OT: Fallout at GBW Over Coaching Search Reporting

Submitted by pfholland on

I'm going to preemptively apologize if this topic is too OT for the board, but it's at least tangetially related to the coaching search (or at least to reporting about the coaching search).

As many of you probably know Sam Webb over at GBW made a decision this weekend to limit the amount of infomration being provided on the coaching search.  Going forward all coaching search reporting will be vetted and approved by Sam.  This specifically effects Tom Beaver, who's updates have completely stopped.

Not suprisingly this did not sit well with a large number of GBW members, and it has resulted in all sorts of drama, including charges of censorship and threats to quit.

What I'd like to know is how many GBW members actually followed through on their threats to cancel there subscriptions?  I did, but did anyone else?

As an aside, I'm posting this question here instead of on GBW because I'm fairly sure the mods over there would lock and delete it almost immediately.

Edited to add a running tally for those interested.

Cancelations (as of 7:00 EST): 3

Erik_in_Dayton

December 8th, 2014 at 4:59 PM ^

...didn't die fighting alongside George Washington against Kaiser Wilhem so some red could prevent me from posting what I want to post on the internet.  Sam Webb will never win the Freedom Trophy - I can tell you that. 

uofmdds96

December 8th, 2014 at 5:27 PM ^

I am a GBW member. I put the magazines in the waiting room. I also put HTV out there too.
I called and cancelled today. Mainly because of the argument that there is not too much unique info there for $100. BTW, Brian said if I just donate $100 to MGoblog he will whisper secrets to me that may or may not be true.

SalvatoreQuattro

December 8th, 2014 at 4:58 PM ^

at no cost. Frankly, this is the best deal on the internet by a gigantic margin.This is not an exaggeration.

I once subscribed to TheWolverine and and at times GBW, but I found the information provided to be of meh quality and the writing to be standard webzine fare.

I do not mean to insult Sam and others. I'm sure they are good at their jobs and Sam seems like a nice fellow, but you cannot beat what Brian has going on here. You really can't.

What this board also lacks is the melodramatic bullshit the OP is reporting to us.The infighting, zealous moderators, members trolling other members because of personality conflicts...it got real tiresome.

 

freejs

December 8th, 2014 at 6:45 PM ^

over your vile, self-loathing, narrow-minded, and altogether lacking in perspective attack on the humanities, but I'm not going to troll you all over the board. And I'll still upvote you when you make a good point, because I'm big like that. 

But if you're not MaizeFlu, you must be his brother, or cousin, or you two were separated at birth, because man, the over the top certainty with which you post sure reminds me of him. 

I liked MaizeFlu, incidentally, even if he drove me crazy on occasion. 

freejs

December 8th, 2014 at 6:58 PM ^

I can't even remember which topic it was, but you derided humanities as an altogether frivolous pursuit. Which it is not, for so many reasons. 

It's almost hilarious that you've forgotten the attack, because it speaks to the "posting in certainties" style I referenced. 

So MaizeFlu. I may come to like you, afterall, lol, as I got over my initial aversion to him. 

Edit: it was in one of the Frank Clark threads - one where it got particularly Wild West and there was carnage. 

SalvatoreQuattro

December 8th, 2014 at 7:02 PM ^

What I said was that Humanities was of less importance than science when it comes to benefitting people's lives. That isn't to say that the Humanities are frivolous or without great value to our lives. Of course it is.

But people can't sustain life on reading poems or viewing paintings. They need to eat and medical care to survive. That is where science comes in.

 

freejs

December 8th, 2014 at 8:21 PM ^

that's an opinion, but history wasn't just my minor, and I have it on pretty good authority. 

The world needs statesmen, and social workers, and public advocates, and gasp, even lawyers. 

This fucking "we should all be doctors and scientists" meme that has gained disturbing traction with the rise of coding and internet billionaires is gross and wrong. 

Not everyone is suited to be a doctor or a scientist. 

The world needs thinkers and social critics and activists and GD poets. And farmers. 

And let me put it to you this way - you fucking tell me that people didn't survive and sustain themselves on the Kol Nidre under circumstances you and I should never have to imagine. And then shit on art. 

 

SalvatoreQuattro

December 8th, 2014 at 8:32 PM ^

That is where farmers and hunters come in.We need food so we may live. We live so we can create more humans. Eventually, we  learned to express ourselves artistically and to form complex communities that require various types of jobs.

Everything you cite are relatively recent creations of the human mind. For most of our existance there was no such thing as writers, artists, social critics, social activists, etc.

