CowboysZone State of the Union??

[ABQCOWBOY]

Please move if this is not considered the correct forum:

During the off season, things get slow. It is sometimes a good time to do a little self reflection.

This board has changed 100 fold from the time I joined. In those days, this board was pretty close knit. Most of the posters were a bit older so I've always kinda felt as if this board had a mature nature to it. Since that time, lots of things have changed. One of those things is the addition of many new posters. Lots of the newer posters are young. As a result, our board kinda reflects those posters but I'll admit, things can often be slow to change. Sometimes, there are things that probably shouldn't change. Sometimes, change is a very good thing.

I am interested in hearing opinions on our board. Younger posters, how do you view our board? Are we old and stiff? Did you feel welcome and do you still feel welcome?

Same for older members, do you view the growth of the board as a positive and are there things that you would like to see change?

Just looking for the general opinions from our members. All opinions are welcome but please try to be constructive rather then combative. Input is always good if done in a positive manner. That is my view.

 

[cowboyeric8]

Hey this board is great, couldn't be better. But could do without all the Carter talk But anyway its a great place to get other peoples views on things.

And being a youngun I have noticed doesn't make you immature, there are people on here that don't exactly act their age. So the age thing doesn't really bother me.

That and this board accepts everyone no matter who they are, as long as they don't get out of hand.

Well anyway, its a great board and the people make it even better.

 

[Ashwynn]

I agree. I am an older poster and have been here for a few years. I enjoy the new blood, though I dont always agree with it. Nice mix of older views and memories and young ideas and questions. I dont see a need for any changes unless that change is the mods are now delivering pizza and Dr Pepper to posters houses (free of charge)!

 

[5Stars]

We, 5Stars thinks that...ah, nevermind...

But, diversity is always a great learning experience....and you got that here for sure!

 

[lspain1]

These young 'uns need to listen to the wisdom put forth by us 'more mature' members. :

On a more serious note, any Cowboys fan than can behave themselves should be welcome here. I don't always agree with the opinions I see expressed, but I am often entertained even when I don't agree. I like having younger members and my concern would be that they are not encouraged enough to express their opinions.

 

[baj1dallas]

Like I said in one of the other threads, imo this is one of the best run sites on the internet. The mods do a great job. Things like repetitious threads and goofy backup QB arguments...that's part of the territory.

 

[felix360]

this site is great, i love having people of all ages, brings different opinions to the board, thats what makes this site so great. i dont always agree with the way some posters treat others but i guess its going to happen anyways.

 

[Jaxonsdaddd]

I am new to posting around here but have been a board reader for years...

I for one enjoy reading what the older board contributors have to say. I have never seen a Roger the dodger or a Bob Lilly play outside of highlights.

The Boys superstars that I grew up with were Tony Dorsett, Randy White, Ed Jones, etc... So I really appreciate alot of the old discussion in this era and before this.

This board rocks

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

It's basically the only Cowboy site I post at on a regular basis. The fact there are always new posters is great. I used to post on a hockey board which basically had the same 20 posters for the last five years. It grew very stale.

My only quibble is that the site is a little too "family oriented".

 

[cobra]

I love this board because I get a lot of news from all over brought to one place. I also think there are some really intelligent and football-savy posters who share valuable opinions.

The only that ruins the board for me are people who are obvious trolls. People who want to be The Angry Guy. Mr. Contrarian. Mr. Controversial Opinions. And all the Attention ****** who post content-less posts.

Granted, disagreement is great and essential. But it doesn't take much effort to easily to identify the ones who are negative on every single point or who are just looking to start an argument or get attention.

I love it when I come to this board and see on the front page a dozen articles and a lot of thought out analysis from posters here. And the Recaps are my absolute favorites.

I think this board is horrible when I open it up and there are 8 "Caption This!" and "Pointless Random Poll" on the front page (and its even worse when it is all from the same user). I also get tired of the same repetivtive posts when there is nothing new to add. Posts like "My opininion on Parcells" and then you open it up and its "I think he is gone after this year. Thoughts?"

So, I say more of the thought out opinion posts that obviously took effort and thought to produce. More articles and recaps. More posters who are here because they are fans of the team and want to share insight with other fans. I also say less of the mindless posts. The lame caption threads and polls that are stupid should go. And put a cap on how many times a user can post in a day. Also be more willing to say to people that they need to stop playing their games when it is obvious that certain posters are behaving in a way to intentionally frustrate normal fans.

I love this place. It can be better even though its the best Cowboys site on the net.

 

[EveryoneElse]

Great idea for a thread.

When I first found this board I was already posting at another, but it was dull and slow.....the first page of threads would stay the same for 3 and sometimes 4 days. I can't remember how I found this board, but I only used the Chatroom at first. I would chat with Dale, TooHostile(at the time), Boozeman, EZ22, SBK, and a few others.....When I joined the board, I wasn't comfortable posting for a long time. I would use the chatroom almost everyday. It took me probably three months to work up the courage to post, I wouldn't say the board didn't hvae a "Welcome Feeling", but it seemed like a very tight group of posters, and I wasn't sure I'd fit in.

We'll, This is now the board I check in the morning and the one I check before I go off to bed. It's a great place.

One thing I would change? Some will disagree, while there are some really good fans from opposing teams, there are 10 fold of trolls here that are here to stir the pot only. So, I would make a forum for the NFC East, and or the NFL. You know, for fans of other teams to cut it up with us if we choose to want to do that. Thats all, I'd rather not have to sift through the trolls to find the Hobbits.

Great board, no other like it, or even close.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

This board has a very solid core group of members.

There are people that are hype people, there are people that are always optimistic, there are people that are always pessimistic, there are people that are picked on like the little brother, there are people that are easy going and can talk about any subject, there are people who are looking for that outlet to get their Cowboys news and rarely comment on much.

