Unwritten Rules of the MGoBoard

Submitted by EGD on

Some of the comments on Ben Mason's Hello post kind of bothered me, because I always thought it was customary not to criticize recruits in their Hello posts.  Of course, one problem with doing things by custom and other informal mechanisms is that new or infrequent posters may not always be aware of those things.  So, I decided to collect some of the various "unwritten rules" I've observed for the Board over time, and post them here.  I have probably missed some, so please point out others in the comments.

Unwritten (not counting now) Rules of the MGoBoard

1)   Do not criticize recruits in their Hello posts.  The comments in Hello posts should be celebratory, congratulatory, and welcoming, so that if the recruit himself or his family and friends read the post, they get nothing but good feels.  There are plenty of other opportunities to debate the merits of particular prospects, so if you have a problem with a guy, save it for later.

2)   Don’t refer to opposing teams using juvenile terms such as “O$U,” “Suckeyes,” “Spartina,” etc.  We are not RCMB or MLive and intend to stay that way.

3)   Speculation regarding players being denied a fifth year, encouraged to transfer, urged not to enroll despite having committed to M, or anything else of this nature—though not strictly taboo—is frowned upon.  If you are going to engage in this kind of speculation, please do your best to avoid naming names, be cognizant of timing and context, and absolutely support your assertion with strong evidence and cogent arguments. 

4) Do not make up a fake profile and pretend to be an Alabama fan with deep knowledge of the Michigan program and troll the board for weeks using that fake profile.

5)   No links to Chat Sports or Bleacher Report.  Do not link to the Freep unless (i) you have a good reason and (ii) the same content is not available elsewhere.  That guy in Pittsburgh is okay, I think--but we're still suspicious.

6)   Be reasonable with paywalled content.  Giving a few bullet points or the gist of an article is generally okay; block-quoting multiple paragraphs is usually not.  

7)   If there happens to be a front-page photo of a high school prospect who looks uncommonly young for his age, don’t say a damn thing about it.  (Actually, I think this is more of an official “written” rule).

8)   Do not talk about your mgopoints, unless you don’t mind not having any.

MGoBoard
Recruiting

m_go_T

May 4th, 2016 at 11:12 AM ^

Remember to properly format your post.  Rule of thumb, if you have more than ten lines, you need at least two paragraphs.  

Joined: 11/04/2010

MGoPoints: 5453

MeanJoe07

May 4th, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^

Ben Mason needs to improve a lot and bend his knees more, but thankfully he's didn't commit to Spartina or the Suckeyes so he will get some decent coaching. That said, He'll probably redshirt.  I doubt he gets a fifth year though in the end. I love Alabama, but I have a friend that is a coach on UM's staff and he says Ben Mason could be the next Jake Ryan, but fast. Here is a link to Chatsports that discuss this in detail.  Let me know if you want some more specific recruiting detail because I have some paywalled info I'd be happy to share.  Mason might turn out to be a good player, but man he looks like a young kid right now.  If you don/t mind, please upvote me so I can get to 30,000 points asap.

Discuss

Joined: 09/15/2013

MGoPoints: 73336

Dailysportseditor

May 4th, 2016 at 11:33 AM ^

As long as people can post anonymously, there are no rules, written or unwritten. Without an enforcement mechanism there are no rules. Anyone can post anything they want and the only deterrent is the posting will be removed or they will need to change their screen name.

Joined: 01/14/2012

MGoPoints: 447

Salinger

May 4th, 2016 at 11:44 AM ^

 but I guess I'll celebrate a little early. 

You know what drive me crazy? When people bitch about the free content they may or may not read on a free blog dedicated to the team they support.

We can certainly debate the value of high quality long form content and no one is advocating a free-for-all RCMB style. The criticism and vitreol that some people put out there though is just assinine. If something bugs you, roll your eyes and go about your day. I don't think anyone's comment to me has ever ruined my day. And this is coming from the guy who created what was probably the 4th Mel Gibson has a movie with a talking Beaver puppet thread.

If there's a topic you don't particularly want to read about? Skip it! If you see a thread is created by someone who you normally disagree with on said content's value, don't read. 

The bitching gets old though. And of course now I'm bitching about your bitching.... lets all just have a cold beverage and talk about Michigan. Mmm'k?

Joined: 01/11/2011

MGoPoints: 5409

kehnonymous

May 4th, 2016 at 12:24 PM ^

Also - be courteous to fans of other teams who are being respectful and non-trolls instead of the "why are you even here" greeting that 1-2 people will inevitably give - they have something to add too.  The trolls from other teams will be buried in Bolivia soon enough.  And, to be brutally honest, their horrible taste in football teams notwithstanding, I enjoy reading posts from the few well-behaved OSU/Sparty fans here far more than the bottom 10% dregs of other MGoPosters

Joined: 11/25/2011

MGoPoints: 33104

BeatOSU52

May 4th, 2016 at 12:42 PM ^

I kind of miss the Mlive forum in its hay-day.  Too bad it's pretty dead these days due to it's awful layout launch from a few years ago.

Joined: 11/13/2011

MGoPoints: 14554

TheReal_GR3

May 4th, 2016 at 1:05 PM ^

I think I missed the issue with Bleacher Report. Can someone clue me in? Did they is something or do we just not like them because they lack a traditional format? I'm on asking because being someone in the sport journalism business they are highly respected as of a few years ago. Appreciate the help.

Joined: 04/11/2015

MGoPoints: 1125