Oh, sure people created art like cave drawings, but they didn't dedicate their lives to it. It was an activity they did in the down time between the gathering of food and preparing or upkeep of their shelter. 

Poems do not keep people from starvation. Social activists mean little if there is no society. What you are talking are  products of affluence(activists,artists, academics) that came about after thousands of years of human development. This is where the thinker-doer comes in. The Ford, the Fulton, the Wright brothers, the Joseph Lister...the people who discovered or invented items or methods that advanced our society to the point where we have the time to argue this.

The people of Kol Nidre would not lived if not for food. You can talk about art all you want, but without food they'd die no matter how inspiring the art was.  

Human civilization was created in layers. All were necessary for our current culture. The foundation is in farming and medicine. Without that nothing else matters. We need food, drink, and medical care to live. Pointing out a biological fact ought not be controversial. I have no idea why you are so angry. Humanities have their place, but it isn't the equal of basic human sustenance in terms of importance.

SalvatoreQuattro

December 8th, 2014 at 8:42 PM ^

So it isn't "bonkers". People want nationalized health care. Fine, but you need doctors for that and we have a serious shortage of them. We also have a serious shortage of engineers as well We have $1.5 trillion in infrastructure we need to repair. Without that you can forget your humanities.

What good is a Women's Studies Professor for a woman in need of a gynecologist?

You don't want to admit that there are levels of importance in society when it comes to professions and talents. That is unfortunate. But it's nonetheless.

People have to eat, drink, and receive medical treatment to survive. That is an immutable fact.

 

freejs

December 8th, 2014 at 7:46 PM ^

underlying the world view you're putting forward, which is another reason I found it initially inappropriate. 

It's a world view that happens to be pretty closely tied to a current strain in our politics (and there is certainly a political world view that underlies my response). 

Which is why I wish you would have skipped this all the first time around. 

freejs

December 8th, 2014 at 8:28 PM ^

would not make me incorrect. 

Whether you realize it or not, the strain of thought that thinks what is wrong with our world is that too many people are being educated in the humanities is distinctly tied to a current political movement. Even if it's not your motivation, you are tapping into an ongoing political debate, and that's probably not a good thing here. 

I started to type more, but I'm just going to stop. I'm going to get overtly political, and even though my opinions here are actually reasonably balanced, it's just better that I stop. 

SalvatoreQuattro

December 8th, 2014 at 8:36 PM ^

such a belief will gain traction. It will gain further traction when many of those humanities-educated persons complain of under or unemployment. 

Humanities are important, but unless you can pay for it straight out of your pocket it really is a questionable area to go into if are taking out loans. I'm living with that burden right now.

I love learning. I love the humanities. But I also need to make more money. My humanities has been of little use in that regard.

If I were wealthy I'd have multiple humanities degrees. But I'm not.

freejs

December 8th, 2014 at 8:52 PM ^

and I typed out a response and realized it is impossible for me to address your points without being political and that's not appropriate here. 

I'll leave it at saying that in a mixed capitalist society, I believe that all eventually sorts itself out. Not that this makes it any easier for the people looking for work or for better work. 

pfholland

December 8th, 2014 at 4:58 PM ^

I have been a paying member for at least 11 years, back from before mgoblog was around.  When I joined the only decent recruiting information that I could find came from Scout and Rivals.

More recently I think I stayed a member mostly because of inertia. Plus Scout makes it really annoying to cancel (you actually have to phone them during business hours M-F). 

Carcajous

December 8th, 2014 at 4:48 PM ^

I canceled but did it weeks ago.  That place has become a tire fire fueled at first by Tom Beaver's increasing paranoia and narcisism (I know... even for him) and now by a crazy sense that GBW is central to the coaching search somehow.

I need less crazy in my life, not more.

freejs

December 8th, 2014 at 6:49 PM ^

you either love it or hate it, or are entertained by it and manage to stay out of its line of fire. 

I've generally always managed to stay in group #3, but it certainly is what it is. 

At his worst, he can be awful, but I have generally positive feelings about him despite his flights of megalomania. 

jmblue

December 8th, 2014 at 4:49 PM ^

This headline was scary.  I thought at first it said that GBW was reporting "fallout" in our coaching search (i.e., that negotiations had broken off with JH).

Erik_in_Dayton

December 8th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^

Has Tom Beaver ever proven to be more accurate with his information than a coin flip would be?  I don't have a Scout subscription, but my second-hand knowledge of him has always made me wonder how he and Sam could co-exist (given that, in my opinion, Sam says things that are based in fact).