Haters, haters and more haters

Straightpool_99 said:
So, finally it is over and Mr. Figueroa stands as a worthy winner of the 10 000 dollars. And haters are coming out from under every rock and crevice on the forum. It is strange how you an get so many enemies from a simple pool forum Some people have even made multiple gloating threads. Having an opinion is different from being a hater. But some opinions one should maybe keep to oneself. Some of the posts didn't even have any substance at all, they were just blatantly gloating.

I'm beginning to understand how Jam seems to feel about the forum. There is no way to please other pool players. If you beat them, they don't respect you, if you lose to them they respect you even less. Getting a compliment out of most pool players is like squeezing blood from a turnip, it just can't be done. How are you going to win respect for a sport when the participants don't even have the least bit of respect for each other?
I don't think I have ever seen this attitude in any other sport. Not in table tennis, soccer or pistol shooting at least, which are the sports I am most familiar with. Sure, most athletes think they are the best or at least better than most, but there is usually a minimum of respect for the opponent. Not in pool though.

People are scoffing at the play of those two players, berating them, calling them C-players. Mr. Figueroa has, according to one person on the commentary team, a dozen runs in straight pool over 100. If that only makes you a C-player, I have to move to the States, because apparently it is true what they say "You can pull any bum out of the gutter in New York and he will run 100's on you!" It must be true for the rest of the country as well.

No recognition of the many excellent shots made by both players. Mr. Figueroas brave double bank, Mr. Bartons many excellent shots are all ignored or scoffed at. Worst of all to me, is that I feel myself becoming one of these haters, making comments that I regret bitterly. Which I allready have done many times over the course of my stay here, even today I let myself down by responding to trolls and making lame, angry posts. Seeing all the haters today and feeling myself having become one of them was a real wake up call for me. If you look in the mirror and don't like what you see, it's time for a change.

But mostly I fear for the game itself. There is no way to cultivate a sport in a climate of hostility, disrespect and suspicion. As long as the attitude of it's players don't change, and it is true for most of the world, not just for the forum, nothing will ever change. The sport will remain an obscure, fragmented shadow of its former glorious self.
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Offering something of an outside pool perspective but rather a "forum" perspective. I own a forum that gets about the same traffic as here. In doing research on other forums, and forum dynamics etc I cam across an interesting statistic.

"A person is 27 times more likely to say something negative on the internet, then something positive"

I do a lot of proactive moderating on my own forum, and the staff does as well to try and keep a "positive" vibe about the place..

What you are seeing on here with the haters doesn't have to do with "pool" though, in my humble opinion it has more to do with the medium. Tone is often misconstrued in text, and people read things varying ways etc..

In my experience though it's usually only 4 or 5 guys that can set a negative tone, and a lot more follow suit. Chop the head off the snake and the rest shut up pretty quick. LOL

If you want to do yourself, and AZB a favor, try to be a more positive influence on the place. Ultimately moderators generally just "edit" or whack bad content.. It is up to the members to provide the kind of content that they would like.
DJ
 
Straightpool_99 said:
So, finally it is over and Mr. Figueroa stands as a worthy winner of the 10 000 dollars. And haters are coming out from under every rock and crevice on the forum. It is strange how you an get so many enemies from a simple pool forum Some people have even made multiple gloating threads. Having an opinion is different from being a hater. But some opinions one should maybe keep to oneself. Some of the posts didn't even have any substance at all, they were just blatantly gloating.

I'm beginning to understand how Jam seems to feel about the forum. There is no way to please other pool players. If you beat them, they don't respect you, if you lose to them they respect you even less. Getting a compliment out of most pool players is like squeezing blood from a turnip, it just can't be done. How are you going to win respect for a sport when the participants don't even have the least bit of respect for each other?
I don't think I have ever seen this attitude in any other sport. Not in table tennis, soccer or pistol shooting at least, which are the sports I am most familiar with. Sure, most athletes think they are the best or at least better than most, but there is usually a minimum of respect for the opponent. Not in pool though.

People are scoffing at the play of those two players, berating them, calling them C-players. Mr. Figueroa has, according to one person on the commentary team, a dozen runs in straight pool over 100. If that only makes you a C-player, I have to move to the States, because apparently it is true what they say "You can pull any bum out of the gutter in New York and he will run 100's on you!" It must be true for the rest of the country as well.

No recognition of the many excellent shots made by both players. Mr. Figueroas brave double bank, Mr. Bartons many excellent shots are all ignored or scoffed at. Worst of all to me, is that I feel myself becoming one of these haters, making comments that I regret bitterly. Which I allready have done many times over the course of my stay here, even today I let myself down by responding to trolls and making lame, angry posts. Seeing all the haters today and feeling myself having become one of them was a real wake up call for me. If you look in the mirror and don't like what you see, it's time for a change.

But mostly I fear for the game itself. There is no way to cultivate a sport in a climate of hostility, disrespect and suspicion. As long as the attitude of it's players don't change, and it is true for most of the world, not just for the forum, nothing will ever change. The sport will remain an obscure, fragmented shadow of its former glorious self.
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What ya have to learn as I have the last 9 years here. EVERYONE here is a champion in their own mind.

Its childish and dumb. Cant tell you how many posts I read earlier insulting these 2 guys. The way I look at it. Atleast they had the effin sack to lock up and play!!!!

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I know how a few of the people that were highly critical actually play, and it is my opinion they would probably lose to John or Lou. It's easy to talk when you are sitting behind a keyboard and/or anonymous. Most of these armchair "warriors" wouldn't bet a nickle, much less 10 thousand.

You might be able to run balls all day long, but try doing it when you just posted $10k. I suspect there are quite a few people that would dog their brains out.

I watched most of the match, and despite some large errors, there was also some excellent shotmaking and moving. I thought both players played well overall. So before you knock them for poor play, let those people casting the stones pony up $10k and play a match. Then they can see how they like enduring criticism.
 
^ amen to that. But these armchair warriors bark at a pc screen but wouldnt do shit when it came to it. Only one I know for sure was Eric when he showed up at Derby with that bag full of green n scared poor ol Bucktooth out tye building lol

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