Freedom of speech
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 It can be viewed on Google as an "unpublished post".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
November 11th, 2014 at 2:25 PM ^
My accomplishments in this transitory world are meaningless. I am nothing but the sum value of my MGoPoints.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
Here's a friendly reminder of how it works, courtesy of XKCD:
November 11th, 2014 at 11:17 PM ^
100% correct Michael. Great post.
BTW - Jill said to say hi and stay healthy!
November 11th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
Congratulations to Brian for letting this conversation continue.
Several times in previous diaries I've invited people who have inside knowledge regarding our S&C program to speak up about the methods which they see being utilized in our athletic training program. They can defend or criticize our football S&C as they see fit. They would have the freedom of an anonymous forum.
That's the type of conversation we should be working to generate. Transparency would benefit our players and the entire football program.
Gripers gonna' gripe. But stop and think. Wouldn't that make for a useful discussion? That may or may not happen. But that's the type of conversation I'm trying to get started.
We have some excellent, world class coaches in other sports at the University of Michigan. Why not football?
It could be very interesting.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^
Do the words "proprietary information" mean anything to you? Didn't think so.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:56 PM ^
Do you actually read anything that anyone else posts? I have personally described in some detail some of the many problems with your arguments, and others have done similarly. Why not incorporate some of that feedback?
The point is this: You are not simply trying to have a conversation. You are making a very strong truth claim. You have not presented evidence to support this truth claim. The premise on which your truth claim relies is also unsupported by evidence.
Your assertion could very well be correct, but why not try to convince us of that? Instead, you hide behind "supporting the players", you hide behind "freedom of speech", you hide behind "just trying to have a conversation". The issue here isn't with Brian or the mods; the issue is your unwillingness to do any of the work necessary to convince people that your ideas have merit.
November 11th, 2014 at 7:43 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 8:28 PM ^
Only one of your three seperate diaries that were really the same was deleted.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^
From the sounds of it, people just didn't like and agree with your diaries. Don't blame MGoCenshorship for your shortcomings. Also, this should be tagged as Meta.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:49 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 2:52 PM ^
I am always fascinated by people who think that "Freedom of Speech" means that they have the right to say whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:54 PM ^
Just sayin...
November 11th, 2014 at 3:18 PM ^
Hey buddy,
My parents paid good tax money for me to miss as many days of schooling as I wanted. It doesn't matter that I may have missed a few days while they were teaching everyone about the Bill of the Ten Commandments, it's protected under freedom of speech and the pleading of the 5th commandment that you can't incriminate me over it. Also, you can't mint quarters with pictures of soldiers on it. So there.
November 11th, 2014 at 3:20 PM ^
Nine times in a semester is excessive no matter how many soldiers are quartered and senators are directly elected in your Ferrari garage.
November 11th, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^
See now I know you're not a real Michigan graduate because the Bill of the Ten Commandments is up to 27 Commandments that get ratified by a majority vote between Yahweh, Moses, and Jesus.
Sheesh, trying to slip that past us....what a maroon....
November 11th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
When Bill Snyder first started coaching, the US was still using the Articles of Confederation?
November 11th, 2014 at 6:39 PM ^
It was the Articles of Christendom. Get it right next time.
November 11th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 2:52 PM ^
Where some folks agree while others disagree.
Some may posbang you while others may negbang you.
That's just life. Don't take it personally. People agree or disagree with me a lot of the time. It's no big deal to me.
However, if the comments are almost universally negative, then perhaps you should thnk that your posted opinions may not be so hot.
Bitching about it doesn't help anyone...........other than folks concluding that you may be a prime asshole.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:58 PM ^
Exactly! Stupid BigBlueWorld! OBVIOUSLY diary posts are suppose to have substance, be well thought out and have a relevant topic like Rhonda Jones and brewing balsamic vinegar aged between March and April. Good job mods! Just look at how many comments I got. Way more than most diaries! http://mgoblog.com/diaries/early-spring-aged-balsamic-vinegar. There you go BigBlueWorld. There is an example of a top notch diary. I'm gonna go cry in my real diary now! Spicy bologna flap jacks everyone!!! I'm getting better guys. I'll be nice Joe before you know it!
