not heavily invested in getting points, but I am truly concerned about the welfare of our team. What motivated me to speak up was a great diary by m1jjb00 "Analysis of football injuries in the Big Ten".

Arbitrarily removing thoughtful diaries that generate intelligent conversation does not lead to making MGoBlog a more substantial outlet for real news. Such censorship contributes to relegating this blog to the realm of inconsequential chatter. The direction this takes is your choice to make.

Peace

BIGBLUEWORLD

MGoBoard
Football
freedom of speech or censorship and repression

Tulip Time

November 11th, 2014 at 1:19 PM ^

1. This is not a freedom of speech issue. I hope this is apparent enough.

2. This is not a Brian issue. There are moderators who are responsible for what posts are removed and which ones stay. Yes, Brian is ultimately responsible for the content on his blog, but he does not need to answer for every decision his moderators make. You should be addressing them, not Brian.

3. There is no conspiracy against BIGBLUEWORLD on this blog. Brian and the moderators are in favor of posts that make this blog a better place to visit. It was decided that your diary did not add value to the site, and it was removed. Instead of getting upset, you should take the advice of the moderatorss to improve your posts if you want them to remain on the site.

Joined: 01/05/2012

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mGrowOld

November 11th, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^

"There is no conspiracy against BIGBLUEWORLD on this blog"

Sorry to inform you of this Tulip Time but on this point you're wrong.  As Vice-President of BBW content reporting - Northern Ohio Chapter, we take our jobs in making sure everything he posts is roundly criticized and mod reported VERY seriously.  We boast approximately 75 members total and have ABBW (antiBlgBlueWorld) correspondents in 35 states, four western countries and parts of China believe it or not and our ranks are growing daily!

It is our job - no mission in life - to quickly respond negatively to his every thought and to lobby the mod overlords to remove his posts as fast as humanly possible to prevent his ideas from being heard by others.

I would say to date our little cabal has been quite successful wouldnt you?

Joined: 10/04/2010

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Frieze Memorial

November 11th, 2014 at 1:22 PM ^

I posted something to this effect in the one that got taken down. You wrote an interesting diary based on your own personal experience. I read it and learned something new. I'm guessing that's exactly what the diary section is for. But you keep posting the same stuff worded slightly differently. Your pet project had its day in the sun. If you want to keep writing about the same thing over and over, make your own blog.

Joined: 01/09/2014

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moredamnsound

November 11th, 2014 at 1:23 PM ^

I think I remember reading the "Why our Strength and Conditioning program is failing" post because I thought I would learn something about S&C. I was a bit disappointed when the post didn't have much actual information in it. You kind of just accused Wellman of not doing a good job, said there were different schools of thought, and then opened it up to the blog to crowd source the reason why it wasn't working. Or maybe I'm misremembering.

Joined: 08/05/2010

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Bando Calrissian

November 11th, 2014 at 1:24 PM ^

I mean, if the guy has a point, the guy has a point. That being said, this isn't freedom of speech as much "terms of service." You post, you deal.

IMO, there's far too much deleting of threads around here, but it's Brian's sandbox and we just play in it. If you don't get the point after two threads are deleted, well, maybe find a different sandbox? Or start your own?

Joined: 07/02/2008

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BiSB

November 11th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^

The diary was titled "Why our Strength and Conditioning program failed"

The first sentence was, "Why does our football team look slow and lumbering compared to other teams? Because they've been trained to be slow and lumbering."

He then pointed to two PREVIOUS diaries (without linking, of course) but provided no additional substance.

 

Jury, what say you?

Joined: 08/15/2009

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maizenbluedevil

November 11th, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^

I recall his most recent diary being a lot more substantive than that and including some jnteresting thoughts about S&C.

That it got taken down when there's so much senseless rabble on the board is a failure in moderation, IMHO.

(And Btw I have experience as a mod on a forum that gets a lot more posts than this one. As another poster above said, the miss here really are trigger happy and often seem to apply standards that are inconsistent and don't make much sense.