A board is built through the core posters personalities. Too much of one thing lead to situations like the Eagles main board, too much of another leads to a board like the Panthers have.

That type of balance made the board seem much more inviting for me as obviously a rival fan. Over the 3 years that I have been actually participating in discussions, there have been challenges of wit, challenges of fandom, challenges of football knowledge, etc. Yet only a few posters have ever seemed completely unreasonable, based on my choice of fandom alone usually. You carry yourself at a neighbors party the way you would expect them to carry themselves at yours.

Kudos and Thanks to the many of you that make this internet community such a good place to discuss football.

Some of you are still nutjobs by the way. Same on any board.

 

[EastDallasCowboy]

I enjoy this board as an avenue for gathering news and checking the pulse of "Cowboy nation," however I don't find it to be very useful for having any sort of meaningful debate or dialogue.

Not because of the posters, many of whom are great, but because there are so freaking many people posting here that any good thread gets over run quickly and/or drops off the first page.

In a way it's just being a victim of one's own success. So when I want to actually discuss Cowboys in a coherent fashion I'll generally meander over to DTX where things are a little more laid back and a little less chaotic.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

This board seems far from chaotic to me, and what I am used to.

 

[JakeCamp12]

I love this place and wouldn't change a thing...

 

[Boom]

This board has a very solid core group of members.

There are people that are hype people, there are people that are always optimistic, there are people that are always pessimistic, there are people that are picked on like the little brother, there are people that are easy going and can talk about any subject, there are people who are looking for that outlet to get their Cowboys news and rarely comment on much.

A board is built through the core posters personalities. Too much of one thing lead to situations like the Eagles main board, too much of another leads to a board like the Panthers have.

That type of balance made the board seem much more inviting for me as obviously a rival fan. Over the 3 years that I have been actually participating in discussions, there have been challenges of wit, challenges of fandom, challenges of football knowledge, etc. Yet only a few posters have ever seemed completely unreasonable, based on my choice of fandom alone usually. You carry yourself at a neighbors party the way you would expect them to carry themselves at yours.

Kudos and Thanks to the many of you that make this internet community such a good place to discuss football.

Some of you are still nutjobs by the way. Same on any board.

Very well stated. I fall into the rarely post but read often group. I've craved Cowboys info since I can remember. For the longest time, I read the opinions from usenet before forums took off. After the internet grew, lack of moderation on newsgroups turned it into a cesspool of useless drivel. I then reached out in a desperate search for viable info and discussion. I wound up on thecowboys.net and haven't left. Luckily, good usenet posters like AdamJT come here as well to give the same good info.


Thanks, guys.

 

[TheSkaven]

Good topic. I feel the same as you, but this is the first that I will have posted about it. This site is still, by far, the best source of Cowboys information and opinion on the Internet. But it does seem to me that the median age of posters has dropped by 5-10 years, and really only since the start of this past season. Not sure what could be causing the phenomenon, but I'd be curious to hear others' thoughts.

I don't mind the posts that sometimes clutter the front page in the off-season - if it doesn't look like a topic of interest then I just don't open it. Of course, I prefer meat and potatoes discussion about roster decisions, background stories, etc but every post can't be about that.

But what I have seen more of lately is people responding with four or five word responses that basically say nothing. There are a few posters who do that, and have obnoxiously long sigs. That's the only clutter that really gets on my nerves some.

 

[skinsscalper]

To be honest, one of the things I love about this board is some of the objective posting we get from some rival fans. Not totally devoid of a little homerism (like most of us), but typically, well thought out intelligent banter. SkinsandTerps, PhoenixTalon, Riggo,and Riggoforever (I think that's his name) , and a couple of othe Skins fans that I can't think of their handles right now. Haven't seen many Giants fans over here (although I'm sure there are a couple).

I think it's an interesting dynamic that those guys bring to the board, and it's not just a credit to the posters themselves, but the MODS by creating an atmosphere that is ripe for intellectual banter without the "your team sucks", "no your team sucks" crap. To be honest, that's how I came up with my username about 6 years ago. It was the year (well one of the many) that the Skins fans had thought DS had bought them a Super Bowl in March (the Deion, Bruce Smith, etc. year.) And I couldn't log on to ANY Cwoboys board without 50-60% of the posters being Skins fans annointing themselves the Super Bowl Champs (IN APRIL!).

I'd had enough and picked the most inflammatory name I could think of (without being banned), and I've had it ever since.

Anyhoo, if there were one apsect that I think makes this forum unique from others like it, is the back and forth that we have with some of these other fans and the mutual respect (for the most part) that everyone seems to have for the other's opinions and (rational) points of view.

SS

 

[Jimz31]

Yeah, things have changed. Some for the good, some for the bad. I was around on the original board back when there were only about 30 members or so, and it was great back then. The off-season was really slow back then. This is nothing like what it was back then. Now, new threads continually are put on here. Some that are relevant, some that aren't.

I have no problem with the younguns as long as they can DEBATE an issue with logic instead of just charging straight ahead without making any real sense....but this goes for the older folks as well. I don't mind a debate going on when people actually make sense with it, but to hate on a person or have man-love on a person "just because" and then berate people that don't agree with you gets old.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

even though my post count doesn't reflect it I'm a young board member here, and basically, I love this board, the moderators are more than fair, and the old heads do a great job of not being condenscending, with the exception of burmafrd, and they give answers when asked questions about our illustrious past, most of the time when questions aren't even posed of course we get our share of knuckleheads, and at times, I've become a knucklehead myself, just ask Reality, WG and Hostile, I had to delete all their PMs, twice, because my space ran out but geez, I can't say enough about how great this forum is, and for me, I dont' see anything that needs to be changed on here