November 11th, 2014 at 3:02 PM ^
There's free speech in Bolivia.
November 11th, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^
The bottom line fellow Wolverines is:
Are we going to have a discussion about improving our Strength and Conditioning program?
What would benefit the welfare of our football players?
How can the University of Michigan football team be leaders in athletic performance?
If you care about that or want to have such a discussion: That is your decision.
If you don't care about that or don't want to have such a discussion: That is your decision.
I'm cool with it.
Peace.
November 11th, 2014 at 3:37 PM ^
Hah! Still playing the martyr, I see.
I think it's an interesting conversation and would willingly engage in it if I thought that's actually what you were interested in.
November 12th, 2014 at 7:55 AM ^
Are we going to have a discussion about improving our Strength and Conditioning program?
Not with you leading it, apparently.
What would benefit the welfare of our football players?
I doubt any insights or conclusions that could be achieved would be of significant importance since none of us have the ability to actually implement said insights or conclusions.
How can the University of Michigan football team be leaders in athletic performance?
Your statement precludes the possibility that the members of the football already aren't, which stating said assumption, rather indelicately, was the reason your original diary got caved in the first place.
November 11th, 2014 at 4:24 PM ^
...please let me know if I missed any of them (or, God forbid, if you have taken to heart any of the quality feedback you have received here).
November 11th, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
Why do so many people struggle with what exactly this entails? It is protection from prosecution from the goverment for what you say (and even that has limits and is not absolute). It is not protection from a private blogsite being able to take down your posts. Check the Terms of Use. They can remove any post any of us makes at any time at their discretion. Don't like it? Take your patronage elsewhere. Oh right, this is a free site as well. You've paid for nothing, you have virtually no say.
November 11th, 2014 at 3:41 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
The point of "Reasons for so many injuries" and "Improving athletic performance" was to generate an open conversation about the deficiencies of our football S&C program, and discuss ways that it could be improved. The comments that people made were excellent.
When people did not agree with the methods which I suggested, we still had a great discussion on the subject! I expressed what I've found in my experience, and learned a lot from the experience of others. BiSB made a mistake in shutting that down.
The most important aspect of this discussion is not about me, or freedom of speech.
What's the point? Our football players are not getting the best Strength and Conditioning coaching that is available. This is affecting the incidence of injuries and our athletic performance. That's important.
If MGoBlog is not the place for an open discussion about this subject, then the discussion can take place somewhere else. Does a person like football for its entertainment value, or do they put themsleves in the shoes of our young athletes?
It is what it is.
Peace.
November 11th, 2014 at 6:11 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 6:11 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 6:33 PM ^
Drop the shovel!
November 11th, 2014 at 3:52 PM ^
This has been hashed out already, but "Freedom of Speech" isn't an argument in this case. This is a currated private space; Brian and the staff can do whatever they want. You don't have an expectation of free speech in this context.
Also, I read the posts. They aren't "bad" but lack much in the way of substance; they are just postulations with really vague claims of "concern" about player health, and little additional information was provided beyond "train differently." I'm not big on unpublishing work people care about, but as someone who writes a dumb diary once a week with pictures of wrestlers and kids flipping over in toy carts, I'm not sure how much it added to the overall discourse that couldn't have been included in a reply or a board post.
November 11th, 2014 at 4:18 PM ^
IS DEAD
November 11th, 2014 at 4:23 PM ^
BBW, can you repost your third essay on the board? That way, we can read it and see what we think.
(I don't have any idea what belongs in the diaries, but if you want to have a conversation and the mods think the diaries are not the place, let's just have it on the board.)
November 11th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^
The third diary was was a continuation of the first two, mainly links and information which had been gathered from the feedback and contributions of the people who made comments.
Those comments and the information which people shared gave those diaries substance. My ideas may not be perfect, and I don't have cameras inside the training facility. But the overall conversation, including the information other people provided, had value. In the course of time, it could benefit our football team.
BiSB made a mistake in shutting that down. You can read the first two diaries in the archives. I won't repost the third diary unless Brian wants me to.
Thanks for your interest.
Peace
November 11th, 2014 at 5:41 PM ^
Why don't you just edit the second diary?