That said, it is Brian's site and he has delegated this authority to the mods. His/their prerogative to remove stuff. But when stuff that looks like it is well-thought out and civil gets removed for no discernible reason, it discourages other such posters from participating )


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Joined: 09/12/2008

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a2_electricboogaloo

November 11th, 2014 at 2:47 PM ^

I have no problem wtih deleting a diary.  If it was a board post, then maybe it could survive for discussion—as board posts are supposed to be a discussion.  There are only 5 diaries at a time (which essentially are the only 5 that will be read at that time), so by including a diary which adds little to the board, you're wasting a diary spot.  Diaries should be reserved for well written and well researched long form posts, and any that doesn't fit that form should be removed (with a few rare exceptions)

Joined: 04/21/2011

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mgowill

November 11th, 2014 at 3:00 PM ^

Diaries should also be for talking about vinegar and whether a Harbaugh will make the playoffs lol...

I also say this as someone who thought the two deleted diaries of the OP were just stream of conciousness without much insight.  I guess in that case the two aforementioned diaries are better, but not by much.

Re: the title of this thread....

At the end of the day it is really shocking how many people misuse "Freedom of Speech" to the extent I laugh when I hear it anymore.  Rarely is it ever attached to something even relatively close to the meaning defined by our government.

 

Oh, and to the OP, your diary wasn't that good.  You got butthurt over a few comments and the deletion of your diary.  I would just let it go and take a break from the internet for a bit.

Joined: 08/31/2011

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M-Dog

November 11th, 2014 at 4:11 PM ^

Yes, the Diaries should have some substance.  But they all don't have to be about the same thing.
 
I love the Mathlete.  But I would never want the Diaries to always just be five Mathlete posts.  
 
I'm perfectly fine with Diaries about Aged Balsamic Vinegar and the Game Day Weather.  But they need to be damn good posts about Aged Balsamic Vinegar and the Game Day Weather.  

Joined: 07/06/2008

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UMgradMSUdad

November 11th, 2014 at 2:59 PM ^

Well, when the poster argues the Michigan players look slow and lumbering (but later admitted he has no way to measure this) because the players are trained to be slow and lumbering (but the poster had no idea what S & C approach Wellman uses), then claims he's not presenting an argument (when it's pointed out his argument is circular), I think it warranted being taken down.

 

Joined: 07/02/2011

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PeterKlima

November 11th, 2014 at 3:16 PM ^

If we took down all the similar arguments based on the "eye test" and how people feel about the team, there would be little left here.  This isn't a scientific journal and no one here acts like it is.  If you have an opinion that Peppers is going to be awesome and looks great in the spring game, that stays.  If you say the players look slow and lumbering and must be coached that way in S&C, well... you gotta have some facts.  What sets do they use? How can you quantify the slowness?  No wanser.  Fine.  Deletion.

Joined: 08/24/2008

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bronxblue

November 11th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^

If someone made a Diary to the effect that Peppers is going to be awesome because he's awesome, it would be removed as well.  The fact you don't see those around here, and rarely do people try to post them, affirms this point.

Yeah, there are some dumb posts around here.  I've made a couple myself.  But the only reason this issue is even getting any traction is because the OP is "questioning" his right to free speech in a completely illogical way, and that's red meat for discussions.

Joined: 11/22/2008

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MonkeyMan

November 11th, 2014 at 5:38 PM ^

Silly conjecture is the bread and butter of sites like this.If people had to back up everything they say with facts the content would shrink by 97.6 %.

People would just post scientificky sounding percentages to justify whatever the hell they believed.

Joined: 10/13/2013

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Bosch

November 11th, 2014 at 5:47 PM ^

.... as to whether the diary in question should have been taken down.... but the fact that a ridiculous thread advocating a kitten for a cc doesn't get blasted does make my question the motivation of the mods

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