Redszone spinoff for football discussion?

[BuckeyeRedleg]

Any semi-intelligent Bengal site where I don't have to scroll through full pages of soft-porn in order to read posts would be great.

[Degenerate39]

It would be a pretty cool idea to have a Bengals sub forum on the site for everyone to post on. But I can live with just talking about the Bengals on the Non-Baseball Chatter.

[Screwball]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

Most baseball boards I read seem to have a good mix of people from all age groups -- young, middle-aged, old, and RFS62.

Well played.

You and RedsFaithful make some very good points. I can remember several times during a baseball game-thread a poster would say something like, "The pitcher really set up his splitter well with that fastball on an 0-1 count," or "His release point seems to be a little late and that accounts for his wildness. He needs to make an adjustment," or things to that effect. I have never once during a football game-thread seen somebody say, "That swim move the DE made was perfectly timed and allowed him to get to the QB," or "The LBer hit the A-gap like he was shot out of a cannon." I think the depth of knowledge each sport's fans have are miles apart (at least on the internet) which makes it easier for a board like RZ or SOSH to exist, but much harder for their football equivalents to come about.

As for the noise reaction, yeah, that's why I can't even read the game-threads at those other football boards. Post after post on how a player (or coach, or a certain owner) sucks - even if it's true - isn't what helps to make a discussion board great. In fact, it only brings it down. There may not be as much activity on Bengals threads here as there are on the other boards, but I get much more out of reading RZ posts than I do the others', whether I agree with it or not.

[Roy Tucker]

Brief aside...

This discussion of the heat of football vs. baseball reminds me of the George Carlin baseball/football comparison...

I enjoy comparing baseball and football:

Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game.
Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.

Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park.The baseball park!
Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.

Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.
Football begins in the fall, when everything's dying.

In football you wear a helmet.
In baseball you wear a cap.

Football is concerned with downs - what down is it?
Baseball is concerned with ups - who's up?

In football you receive a penalty.
In baseball you make an error.

In football the specialist comes in to kick.
In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody.

Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness.
Baseball has the sacrifice.

Football is played in any kind of weather: rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog...
In baseball, if it rains, we don't go out to play.

Baseball has the seventh inning stretch.
Football has the two minute warning.

Baseball has no time limit: we don't know when it's gonna end - might have extra innings.
Football is rigidly timed, and it will end even if we've got to go to sudden death.

In baseball, during the game, in the stands, there's kind of a picnic feeling; emotions may run high or low, but there's not too much unpleasantness.
In football, during the game in the stands, you can be sure that at least twenty-seven times you're capable of taking the life of a fellow human being.

And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different:

In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.

In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! - I hope I'll be safe at home!

[WVRed]

One idea would be to have two separate sports forums in general.

Have a forum to talk primarily Football(College or Pro), same with basketball.

While we all share the same goal in common(Cincinnati Reds), not everybody who posts here is a Bengals fan, just as everybody here doesn't pull for the Bearcats or UK. Just divide the board into two separate sports forums that are non baseball and leave the Non Baseball Chatter to making fun of Britney Spears.

[Unassisted]

Given what others here have said about the ugly mentality on most NFL boards, why should Boss and GIK make NFL talk more prominent if it stands to attract a crowd of people with that mentality? Maybe what you really want is a Bengals board for ORG members?

I'm not begrudging anyone a little football talk here. I just think the ramifications of making it more prominent need to be considered more carefully before the log starts rolling too fast.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by Unassisted

Given what others here have said about the ugly mentality on most NFL boards, why should Boss and GIK make NFL talk more prominent if it stands to attract a crowd of people with that mentality? Maybe what you really want is a Bengals board for ORG members?

I'm not begrudging anyone a little football talk here. I just think the ramifications of making it more prominent need to be considered more carefully before the log starts rolling too fast.

I think if you keep the football talk within the greater context of Redszone, that should keep a lot of the trolls out. One of the biggest complaints that you find on NFL boards is that many posters object to "overmoderation." The fact that you can't swear, engage in ad hominem attacks on players or owners, or belittle other posters here might be enough of a deterrent. On the other hand, it might still require a bit more moderation.

If they do add a football board here, I'd probably keep it small, as a service to Redszoners who like to talk football, rather than trying to attract Bengals fans to a "Redszone-like" football board.

[TC81190]

Originally Posted by Yachtzee

If they do add a football board here, I'd probably keep it small, as a service to Redszoners who like to talk football, rather than trying to attract Bengals fans to a "Redszone-like" football board.

That's what I'd be aiming for, too.

[SeeinRed]

Originally Posted by Yachtzee

I think if you keep the football talk within the greater context of Redszone, that should keep a lot of the trolls out. One of the biggest complaints that you find on NFL boards is that many posters object to "overmoderation." The fact that you can't swear, engage in ad hominem attacks on players or owners, or belittle other posters here might be enough of a deterrent. On the other hand, it might still require a bit more moderation.

If they do add a football board here, I'd probably keep it small, as a service to Redszoners who like to talk football, rather than trying to attract Bengals fans to a "Redszone-like" football board.

There are baseball boards that are as bad as some football boards. The difference is that we have some good moderators who step in and stop something before it gets out of hand. I don't think that just because you have a place to talk football you will attract certain types of people. We have had some of the "other" types of people on here before, but they don't stay around. I credit that to the Mods and the Redszone community.

I don't think it has to be anything special. Redszone is a site dedicated to baseball after all, But it would be nice to have the football talk separated from the other threads about celebs and youtube.(not that I don't enjoy those threads) I would even suggest a Basketball discussion board, but then you cross the line into having to include a Hockey board and a Soccer board. There may not be enough intrest to warrant that.

Maybe instead of a Football board, maybe have a Other Pro Sports board for NFL, NBA, MLS, NHL, etc. and a College Sports board. Just and idea, and probably one that has been voiced before. If somebody already said it, then I love your idea.

[GoReds33]

I don't think I saw this in my skimming, but what would be the qualifications for this board? Would it be where everybody, ORG, and SunDeck could post, or like the game threads? I don't know. I personally don't want the type of people we see in some Bengal forums on here. I think it should be civilized, like our current system. If it brings in the people that we don't want, I don't see how they can't just get rid of it. Until anything like this happens though, I'll continue to post my Bengals thoughts in Non Baseball Chatter.