November 11th, 2014 at 8:30 PM ^
I'm not so sure this guy has any.
November 11th, 2014 at 5:28 PM ^
YOGA IS ICKY! HYPERTROPHY!!!! GIVE ME HYPERTROPHY! SARCOPLASMIC!!! MYOFIBRILLAR!!! ALL OF IT!!! ALL THE TIME!!! (dies foaming from the ears)
November 11th, 2014 at 9:27 PM ^
If this were just some little blog that nobody paid attention to, diaries attacking an individual's professional capabilities without evidence might not be a problem. But, we know some local and even national news / opinion entities have used (in some cases misused) Mgoblog as a source in the past.
So, some guy starts a diary, claiming expertise in strength and conditionining calls out Aaron Wellman and his staff, making claims about his failures and that these failures are causing injuries to players, and oh, by the way, offers no evidence to support these claims. This is a problem. What happens if Keith Olbermann does a piece stating that there are reports that Michigan's S & C program is leading to player injuries and cites as his source a strength and conditioning expert on Mgoblog? The unamed poster doesn't suffer. Mgoblog and Aaron Wellman do.
November 12th, 2014 at 2:53 AM ^
Many of the comments made here were just herd mentality griping. So what. But you make a good point.
Much of my motivation to begin a discussion about the S&C program were things posted on MGoBlog. A post about why our players seem so slow. A post that reported how NFL scouts say Michigan football players are not physically well conditioned. A post that analyzed our team's relatively high incidence of injuries.
A trained professional can evaluate through performance, hypertrophy, types of injuries, etc. whether an S&C program is working or not. There is a good deal of evidence. Heck, anyone can see with their own eyes.
This is really not about me or freedom of speech. Someone needs to shine some light on the deficiencies of our S&C program, for the good of our team.
It's fine to have a blog where people squabble and vent and speculate about sports. I thought MGoBlog might also support a serious, intelligent discussion about the health, welfare and athletic performance of our football players.
We could have added some substance to the chit-chat and chatter. MGoBlog is not ready for that. So it goes.
November 12th, 2014 at 7:37 AM ^
November 12th, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^
This could have been an ongoing, serious, intelligent discussion about Strength and Conditioning. While I presented my experience, I invited other opinions. There was great value in the comments which other people posted. Though in the real world I teach the teachers, there was never condescension or disrespect for other people's opinions. If you had read the first two diaries you would know that.
The third diary was mainly links that had come from other people sharing thieir knowledge and observations. We were having an interesting, orderly discussion about a highly relevant subject. I didn't hear any intelligent comments from you when other people were taking this subject seriously.
Other blogs support serious, open conversations on various subjects. It could have added another element, another level of value to this blog.
Other blogs, as they mature, become outlets for real news and insight. They become more than a vortex of inconsequential chit-chat and chatter.
It is obvious your vision for the future of this internet "news and views" enterprise is not the same as Brian's.
I saw an MGoBog that could interact with the real world in a constructive way. I saw an MGoBlog where people like WD bring real inside information. BiSB, you just established the ceiling for MGoBlog: A circle jerk of pointless"points". You see MGoBlog as a place to be silly and scratch each others back all day.
You get your way.
Peace.
November 12th, 2014 at 2:47 AM ^
One more thing UMgradMSUdad, since your comment was thoughtful.
Did shining a light on Dave Brandon's deficiencies hurt the football team? No.
Did it hurt the University of Michigan. No, it proved beneficial.
Did it hurt MGoBlog. No, it made MGoBlog a little more well known and more relevant.
Does shining a light on the deficiencies of our S&C program do any harm? No. It might help institute the changes and improvements which are necessary for our team, and the welfare of our players, to improve.
Is that worth an honest effort? Yes.
November 11th, 2014 at 9:28 PM ^
HEY, University of Michigan education professors! I'm a teacher and I've decided you aren't properly educating the denizens. This is because you aren't teaching formative assessment. I don't actually know if you aren't teaching formative assessment, but I'll assume you aren't and use it as evidence to my claim that you suck.
But this is just a conversation about how we can help the professionals do their job. As fellow professionals, it is our duty.