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Sometimes I think the internet is too all-encompassing. Sometimes I find that the anonymity that is offered brings out the worst in pretty much everyone, myself included. This morning I was reminded that the nets are a savage jungle where even kindred spirits snark at each other and would rather destroy other people instead of build something special.
Case in point: Halos Heaven, which is a SB Nation blog site about the Anaheim Angels. No secret that I'm a huge Angels fan and have been since my Daddy took me to my first game when I was still a baby. I've followed the team through good times and bad, and have never jumped off the wagon, even when they were 40 games under .500. Of course in the current era the Halos are doing fantastically well, which would make you think that all would be right in Angels Nation, bud sadly, nope. The guy who runs Halos Heaven, one Rev Halofan, is the biggest jerk I've come across on the internet in a long time. He runs the site with an iron fist, and if he disagrees with you over ONE thing, he feels no compunction about blasting every one of your profile characteristics, even if they have nothing to do with the point at all.
This morning I posted my first ever "fan post" over there, featuring what I thought would be a good roster for the Halos in the post season. I misspelled one pitcher's first name (Jared instead of Jered Weaver) and forgot about one relief pitcher (Jose Arredondo), for that I got blasted left and right in a manner that would make you think that I was the second coming of Benito Mussilini or Ivan the Terrible. After I called out the asshole in question (Rev Halofan) I was basically told to grow a thicker skin. OK, that's fine I suppose, his playground and all, but seriously, if you're trying to GROW a site, you shouldn't be pissing off your customers.
I removed my initial post and put up a second one expressing my sheer disbelief that ANY Angels fan would be treated as badly as I was this morning on an ANGELS Fan Site. Sure, if I were say a Yankees fan and came in there talking a bunch of smack, then I would expect to be flamed, but NOT if I'm merely being a good Angels fan. As you can imagine, the loyal idiots came to Rev Halofan's defense and then even he posted some more nasty comments, which were extremely uncalled for. So now Halos Haven is on my shit list, and I'm encouraging everyone who has more than a passing interest to give them a miss. There are other Angels blogs to follow, most of them are fairly positive, after all, the Angels just clinched the AL West on the earliest date in divisional history.
I don't know what it is about SB Nation that really chaps my hide though; the other blog of theirs that I subscribe to, Bruins Nation, is just as bad as Halos Heaven. They won't even allow you to make ANY disparaging comments about Bruin players, even IF they played like shit (Darren Collison in the Memphis game, I'm looking at you). Part of being a fan is having the ability to criticize players when they don't perform. That's just the way it is with sports, and if you can't do that without being censored, what's the point?
I post this here because I know Gellman has a much larger viewing public than my personal blog, and again I thank him for the soapbox. I'm not asking for every fan of the same team to agree with each other, and I'm certainly not saying that my opionion is better than anyone else's regarding a specific team. What I am saying is that fans of the same team should treat each other with respect even if they disagree. Getting flamed over a typo and an obvious mistake is just not tolerable.
SO in closing, in the spirit of SCU - FUCK HALOS HEAVEN AND REV HALOFAN and the horse they rode in on. Plus, doesn't look like I'm alone in my newfound disdain for said HH site, looks like plenty of folks think that Halos Heaven is a wasteland.
Thankfully.
Rant off.
http://googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=wildwill&word2=rev+halofan
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Shouldn't Fans be United?
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Oh and after I deleted my two posts there trying to gracefully leave, the ASSHOLE reposts pretty much everything, though he leaves out the initial post.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.halosheaven.com/2008/9/17/616454/hostility-abounds
What a dick.
Yeah, this was pretty much every gripe I posted about on the BMB. If you didnt have something to say that at lest 99% of the people on the boards agreed with, you were asking for a flame war. Thats one of the big reasons I started SCU. Its my world.
ReplyDeleteI still think that it sucks that people automatically try to attack the PERSON rather than the ISSUE. It happens a lot on here. I post something and people comment with shit like "You are a fat fuck" or something like that. Just shows that they have nothing to say about the actual discussion, and would rather take out agression on the person for pointing out something they disagree with, rather than showing why that person may be incorrect.
Either way, as most people say, "Fighting on the net is like the special olympics. Even if you win you are still retarded."
They had ONE good point, I left off Jose Arredondo, which was a sheer mistake on my part (you try looking at a 40 man roster and remember all of the players you'd like to have on a playoff roster).
ReplyDeleteBut I think his big gripe was that I was being a "blog whore". Too bad, so sad. Like he's never done that elsewhere.
HOLY shit, the thread about the threads has run over 70 comments. Most of them questioning my veracity and manhood.
ReplyDeleteI get a few potshots on my own.
I can't stand people who take themselves so seriously as this guy does. They tend to be the vengeful pricks that give everyone else a bad reputation.
ReplyDeleteThey tend to alienate themselves to the majority of the public, acting like a fourth-rate Howard Stern or Mancow, without the humor or talent. Yet, they all tend to have a David Koresh-like following by the annointed few, for some odd reason.
It should be about the issues and not the person, but sadly, some assholes can't grasp that simple concept.
The thread now has several HUNDRED comments, most of which are very, very funny. If you have the time, I highly recommend reading it.
ReplyDeleteYup, that's how the internet works...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/
Stuff like that is why I refuse to comment on sites like Fark or any sports blog any more. It's just not worth the inevitable crap you have to deal with. I think part of it is due to Sports Talk radio. A lot of that crap is just people blathering on about nothing, creating fake arguments for ratings and yelling at each other. That stuff filters down to the fans and you end up with a pack of raging assholes defending their precious club.
If you want to see some well-run SB Nation blogs, check out Viva El Birdos (St. Louis Cardinals) and Blazer's Edge (Portland Trail Blazers). Of course, every blog worth commenting on has its share of idiots, but some people know how to run a fansite right and others, well, don't.
ReplyDeleteUnreal! I've run in to similar problems on a different team blog. I just took it off the list and moved on. I don't understand that type of blogger.
ReplyDelete